When
Bernie Sanders is not excoriating the Koch Brothers, his other
favorite villains are the Waltons. Sanders often
likes to claim that the Waltons “own
more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of America.”
Sanders
never mentions how the Waltons got so rich – namely, by providing
cheap goods and services that are in high demand. After all, the
Waltons did not steal this money
or gain it in some illegal manner. He simply mentions this fact as
though the fact itself was some kind of evil.
However,
the fact remains that Sanders is not the first politician to engage
in rich-baiting. There is a long and sordid history of them.
Naturally, therefore, the Waltons are not the first rich family to be
despised.
Once
upon a time, there were the Vanderbilts. Cornelius
Vanderbilt, the family's patriarch, became one of the richest men
in the world by building a railway empire across America. If his
wealth is calculated for inflation and percentage of GDP in the
present day, Cornelius Vanderbilt had amassed a total of US$147
billion in his lifetime. For comparison's sake, Bill Gates, the
current richest man in the world, has a net worth of US$76.4
billion.
But
how many Vanderbilts are there now who are still titans of industry?
Fortunes come and fortunes go. Nothing lasts forever. Some day, like
the Vanderbilts, even the Waltons will become a part of history. Just
like how creative destruction brought us Netflix at the expense of
Blockbuster or Samsung at the expense of Sony, Walmart will some day
disappear to be replaced by something else. A new business will rise
to the top and a new corporate dynasty will take hold – most likely
by selling something that is highly in demand.
After
all, despite the rhetoric, economic
mobility is real – and it does go up AND down.
The hate, however, will go on. If it is not Sanders, it will be some other politician and if it is not the Waltons, it will be someone else. After all, what could be easier than hating public figures; especially rich ones?
The hate, however, will go on. If it is not Sanders, it will be some other politician and if it is not the Waltons, it will be someone else. After all, what could be easier than hating public figures; especially rich ones?
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