It is Better to be Rich

It is good to be king. It is better to be rich.

Forbes magazine released it's annual list of the 400 richest Americans today. There were some familiar names there and some who the general public has never heard of. All in all it is a glittering array of users, abusers, vampires, and right wing fanatics, spiced here and there with a few souls who chronically feel guilty about being fabulously well to do.

Of course feeling a tad guilty about things like huge wealth shouldn't be that difficult considering some of the statistics available. However, as we all know, it is an eat or be eaten world out there. Let's face it only the most savage and ruthless survive, which usually means something like a conscience is quickly discarded, if it was ever there in the first place.

The hard and brutal truth about America is that 10% of the total after tax income in this country is made by 0.1% of the workforce. In terms of wealth disparity--you know the gap between richest and poorest--the United States ranks well behind Europe and the UK and even places like Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Yemen, and Egypt. Take heart though, the difference between the haves and have nots is slightly greater in Uganda, and Jamaica. The trouble, some might argue, is it isn't getting any better. In fact at this point the divide is at its widest since the great depression.

NBC reports the combined wealth of the top 400 has doubled to $2.02 trillion in the last 10 years. To put that number in perspective the same report notes the figure is roughly equivalent to the gross domestic product of Russia. The average net worth of people on the list is $5 billion. In fact the atmosphere at the Glam 400 Golf and Squash Club is so rarefied this year, 61 American billionaires didn't even make the list. You bet, the bar has been raised. The hoi polloi now includes people, who in other lands, would own entire governments and their armed forces.

The 9th through 6th richest people in the United States all have the last name Walton. They are the kids of Big Bill Walton, founder of Wal-Mart. Their combined wealth is $136 billion divided not quite equally among them. If you go to work in one of their stores, chances are you'll be making $7.46 per hour before taxes. Top end pay for a sales associate is $11.10 per hour. During your first five years there you can count on getting one week of vacation per year. After 10 years of dedicated service to the company you'll get a little over two. The web site, "Payscale" indicates their employees, on average, earn 3% less than current market value.

Tied at 4th on the list are the Koch brothers out of Wichita, KS. They are the same guys who sent threatening letters to the employees of at least one of their companies last fall. Chuck and Dave told their rank and file workers if Mitt Romney didn't win the presidency thousands of their jobs would be at risk. Together they are worth $72 billion.

Our old pal Sheldon Adelson slipped in at number 11 on the list. He is worth $28.5 billion and last fall was willing to spend millions to get, Barak Obama defeated. Unfortunately a big chunk of that money was bet early on a worn out nag named, Newt Gingrich. By the time Sheldon changed horses things had already begun to slip away.

Ol' Rupe Murdoch, the Fox News owner was number 30. He is worth $13.4 billion and spends every second of his time making sure his cable news network is completely committed to telling us anyone to the left of the aforementioned Mr. Romney is a by God communist sonofabitch.

A guy named Fred DeLuca is number 193. He is worth $2.8 billion. He owns Subway, the sandwich shop chain. That man or woman behind the counter who is building the foot long Italian sub of your choice on freshly baked bread is making on average $7.57 per hour. The store manager pulls down an average of $10.57 per hour.

On the other side of the coin, or rather, coins, Michael Bloomberg, current mayor of New York City and anti assault weapon maven is ranked 10th with a net worth of $31 billion. The big bugaboo among all right wing fringe conspiracy theorists, George Soros is number 19 and worth $20 billion. The Grand Prize Winner is Bill Gates who has about $72 billion in his wallet and is so diversified now, Microsoft only accounts for 5% of it.

Despite the occasional philanthropy, most of these ogres and the shameless shills who work for them would have us believe, Barak Obama and the left wing are driving the republic straight into the gaping black maw of socialism. Indeed, that Islamic commie bastard is fucking up the entire socio-economic class system that made us great and those Ivy League egg heads and Hollywood freaks are in on it with him.

Can't you tell?

Well, probably not while you're making $7.46 per hour, which is why they really need you to either buy into their bullshit, or not be able to vote--preferably the latter, because, honestly, the working poor can't be trusted in such important matters.

Legend has it, back in the mid 1950's, after a University of Oklahoma football game, some guy manning the sports desk at the local paper received a call. This was before there was wall to wall TV coverage of college games. The caller asked him about the outcome of the contest. When the newspaper man told him OU had won by 21 points, the indignant reply was, "That's all?" Then the conversation was abruptly ended when the receiver at the other end was slammed down.

At the time Oklahoma hadn't lost a game in nearly four seasons. Without even considering his observation might be a tad racist, the reporter turned and asked a co-worker, "How much rice can a Chinaman eat?"

If you're on the list Forbes released today, apparently, you can eat it all and still want more. And then, at least some of you, can get really mad when someone says something about gluttony.

Welfare society, my ass. Karl Marx is spinning in the grave as I write.


sic vita est

9-16-13