Excuse my sensationalist “fake” headline, but what would Bernie say about someone who makes a billion dollars by inventing a vaccine for the COVID-19 coronavirus? Would Bernie consider it “immoral” and “disgusting”? Should the inventor’s billions be confiscated as he would like? This exposes Bernie’s corrupt ideology that has impoverished millions wherever tried.
**********************************
Excuse my sensationalist “fake” headline, but as we are going through this pandemic, I wonder what Bernie would say about someone who makes a billion dollars by inventing a vaccine for the COVID-19 coronavirus. Would Bernie consider it “immoral” and “disgusting”? Bernie is quite vocal about his hatred of the ultra-rich. He says about his tax-the-rich plan, “Under this plan, the wealth of billionaires would be cut in half over 15 years which would substantially break up the concentration of wealth and power of this small privileged class.”
This is the problem with hardline socialists like Bernie. Their anger and envy blinds them to the positive impacts on society that the billionaires create. So, dear socialists, what would you think about this? Is this person/company an exploiter of us downtrodden masses or our savior? What is the moral value which allows you to crush their accomplishments?
I’ve written about Bernie’s envy and what drives him and other Progressives like Elizabeth Warren and their claque. The idea that rich people are immoral by definition is the worst kind of demagoguery. I would ask them why they think that having great wealth is immoral. In other words, what is the foundation of their ethics?
One answer is to go back to Karl Marx and his misconception of the origins of wealth, the role of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists (he just called them “capitalists”), and workers. He thought ownership of the “means of production” should be in the hands of “workers” because capital is inherently exploitative. I shouldn’t have to mention that the results of that method of production failed miserably, but, for the benefit of socialists, Progressives, professors, and many of today’s college kids, I probably need to.
I believe that the Bernie types buy into the basic concepts of K. Marx and his followers—that corporations and the rich are by definition exploitative who achieved their wealth by devious and corrupt means. These folks have never thought through the issue, but it feeds their social justice ideals and they probably enjoy expressing their outrage at marches and rallies wearing their Che t-shirts. In other words, it’s a feeling, not an informed opinion.
Today we have intellectuals like Thomas Piketty tell us that wealth inequality is a serious problem. Piketty became the new rockstar economist of the Progressive world with his 2014 book Capital in the Twenty-first Century (2014). Mr. Piketty, a neo-Marxist, believes that “capital” is self-perpetuating and the ultra-rich have become a permanent controlling oligopoly who are a danger to democracy.
His idea is that there is a fixed pie of wealth owned by the few who have denied workers their fair share. That concept, and Mr. Piketty’s v.20.14 of it, has been debunked over and over throughout history. I urge you to read my article explaining why Piketty’s concept is wrong and why it will impoverish the classes Messrs. Bernie and Piketty wish to help.
Yet the Bernies of the world persist in repeating this myth over and over until their supporters believe it.
What scares me about these folks is the whispered threat of violence inherent in their rationale. You should know, they say, that the masses, sick and tired of being downtrodden by the gross inequality of wealth, will rise up in violent revolution and destroy our democracy. Think the Terror of the French revolution. All this great country has gained over the past 250 years will be lost if we don’t shower the wealth down to the oppressed classes. Just remember, we told you so.
The problem with the call to revolution is that it is a tough sell to America’s “oppressed workers” who are better off than at any period of mankind’s history. Unemployment is at historic lows. Household incomes are at an all-time high. Home equity is at a high. Median wealth per adult is the highest since 2000 (2019 data), and so is overall U.S. wealth. (All this data can be verified in the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2019 or the St. Louis Fed.)
If workers are better off than ever, what is the point of confiscating wealth from billionaires and destroying it? Once it’s spent, it’s gone. I haven’t seen a labor union start or run a company, although I have seen them drive companies into bankruptcy.
History has shown that if you take away the reward from any endeavor, incentive diminishes. While these billionaires say they are driven by the need to make the world better (they do), if you really dig deeper, they want the reward of financial gain for their struggle. And, understand that they got rich because you made them rich. They created something you wanted, and it was probably better than whatever it was you had before or you wouldn’t have voluntarily parted with your hard earned cash to buy it.
I ask again: If someone makes a billion dollars by inventing a vaccine that saves maybe hundreds of thousands of lives, is the billion dollar reward immoral? Not only is it moral but even more, it’s the very best thing we can expect from our fellow mankind. Who else is going to create jobs for the workers of the world?
Recent Comments