cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/39081380
Jon Queally
Nov 15, 2025Echoing recent viral comments by music superstar Billie Eilish, Maine Democratic candidate for US Senate Graham Planter is also arguing that the existence of billionaires cannot be justified in a world where working-class people with multiple jobs still cannot afford the basic necessities of life.
In video clip posted Friday of a campaign event in the northern town of Caribou from last month, Platner rails against the “structures” of an economy in which billionaires with vast personal fortunes use their wealth to bend government—including the tax code—to conform to their interests while working people are left increasingly locked out of controlling their own destinies, both materially and politically.
Are we talking about people with $1B in the bank, or people “worth $1B” though?
If you got rid of the stock market today, forgave all loans and capped property values, it would be interesting to see who is actually rich.
Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, has calculated that Americans have $1.8 trillion in excess savings. Of that, he believes that more than half sits in households in the top 10 percent of the income.
There are
10 million (10,000,000) hundred thousands in a trillion, for people to make 100k a year and when these people make that much they will put it back into the economy making those billionaires more money.
If only.
You have a good point, most of these billionaires have most of their wealth tied up in loans, stock market and property. Their wealth is calculated speculation on the value of their assets not in physical dollars.
It’s not even speculation on the value of their assets; in most cases, it’s speculation on the value of their speculation on someone else’s revenue growing power.