I heard this article on NPR a few days ago: A boy had a pathological temper control problem from a very young age. He was placed in a foster home and later several different foster home group facilities. When he turned 18 he was turned out, and was homeless. The mother of a friend from the last school he was in said he could come and live with them. She had a small farm and was often pressed to pay the bills. But she said the boy could move in and when he lost his temper he could go out to the barn and scream. This story would never have seen the light of day if the boy hadn’t acheived success and independence, which he credited to the caring and generousity of his friend’s indigent mom…..
Next part of story: Sergei Brin, co-founder of Google, became rich, richer, and richest. He is currently listed as owning 287 billion dollars. Or as much as 287,000 millionaires. This year the California state legislature slated the referendum proposition 40 to vote on a bill to charge billionairs a one-time 5% tax on their wealth – to be spent on education and to assisst health care which took a big hit from Trumps tax act. Brin would be taxed 14.35 billion dollars. He promptly established a residency in Colorado to avoid paying. Why? Because if he paid, it would leave him with only 273 billion bucks. (I asked Chat GTP this question: If you had 273 billion dollars and you spent 1 million dollars a day, how many years would it take to spend it all? the answer: 774 years, 11 months and 20 days.) But the gov said Nope. Too late, Sergei. You were a resident here all year. If the bill passes, you will pay. So he did what any red-blooded billionaire would do. He has spent over 100 million bucks, (1/140th, of what he would be taxed) in a campaign to defeat the health and education proposition. The polls say he is winning.
I will leave you to make your own hypotheses about wealth, ethics of the wealthy, and law. Oh, and maybe quote from a past Supreme Court justice, Joseph Brandeis. “We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.” mintchippolitics.com
