We need a cultural shift that views wealth not just as privilege, but as a duty to uplift society—reviving the forgotten principle of noblesse oblige...
Yes Jeffery! we cannot expect capital to yield to anything. It's only equitable use is to yield all its power to what is best for a majority of people under its protection. I say protection only in that it must be wielded as a tool to continue supporting economic altruism and this is where gov't by and for the majority of people steps in to always guarantee economic altruism.
We really need the strong hands of a Governing system that has 0 favoritism that works under a rule of law that will guarantee long term altruistic economics for the majority of its citizens. Economic protections under the law
The problem goes deeper than just jiggering the tax code to induce more generosity in those with an overabundance of wealth. The problem is there's a fundamental philosophical conflict between capitalism and democracy, and capitalism is winning by buying out democracy and privatizing it. And it doesn't help that we have always idolized wealth as the ultimate goal in life. That is what has turned a commonwealth for a common purpose into uncommon wealth for a select few.
"...we have always idolized wealth as the ultimate goal in life."
I strongly disagree with that statement. It is a blanket statement that cannot withstand. There are far too many examples in American history to show that it is false. One of the best expressions of this was from FDR and the Four Freedoms. It included the freedom of speech and expression but he expanded it to freedom from want, economic opportunity, employment, social security and health care. These expansions had long been battle cries from a substantial number of advocates, largely by women, that pre-dated FDR by decades. One of my favorites is Emma Goldman.
The current and vast idolization of wealth in recent times, I attribute to RR. I recall a mantra that went something like, "He who dies with the most toys wins." Notice the "he". I recall the overwhelming surge in corporate buy-outs and take-overs, massive lay-offs, quack, quack ... , the surge in defense spending, Northrup... A long time ago, but devastating to the economy, and the people who make this economy run. Don't recall too many details. Fernando was the Dodgers' pitcher, after all.
RR, a B-grade actor, anti-communist, was the best vehicle to begin the construction of the Powell Memo; to de-construct FDR and LBJ's great society of social and economic equity. Those two men and their administrations had a couple of centuries of examples and goals to learn from. Again, many from women, who fought for the rights of workers, largely through Unionization. FDR had a problem with press as we do now. LBJ also. We do now.
The lust for such grand wealth must be given to RR, the ability his administrations gave to corporations, the inability of his administrations to deal with the fall of the USSR adequately as the Marshall Plan had done post-WW2, and really just that sick machismo attitude; "He who dies with the most toys wins:".
No, "we have not always idolized wealth". For most through out history, safety and comfort is okay.
Tax the rich the way the United States used to tax them when we HAD a thriving Middle Class!! This country provides the rich the infrastructure, the police protection, the military protection and the consumer market for the rich - then this country deserves to be paid for it.
That’s just economics!!
It’s what any business would do including those run by the rich.
If the "free market will solve all social problems", why did all the banks & car companies stand in line for handouts, oops, I mean bail outs during the financial crisis of 2008, that was brought about by THEM, not by the little guy. Why were those funds used by the banks to buy up smaller & more struggling banks making the "big banks" even bigger & more rapacious & greedy?
And while the philanthropists of the Robber Barron era may have done good things prior to their deaths let's not forget how they got all that money. They got it by abusing employees, the environment & customers, by fighting against organized labor. There may be foundations now in their names but don't ask the survivors of their oppressive work conditions if they care about the generosity of these businessmen later on in life.
Though, I will say that at least those men & their companies made "things" & while the jobs they provided were dangerous, hard & undervalued there was a product at the end of it. Too many if today's billionaires are financial "wizards". They produce nothing but wealth for themselves. Hedgefund owners, they don't provide a product they work their financial dark arts to make money, that's it, no product, no jobs to speak of, just wealth for themselves.
So Noblesse Oblige, yes, that is a nice thought but we're going to have a hell of time installing that sense of duty in today's rich people.
In the last century the Twilight Club was the sort of thing we should have now, where the most powerful and the most intelligent leaders created benefits to society, like Andrew Carnegie creating the library system. It is little known, and you can read about it here: https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/lets-do-something-already-to-turn
Jesus actually said, "The poor you will always have with you”. (Mark 14:7) Since he told the rich young man to go sell his things and give the money to the poor, I don't think Jesus saw any reason that some should be rich and some should be poor. I don't think income inequality is part of the ideal of the beloved community.
Also, foundations were a tax dodge. The concept of a "trust" was developed by lawyers for Rockefeller. We didn't have an income tax until 1913, 16th Amendment.
People like Musk and Thiel borrow from themselves...and therefore do not have the same kind of tax liabilities that the old money families had.
Although private foundations are exempt from federal income tax, their investment income is subject to an excise tax of 1.39 percent, whereas growth of a donor-advised fund is not taxed.
Gates and Buffet contribute:
From the internet. Donating to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Buffett has donated billions of dollars to the Gates Foundation, including $1.5 billion in 2006. He was also a trustee from 2006 to 2021, helping to shape the foundation's vision and strategies. Buffett's contributions have helped the foundation address global issues like education, health care, and poverty.
Launching the Giving Pledge
In 2010, Buffett and Gates launched the Giving Pledge, which encourages billionaires to donate at least half of their wealth to charity. The pledge aims to change social norms around philanthropy and inspire people to give more.
Other philanthropic work
Buffett has also donated to other philanthropic organizations, including the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
I'm not his spokesman. As far as I'm concerned, had one billionaire funded FT6, this election would be a walkover.
I had a concept...donations to endow puplic/government trust funds....I can't even get SSA to advertise that it accepts donations that may have been able to eliminate the 2033 threat of default of the trust funds. One contributor can get a dollar for dollar deduction that could save them.
Absolutely raise taxes for the morbidly rich. But also shame them publicly to raise awareness of their excesses. Where is the paparazzi when we need them?
Thom, you are so right about teaching moral values to the young. Kids in pre- and elementary school need to learn social emotions too - like empathy and compassion! These can be taught. Today's Musk-type billionaires are sociopathic, unable to feel for the conditions of others less fortunate than themselves, narcissistic (a big piece of sociopathy - "whatever I do is good"), irresponsible to their larger communities, able to shrug at others' suffering. Some, like Trump, are even more overtly cruel, enjoying inflicting pain on others, whether as retribution for daring to cross them, or for the hell of it when the opportunity arises. Both planned and opportunistic harm to so-called "enemies within" add more elements of danger to a Trump reinstatement in the White House.
Noblesse oblige was and remains the motto of my first high school, a Catholic, military school in Honolulu, Hawai’i (the “Pearl Harbor law” was still in effect then requiring all males in high school to be in ROTC; we were special because ours was the only high school that was Air Force ROTC, all the others being Army). Putting aside the many failings of the Catholic Church, that high school really lived by that motto, and most of its graduates—none morbidly rich, to be sure—have as well.
Here’s the thing: aside from bragging rights, what possible need does anyone have for a billion dollars? Or a hundred million dollars? Billions of people barely survive in this world, ever more populated because copulation is one of the only forms of entertainment they can, at least in the act, afford. They are too ignorant and too poor to think about the consequences.
That is why a positively confiscatory tax rate with incentives for substantial philanthropy makes sense, as do heavy inheritance taxes. But the morbidly rich have the power now to block all of that, and seem determined to do so. Which will mean, perhaps very soon, the end of democracy, and a return to a world of vigilante justice and violent civil unrest. Why? If the great mass of people see that the morbidly wealthy are bent on hoarding ever more for themselves and their families and friends, and that they are to be made serfs with barely enough to sustain what passes for life, they may realize that they might as well exercise those Second Amendment “rights” the MAGAts bleat about so much. Because, as Janis Joplin sang, truly will it be that “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
One wonders. Will our fifth of November, like the one England celebrates as Guy Fawkes Day, become one of gunpowder, treason and plot? Or is it already, given the forces determined to deny a blue victory by any means? I pray we will at least have that blue victory as a beginning, so that we may have the advantage in fighting to preserve it.
we cannot allow our economic life to be controlled by that small group of men whose chief outlook upon the social welfare is tinctured by the fact that they can make huge profits from the lending of money and the marketing of securities -- an outlook which deserves the adjectives "selfish” and "opportunist.”
Not the first failure of Noblesse Oblige. FDR, 1st Inaugural
Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers' stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men. True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.
You've written on a Hot Topic this morning ☕ Thom. We've reached the point in time where the wealthiest American's are at set to take over Everything that is American, and trun it into something Unrecognizable. We've got to keep Fighting and Get the VOTES OUT. I thank you Thom, for being the True Patriot for the American people and me. Great piece this morning ☕ and will reStack ASAP 💯👍🇺🇸💙🌊
To hell with the ten commandments or any of the other go-to hollow expressions they want posted "in every classroom," it's that brief Galbraith quote that ought to be on display. If kids could recite that from memory rather than the pledge of allegiance, we might get the country back in a right direction.
Wealth is given to those that have no need for it. The spiritual revolution is the only force that can change society where the people simply value those of higher consciousness than all others. We can tell who is of the higher for the most part and those that play the game. More to the point is that when society is aware sufficiently, the community of nations will do what is needed and charity will not be needed. We all are the love and charity that is needed. God bless America and the world.
Noblesse Oblige is NOT dead. I get it that the headline grabbers are way too far into themselves for anyone's health. I deal with wealthy people every day in my career, commercial real estate, and, yes, most of them could care less about the collective. That said, there are groups working to apply private funding to noble causes on a major level. They just don't get the headlines because it does't sell papers...or clicks, i suppose. Here is an example of a group working to amass land parcels for the protection species. Also, I heard of a group of wealthy individuals who have been buying large parcels of land to protect the migration routes of wild herds. So, let's not forget that there still are sane people out there who give a rat's ass about more than themselves: see attached: https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/new-fund-helps-groups-buy-land-quickly-to-protect-threatened-wildlife/
We can't rely on the altruism of the morbidly rich. Tax them!
They are addicted to money, just like other addicts are addicted to drugs.
Yes Jeffery! we cannot expect capital to yield to anything. It's only equitable use is to yield all its power to what is best for a majority of people under its protection. I say protection only in that it must be wielded as a tool to continue supporting economic altruism and this is where gov't by and for the majority of people steps in to always guarantee economic altruism.
We really need the strong hands of a Governing system that has 0 favoritism that works under a rule of law that will guarantee long term altruistic economics for the majority of its citizens. Economic protections under the law
The problem goes deeper than just jiggering the tax code to induce more generosity in those with an overabundance of wealth. The problem is there's a fundamental philosophical conflict between capitalism and democracy, and capitalism is winning by buying out democracy and privatizing it. And it doesn't help that we have always idolized wealth as the ultimate goal in life. That is what has turned a commonwealth for a common purpose into uncommon wealth for a select few.
"...we have always idolized wealth as the ultimate goal in life."
I strongly disagree with that statement. It is a blanket statement that cannot withstand. There are far too many examples in American history to show that it is false. One of the best expressions of this was from FDR and the Four Freedoms. It included the freedom of speech and expression but he expanded it to freedom from want, economic opportunity, employment, social security and health care. These expansions had long been battle cries from a substantial number of advocates, largely by women, that pre-dated FDR by decades. One of my favorites is Emma Goldman.
The current and vast idolization of wealth in recent times, I attribute to RR. I recall a mantra that went something like, "He who dies with the most toys wins." Notice the "he". I recall the overwhelming surge in corporate buy-outs and take-overs, massive lay-offs, quack, quack ... , the surge in defense spending, Northrup... A long time ago, but devastating to the economy, and the people who make this economy run. Don't recall too many details. Fernando was the Dodgers' pitcher, after all.
RR, a B-grade actor, anti-communist, was the best vehicle to begin the construction of the Powell Memo; to de-construct FDR and LBJ's great society of social and economic equity. Those two men and their administrations had a couple of centuries of examples and goals to learn from. Again, many from women, who fought for the rights of workers, largely through Unionization. FDR had a problem with press as we do now. LBJ also. We do now.
The lust for such grand wealth must be given to RR, the ability his administrations gave to corporations, the inability of his administrations to deal with the fall of the USSR adequately as the Marshall Plan had done post-WW2, and really just that sick machismo attitude; "He who dies with the most toys wins:".
No, "we have not always idolized wealth". For most through out history, safety and comfort is okay.
Tax the rich the way the United States used to tax them when we HAD a thriving Middle Class!! This country provides the rich the infrastructure, the police protection, the military protection and the consumer market for the rich - then this country deserves to be paid for it.
That’s just economics!!
It’s what any business would do including those run by the rich.
If the "free market will solve all social problems", why did all the banks & car companies stand in line for handouts, oops, I mean bail outs during the financial crisis of 2008, that was brought about by THEM, not by the little guy. Why were those funds used by the banks to buy up smaller & more struggling banks making the "big banks" even bigger & more rapacious & greedy?
And while the philanthropists of the Robber Barron era may have done good things prior to their deaths let's not forget how they got all that money. They got it by abusing employees, the environment & customers, by fighting against organized labor. There may be foundations now in their names but don't ask the survivors of their oppressive work conditions if they care about the generosity of these businessmen later on in life.
Though, I will say that at least those men & their companies made "things" & while the jobs they provided were dangerous, hard & undervalued there was a product at the end of it. Too many if today's billionaires are financial "wizards". They produce nothing but wealth for themselves. Hedgefund owners, they don't provide a product they work their financial dark arts to make money, that's it, no product, no jobs to speak of, just wealth for themselves.
So Noblesse Oblige, yes, that is a nice thought but we're going to have a hell of time installing that sense of duty in today's rich people.
In the last century the Twilight Club was the sort of thing we should have now, where the most powerful and the most intelligent leaders created benefits to society, like Andrew Carnegie creating the library system. It is little known, and you can read about it here: https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/lets-do-something-already-to-turn
Jesus actually said, "The poor you will always have with you”. (Mark 14:7) Since he told the rich young man to go sell his things and give the money to the poor, I don't think Jesus saw any reason that some should be rich and some should be poor. I don't think income inequality is part of the ideal of the beloved community.
Is Musk religious? Those "old money" families were virtually all aware of the social gospel. Prior to the First World War, the Social Gospel was the religious wing of the progressive movement which had the aim of combating injustice, suffering and poverty in society. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Gospel#:~:text=in%20promoting%20Prohibition.-,Progressives,center%20of%20Social%20Gospel%20activism.
Also, foundations were a tax dodge. The concept of a "trust" was developed by lawyers for Rockefeller. We didn't have an income tax until 1913, 16th Amendment.
People like Musk and Thiel borrow from themselves...and therefore do not have the same kind of tax liabilities that the old money families had.
Although private foundations are exempt from federal income tax, their investment income is subject to an excise tax of 1.39 percent, whereas growth of a donor-advised fund is not taxed.
Gates and Buffet contribute:
From the internet. Donating to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Buffett has donated billions of dollars to the Gates Foundation, including $1.5 billion in 2006. He was also a trustee from 2006 to 2021, helping to shape the foundation's vision and strategies. Buffett's contributions have helped the foundation address global issues like education, health care, and poverty.
Launching the Giving Pledge
In 2010, Buffett and Gates launched the Giving Pledge, which encourages billionaires to donate at least half of their wealth to charity. The pledge aims to change social norms around philanthropy and inspire people to give more.
Other philanthropic work
Buffett has also donated to other philanthropic organizations, including the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
Why doesn't Buffett rally all the billionaires? There's writing about that here: https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/s/billionaires
I'm not his spokesman. As far as I'm concerned, had one billionaire funded FT6, this election would be a walkover.
I had a concept...donations to endow puplic/government trust funds....I can't even get SSA to advertise that it accepts donations that may have been able to eliminate the 2033 threat of default of the trust funds. One contributor can get a dollar for dollar deduction that could save them.
Absolutely raise taxes for the morbidly rich. But also shame them publicly to raise awareness of their excesses. Where is the paparazzi when we need them?
Thom, you are so right about teaching moral values to the young. Kids in pre- and elementary school need to learn social emotions too - like empathy and compassion! These can be taught. Today's Musk-type billionaires are sociopathic, unable to feel for the conditions of others less fortunate than themselves, narcissistic (a big piece of sociopathy - "whatever I do is good"), irresponsible to their larger communities, able to shrug at others' suffering. Some, like Trump, are even more overtly cruel, enjoying inflicting pain on others, whether as retribution for daring to cross them, or for the hell of it when the opportunity arises. Both planned and opportunistic harm to so-called "enemies within" add more elements of danger to a Trump reinstatement in the White House.
Noblesse oblige was and remains the motto of my first high school, a Catholic, military school in Honolulu, Hawai’i (the “Pearl Harbor law” was still in effect then requiring all males in high school to be in ROTC; we were special because ours was the only high school that was Air Force ROTC, all the others being Army). Putting aside the many failings of the Catholic Church, that high school really lived by that motto, and most of its graduates—none morbidly rich, to be sure—have as well.
Here’s the thing: aside from bragging rights, what possible need does anyone have for a billion dollars? Or a hundred million dollars? Billions of people barely survive in this world, ever more populated because copulation is one of the only forms of entertainment they can, at least in the act, afford. They are too ignorant and too poor to think about the consequences.
That is why a positively confiscatory tax rate with incentives for substantial philanthropy makes sense, as do heavy inheritance taxes. But the morbidly rich have the power now to block all of that, and seem determined to do so. Which will mean, perhaps very soon, the end of democracy, and a return to a world of vigilante justice and violent civil unrest. Why? If the great mass of people see that the morbidly wealthy are bent on hoarding ever more for themselves and their families and friends, and that they are to be made serfs with barely enough to sustain what passes for life, they may realize that they might as well exercise those Second Amendment “rights” the MAGAts bleat about so much. Because, as Janis Joplin sang, truly will it be that “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
One wonders. Will our fifth of November, like the one England celebrates as Guy Fawkes Day, become one of gunpowder, treason and plot? Or is it already, given the forces determined to deny a blue victory by any means? I pray we will at least have that blue victory as a beginning, so that we may have the advantage in fighting to preserve it.
More on this topic … FDR again
we cannot allow our economic life to be controlled by that small group of men whose chief outlook upon the social welfare is tinctured by the fact that they can make huge profits from the lending of money and the marketing of securities -- an outlook which deserves the adjectives "selfish” and "opportunist.”
Not the first failure of Noblesse Oblige. FDR, 1st Inaugural
Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers' stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men. True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.
You've written on a Hot Topic this morning ☕ Thom. We've reached the point in time where the wealthiest American's are at set to take over Everything that is American, and trun it into something Unrecognizable. We've got to keep Fighting and Get the VOTES OUT. I thank you Thom, for being the True Patriot for the American people and me. Great piece this morning ☕ and will reStack ASAP 💯👍🇺🇸💙🌊
To hell with the ten commandments or any of the other go-to hollow expressions they want posted "in every classroom," it's that brief Galbraith quote that ought to be on display. If kids could recite that from memory rather than the pledge of allegiance, we might get the country back in a right direction.
Good article .. there’s answers out there .. you have provided a great first step for starting the conversation
Wealth is given to those that have no need for it. The spiritual revolution is the only force that can change society where the people simply value those of higher consciousness than all others. We can tell who is of the higher for the most part and those that play the game. More to the point is that when society is aware sufficiently, the community of nations will do what is needed and charity will not be needed. We all are the love and charity that is needed. God bless America and the world.
Noblesse Oblige is NOT dead. I get it that the headline grabbers are way too far into themselves for anyone's health. I deal with wealthy people every day in my career, commercial real estate, and, yes, most of them could care less about the collective. That said, there are groups working to apply private funding to noble causes on a major level. They just don't get the headlines because it does't sell papers...or clicks, i suppose. Here is an example of a group working to amass land parcels for the protection species. Also, I heard of a group of wealthy individuals who have been buying large parcels of land to protect the migration routes of wild herds. So, let's not forget that there still are sane people out there who give a rat's ass about more than themselves: see attached: https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/new-fund-helps-groups-buy-land-quickly-to-protect-threatened-wildlife/