Opinion     

Paranoia of the 1% super rich

China.org.cn, February 7, 2014

• The one percent super rich in the United States have become alarmed as the remaining 99 percent of Americans are becoming increasingly class conscious and determined to fight extreme inequality. As a result, the rich have chosen to go on the offense.

  Tom Perkins, founder of one of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture-capital firms, a hyper-wealthy billionaire thought to be worth US$8 billion, wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) comparing what he describes as the "progressive war on the American one percent" to the treatment of the Jews in Nazi Germany, citing 1938's gruesome "Kristallnacht."

  He became a laughing stock and has since faced much ridicule since the comparison is farfetched -- to say the least. Writing in the Washington Post, Ryan Cooper says Perkins' idea is "so straightforwardly preposterous, so historically ignorant and so frankly paranoid that any person who believes such a thing is clearly beyond convincing."

  Even Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the firm Perkins co-founded, distanced itself from his statement, "We were shocked by his views expressed today in the WSJ and do not agree." Mark Andreesen, Netscape co-founder and venture capitalist, tweeted, "I wish to express my extreme displeasure with Tom Perkins. His positions just go to prove that he is the leading asshole in the state." That is, the state of California, where Perkins lives and to which he refers as "the epicenter of progressive thought."

  Surprisingly, the WSJ editorial page came out strongly in defense of Perkins, claiming "Liberal vituperation makes our letter writer's point." This is not surprising at all since this particular editorial page has always served as the mouthpiece of the super rich one percent and ultra-right proponents. It cannot bear the mention of the class war. Yet it is a fiercest warrior in it.

  Perkin's outbreak of whining victimhood is absurd. There is no state power persecuting the one percent, like the Nazis did to the Jews. On the contrary, state power is very much in the hands of the plutocrats. Nevertheless, those super rich who have long been detached from reality and are accustomed to being treated with deference, are finally waking up to the rising public wrath.

  In fact, the rich, and not just the super rich, had been fighting their class war all along, using state power by buying off key officials and legislators, receiving huge tax breaks, especially from Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, as well as suppressing organized labor and the poor by trashing collective bargaining and the safety net. They also have made skillful use of the media, especially the WSJ. As Josh Marshall points out, "Celebration of wealth and the wealthy has been near the extreme end of…American history."

  Marshall also indicated that it is a "mix of insecurity, a sense of the brittleness of one's hold on wealth, power, privileges, combined with the reality of great wealth and power that breeds a mix of aggressiveness and perceived embattlement."

  Perkins is not the only "one percenter" to come out explicitly against what he calls the "progressives" and advocates of progressive taxation. In 2010, Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of the Blackstone Group, also likened proposals to close tax loopholes for hedge fund and private-equity managers to "Hitler invading Poland in 1939."

  What they are facing now, is the awakening of the 99 percent.

  Most Americans used to consider themselves to be "middle class." This is turning out to be an illusion. As The New York Times points out, a large portion of the 91 percent of Americans who consider themselves middle class were wrong. Consider health insurance: many Americans with incomes significantly above the poverty line are, or until very recently that is, uninsured and many more stand at the risk of losing coverage. The Republican right is now hysterically fighting Obamacare.

  In addition, college education has become far less accessible as the financial aid extended to public institutions is on the decline.

  In contrast, universal health care and a good basic education are available in other advanced countries.

  The stark reality is dawning on the 99 percent in the United States. They have a tough fight ahead of them.

  The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/zhaojinglun.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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