Princes or Paupers?

Recently, Talking Points Memo published a piece featuring three of these put-upon plutocrats.

Venture capitalist Tom Perkins equates himself with a Jew in Nazi Germany:

Writing from the epicenter of progressive thought, San Francisco, I would call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on its one percent, namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American one percent, namely the rich.

Yup.  Our 1 percent have been forced to wear badges identifying themselves, to give up their businesses and professions, and have been arrested in the middle of the night.

Real estate investor Sam Zell echoed Perkins’s grieving:

The one percent are getting pummeled because it’s politically convenient to do so.  The 1 percent simply work harder than everyone else.

As someone with two advanced degrees, who has on more than one occasion had to rely on unemployment compensation and food stamps to get by, I find this work harder nonsense offensive.

Here’s one more riff on 1 percent paranoia.  Bernie Marcus, a founder of Home Depot, said in 2011 that many CEOs refrain from criticizing President Obama out of fear of retribution.

This self-pity of the 1 percent is completely without basis in fact.  In 2013, Wall Street saw its biggest profits since the 1990s.

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Michele Petrovsky is the Webmaster at Tools4Change, Author of “Cathedral or Bazaar?  Fix Higher Education – Teach by the Seat of Your Pants ,”  “Donkey Dharma,” and “Quick Guide to Linux.” Petrovsky resides in Glen Mills, Pa.

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