GREAT WEALTH IS:
1. Nearly always an accident of birth;
2. Virtually unobtainable through legal and ethical hard work;
3. Often amassed through crimes and human rights abuses;
4. Protected by “democratic” governments above all else;
5. Tremendously expensive to protect;
6. Protected with tax dollars paid by the rest of society;
7. Least needy and deserving of government protection;
8. A remnant of feudalism and the notion of divine property rights passed from generation to generation, without regard to the dire needs of billions of other people;
9. The primary motivator behind extreme greed, the most destructive force on the planet;
10. Not needed by those who possess it beyond a tiny percentage;
11. The only potential resource through which a sizable portion of the world’s social problems could be expeditiously remedied. “Justice delayed too long is justice denied.” – Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall;
12. Increasing through the magic of compound interest and economic opportunities that are not available to people of lesser means — leaving a smaller percentage of total wealth for the rest of society. “The rich get richer.”
13. At war with the needs of the poor. The greed underlying permanent retention of great wealth leads the rich and powerful to thwart efforts to provide a minimal standard of living and dignity to all people, and to dismantle existing social safety nets such as bankruptcy and welfare. “The poor get poorer.”
14. A primary beneficiary of wholesale ignorance produced by public schools that fail to provide basic, accurate knowledge of history, government, law and economics that would enable the poor to understand the injustices perpetrated against them from birth. Due to the “bad economy” many schools have stopped teaching any subject, such as art, music or even phys. ed, that doesn’t provide immediately identifiable post-secondary job skills. In this environment the subjects of history, government and economics are taught only reluctantly and superficially. The subject of law is ignored completely, as inapplicable to the real world as art and music. The last thing the multinational corporations responsible for the permanently “bad economy” (for workers) need is for employees to understand history, government, law and economics. They might realize the benefits of unionization. They might realize when their rights are being violated. “The poor get dumber.”
15. A primary beneficiary of a public educational system that lies about history, celebrates the status quo and misleads children into believing that all people are created equal and have an equal chance of success and happiness in life. This false belief causes the most ignorant and needy members of society to vote against their economic interests. “The poor get defrauded.”