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It’s Time to Abolish Billionaires
The existence of billionaires is a symptom of a manifestly unjust society that cannot be justified to those who lose out.
Yesterday it was reported that Jeff Bezos increased his wealth by $13 billion in single day. Just this increase in his wealth is 30 times more than The Queen’s £350 million net worth. His current net worth ($189 billion) is just a little bit less than the entire economy of Greece ($218 billion) and according to a recent estimate, he makes $2,489 per second. This means that if he walked past a suitcase full of money, it would be barely worth his time to pick it up.
To say that he has ‘earned’ this money would be an abuse of language, because to earn something is to morally deserve to have it. It entails acquiring something in a way that could be justified to those who lose out. Such a defence cannot be mounted because it’s impossible to justify an institutional arrangement that allows this outcome to happen.
This is not to say that I don’t think Jeff Bezos worked hard. I don’t deny that he did and that his entrepreneurial activity has led to the growth of a company that, despite its faults, makes our lives as consumers easier. I accept the argument that inequalities of outcome are required to motivate people to engage in productive…
