The Narrative Of Prosperity

I saw this story today about an unnamed "businessman" who is putting his $70 million personal jet up for sale:

https://news.yahoo.com/businessman-selling-brand-bombardier-global-122100807.html

My initial reaction was "what's the purpose of such a story?" After all, the vast majority of people reading it will NEVER possess such an extravagance.

The answer was not long in coming, as I soon came across THIS essay:

https://www.epsilontheory.com/a-new-gilded-age/

It's fairly lengthy, but since today is a holiday you may have time to read it. I think it explains the mentality (if that's the proper term) of the ultra rich and where their new gilded age may be headed.

This paragraph near the end seems to offer some hope for the rest of us:

Whoever among us works to put an end to this New Gilded Age, who unlocks the power of real capitalism and real democracy to create multi-generational prosperity, will have performed an act of both clear eyes and full hearts.

I couldn't agree more.

But anyone who tries to do such a thing will have some fierce, powerful enemies ... including all those who own $70 million private jets and mega mansions. They are the ones who control the narrative of prosperity, and they'll fight us tooth and nail to maintain (and even increase) that control.

By the way, since today is Memorial Day 2020 and since war seems to be an essential part of America's narrative of prosperity, I think it's only fitting to also read Mark Twain's essay The War Prayer. You can find it here:

https://www.antiwar.com/orig/twain1.html