Once upon a time, there was a place where the prevailing ethic of the very richest people was that monetary self-indulgence was tacky and that wealth was a matter of good fortune, carrying with it an obligation to the Common Good.

Believe it or not, that place was the USA! Where did it go?

The prevailing ethic of today’s billionaire’s club is one of entitlement, superiority, and grandiosity – including flaunting their wealth like the robber barons of old. For example, a ludicrously large “house” is under construction in Florida for one of our modern-day barons, boasting 11 kitchens, five swimming pools, and a 30 car garage.

Worse, the billionaire class is asserting its sense of plutocratic privilege by weaponizing their huge fortunes. They’ve been spending massively (and often secretly) to build a culture of inequality across our land. To their dismay, however, America’s workaday majority is rebelling, with newly-elected democratic populists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposing a 70 percent tax rate on incomes above $10 million. “Oh, the horror,” shrieked billionaires like computer magnate Michael Dell: “Name a country where that’s worked,” he demanded dismissively.

Okay, Michael: How about the United States?

Yes, between the end of World War II in 1945 and Ronald Reagan’s start of coddle-the-rich government in 1981, the top tax rate never fell below 70 percent – and that was a period of unparalleled growth and prosperity for America’s middle class.

Dell, who lives in a sprawling 33,000-square-foot house with all the charm of a shopping mall, confuses value with money and has no grasp of the essential richness of American egalitarianism. We should not be listening to people like him (much less being governed by them) just because they are rich.

“Dell CEO Joins Davos Debate on 70% Tax Rate: ‘Not Supportive,’” Bloomberg, January 23, 2019.

“The Wealthiest Didn’t Always Need $238 Million Penthouses,” The New York Times, January 26, 2019.

“Even in Jaded New York, A $238 Million Penthouse Turns Heads,” The New York Times, January 25, 2019.

“Inside Michael Dell’s Sprawling Property Empire,” Mission Global, March 22, 2018.

“The Lost Decade of the Middle Class,” Pew Research Center, August 22, 2012.