If you think the Koch brothers are THE bad billionaires, be aware, there are plenty of them.
I've written repeatedly that billionaires are more likely to commit crimes-- getting, keeping and increasing their wealth. One way I track billionaires is I have signed up for google alerts, so, when the word billionaire or billionaires is included in an article, I get an email providing the link to the article or articles..
I received an alert today. One day's worth of articles on billionaires. Here's a sampling of the links:
There are an estimated 2000-3000 billionaires. It's estimated that 8-12% of CEOs are psychopaths, even higher for sociopaths. I think it's way higher for
billionaires.
We're just talking about one day's news here. We're just talking about the extremely rare situations where billionaires' PR damage control experts couldn't keep the stories out of the news, and the even rarer situation where they get caught.
Billionaires are the most dangerous predators on the planet.
Just to be clear:
Psychopaths are predators.
Sociopaths are predators.
Narcissists are predators.
Billionaires are predators-- and be assured, at least 90% of them, probably more, are proud of it. And frankly, like the wolves in the image above, it is their nature. It is our responsibility as compassionate humans to deal with predators. We don't put sheep in vulnerable open fields. We don't allow our democracy or our commons to be vulnerable to predators either, even if it is their nature. We keep what we value and hold dear safe from predators, safe from threats and we keep the predators and threats away from what we hold dear. We restrict and restrain them.
Some people will suggest that we are jealous of what they have. Right. We're also jealous of the slime that snails produce and fish scales. They are different. They threaten our commons, our most precious freedoms and rights. It is not a matter of jealousy. It is a matter of recognizing their nature and reining it in so they do not disrupt the ecosystems we share.
Oh, and some predators, like rogue tigers and bears, when they become particularly dangerous, are killed. I'm not saying to kill billionaires. I'm saying that they shouldn't exist, as I've written about in other articles in this series.