Wealth and Power Addicts: Our Overlords Are Heartless Hoarders

In fact, I’m one of them. The vast, growing disconnect between the US’s professed “democratic values” and ideals and our stark on-the-ground reality has become too much to bear. It’s just… too much. Way too much.

It’s too unfair.
Too painful.
Too white-centric.
Too cruel.
Too unbearable.

People’s rage, fear, and pain are in the air now, circulating and swirling around us. We can feel the fear and anger escalating, all around us. It’s very palpable.

Many Americans are reaching a breaking point. Some of us are already… snapping. Thus, we’re seeing more and crazier attacks of all kinds, ranging from mass shootings to violent sexual abuse to assassinations of CEOs to multiple assassination attempts on our current (p)Resident. Misogyny, racism, religion-based hatred, and classism are all on the rise.

Meanwhile, the ranks of the multi-billionaires keep growing, and the world is on the verge of seeing its first-ever trillionaire, most likely Elon Musk.

How to conceptualize a TRILLION dollars

This is quite a significant and depraved milestone. For those who are math-averse or simply uninformed, a trillionaire is someone who has amassed over 1,000 billion dollars. Since a billion equals a thousand million, basic math tells us that a trillionaire has amassed a MILLION MILLION DOLLARS, or $1,000,000,000,000!

To help us grasp these enormous sums, a helpful essay uses the following illustration: a million seconds equals 11.5 days — less than two weeks — while a billion seconds equals 31.7 years. And a trillion seconds? That works out to a staggering 31,689 years — far longer than human civilization has even existed!

This simple comparison shows how outrageous and unethical it is to “own” a trillion dollars. That amount is far more than 1,000 people — or even 5,000 people — could burn through in an entire lifetime. A trillion dollars, divided by 5,000, would still give each person $200,000,000!

Yet, here we are — about to birth the world’s first trillionaire. One single person. What’s wrong with this picture?

. . .

Remember when having a million dollars meant you were very wealthy? That’s not the case anymore. These days, to be considered truly “wealthy,” you must have five million or more. And the mega-wealthy have at least 500 million to a billion. But it gets worse: the super-mega-wealthy “need” five billion or more to qualify for this ultimate “elite” status.

In today’s US, becoming a millionaire means almost nothing — and it sure doesn’t imply great wealth and ease anymore. Today, even millionaires complain about their high bills and problems making ends meet. Unconscionably, anyone who’s anyone in the US now ‘needs’ $30+ million in assets — and preferably much, much more. Billions more.

I’m sorry, but this is all completely crazy. As in, totally bonkers.

Here’s why, in a nutshell.

Extreme wealth and power hoarding are addictive diseases

Not long ago, I wrote an essay titled “Everything We’re Doing is Ass-Backward and Upside-Down.” That exact description applies in spades to our worship of wealth and power. The thing we fail to recognize, over and over again, is that the wealthiest and most “powerful” among us are actually nothing more than extreme hoarders and out-of-control, greedy narcissists. Put differently, they are major, unrepentant addicts who are totally in the grip of their addiction(s) and endless greed.

Wealth hoarding is a highly dangerous, socially-destructive addiction; it leads to endless lust for even more wealth. Power hoarding is also a dangerous, socially-destructive addiction that always seeks even more power over others. Just like any other escalating addiction, they create huge problems for both the addict and those around or connected to the addict.

In the case of wealth and power addictions, however, the primary negative effects seem to impact society at large and the economic functioning of our society. These socially-approved (no, promoted) addictions may create emotional or social problems for the addict/hoarder, but they always and inevitably create deprivation, problems, and deep despair for the rest of us.

It’s obvious why. Both wealth and power addictions concentrate money and power in the hands of the few, while withholding or stripping money and effective power from the vast majority. That’s why abusive “end-stage” capitalism, as practiced in the US, is inherently anti-democratic and, worse, deeply antisocial.

In truth, the US has created the world’s first and most powerful “anti-society” — and our reverence for extreme wealth and power-hoarding is lead example #1. We adore our sickest, most self-centered wealth addicts/hoarders and power addicts. In the back of our minds, many of us probably believe (as we’ve been heavily trained to) that with enough hard work and effort, we too can become super-wealthy and super-powerful.

Except, for 99.9% of us that “la-la land” capitalist belief is pure, escapist bullshit.

‘We the People’ are fed up — and getting desperate

Of course, these days, the allure of this constant capitalist BS is wearing thin. Deep in our hearts and souls, we know this crapola is just that: idiotic, elitist nonsense that leaves 99+% of us high and dry, stranded and struggling to survive. The potent allure of super-wealth and endless power is starting to collapse — and woe to all the wealth and power addicts and hoarders when this widening collapse reaches critical mass.

There are powerful historical precedents for what happens when a society’s wealth and power imbalances reach insane levels — as is now happening in the US. No one likes being lorded over by ruthless kings… or power-addled politicians or CEOs… or drug lords… or the super-wealthy. And when enough “average citizens” get sick and tired of being heavily oppressed and ripped off, both economically and politically, and enough rage, disgust, and distrust build up in them, then suddenly — WHAM! You’ve got an active, ongoing revolution on your hands.

All the greedy wealth and power addicts/hoarders would do well to remember what happened to the wealthy, powerful “elites” during and after the French Revolution. Many of them literally lost their heads.

The big problem “we the people” now face, however, is that a dominant feature of wealth and power addiction/hoarding is total denial that there’s any problem! To wealth and power addicts/hoarders, it’s ‘obvious’ that more is always better… and if other people suffer as a result, well, that’s a bit unfortunate, but “that’s life.”

. . .

These addicts/hoarders are characterized by unquenchable greed, arrogance, and heartlessness. Thus, it’s highly unlikely that they will hear the cries, pain, and suffering of those they rip off, oppress, and hurt. They operate in a “separate” realm from the rest of us, and don’t care who they hurt or how they undermine society.

Ironically, their arrogance and heartlessness may prove their undoing. Their addictions make them, in effect, deaf and blind. When they can’t or won’t hear or see the suffering of the masses… well, the scenario I outlined above starts to take shape. Yes, greedy wealth and power addicts/hoarders should remember what happened to the wealthy, powerful “elites” during and after the French Revolution.

But they probably won’t. Almost certainly. And we all know what comes next.