Super Humans to Save or Rule the Economy?

One of the most disturbing things of inequity within our society is how one individual can become so valued and influential that their insight trumps the judicial and political systems that exist. I am referring to the ‘super’ citizens that are more powerful than politicians, yet are non-elected officials who exert extraordinary control over government policy making. Most even outlast politicians. One person of note is David Rockefeller who “became an emeritus member of the city’s [New York] permanent government[1].” 

Wall St. Rules America

The outlined changes of how wealth has been generated by these ‘super’ citizens show a way in which their power is being vested. Just looking at the aspect of income, I drew parallels to my Economics class where I first learned of the ‘Wall Street’ phenomenon where the CEOs and other top ranking business persons are paid exorbitant amounts of incomes at the expense of their administrative and other service staff. What I mean by their ‘expense’ is that there was no scientific evidence that suggests a firm’s CEO’s skills being worth the salaries and ‘bonuses’ (dare I call them salary as it would imply income which would subject them to a higher tax bracket) they are afforded which winds up being exponentially higher in comparison to a firm’s service workers. Then to find out that it is usually the top 1% of workers in the income distribution that generally get away with the most tax cuts as their taxable income is usually a base salary making it appear as though they earn less than they actually do. However, the majority of their salaries can be sheltered in investments, stocks, dividends and capital gains that are taxed relatively lightly. Thus, the motivation in which to climb the same ladder as your predecessor in a business like this becomes ‘easy wealth’ as opposed to knowledge and skill weighed fairly. The most disturbing aspect of this entire financial circus is that even during our current recession where low to middle income households are struggling to even afford basic necessities, the trends that drive this kind of economic activity has not waned.

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[1] From Welfare State to Real Estate: Regime Change in the New York City, 1974 to the Present, Kim Moody