by Barry A. Liebling
In the United States – but also worldwide – the leftist elite are experiencing a gigantic emotional rush. They are simultaneously screaming in outrage and (not paradoxically) feeling tremendous pleasure.
With the initial public offering of SpaceX Elon Musk has become the first individual to become a trillionaire.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/elon-musk-trillionaire-spacex-152eb280
On cue, the most well-known Marxist-democratic socialist-communist characters – which includes government officials (in and out of office), academicians, and public “intellectuals” – called for action. They whine that no ordinary person should be allowed to have such a large amount of wealth. The huge stash of money must be confiscated immediately, and policies have to be put in place to prevent any private person (who is not part of the leftist cabal) from accumulating so much money.
The woke mob went on to complain that a trillionaire’s stash should not be available to benefit the person who created it. Allowing producers to keep and use what they make according to their own judgement is “selfish and anti-social.” Instead, the wealth should be looted, and the proceeds ought to fund projects that are endorsed by the self-righteous thieves. The complainers assert that a trillion dollars should be used to provide healthcare, housing, education, food, and other goodies to people who are deemed to be “in need.” The best policy is to have progressive-left experts decide what will be done with expropriated money.
Of course, many conservative, libertarian, and free market advocates immediately countered that the huge evaluation of SpaceX was a good thing. New wealth is being created, and it is not being taken away from anyone. Generating wealth is not a zero-sum game. Productivity and ingenuity causes the size of the pie to expand. Musk’s efforts made a lot of people besides himself tremendously rich. And if SpaceX succeeds the prosperity will be spread widely.
Note that the critics of the woke mob frequently assert that leftists do not understand how the world works. They mistakenly assume that progressives do not realize that wealth is not static and fixed, that it is always created by intelligent human effort (or destroyed by folly).
But the leading members of the “progressive elite” do understand these things. And to the would-be nomenklatura how riches come into existence is beside the point. The essential issue is more about psychology than economics.
Pull back and consider how the architects of cultural leftism “think”. Their main concern is being able to realize their lust for aggression. They enjoy taking things away from people. They rejoice when they can destroy property and harm those who are not members of their clique. The leftist elite ostentatiously pretend they are expropriating wealth so they can shower it on the downtrodden. But the giving away part is a ruse – a way of posing as altruistic. In fact, their core desire is a yearning to boss people around and to demolish things that are valuable.
When leading woke advocates rail against Musk and his trillionaire status they are upset that a remarkable accomplishment occurred without their permission. When they wail that they want to take the money away, they are not really concerned with how (or even if) the stolen riches are spent. The forced taking of private property is the essence of what gives them satisfaction.
Why assert that the existence of a trillionaire gives leftists pleasure? Because they are addicted to raging against human achievement. If Musk’s efforts have spectacular results the envious knaves have another target to attack with gusto. Recall that before the panic that there is a trillionaire, progressive advocates were upset that billionaires exist. And before that millionaires were their prey. No independent productive person is exempt from the baleful Neo-Marxist gaze.
What can we learn from recurring leftist hostile aggression? Some people have a malevolent spirit and express themselves through politics. And these bad actors must be counterbalanced by those of us who understand that human productivity is a virtue.
*** See other entries at AlertMindPublishing.com in “Monthly Columns.” ***