Let them eat cake

It is better to concede some ground and retain your position as a frontrunner than to fight for each inch and risk losing everything. There is a general anti-capitalist/anti-ultra-rich sentiment going around and it is spreading quickly. In the states, it is evident by the somewhat “radical” stances taken by the front runners for the presidential candidate in the Democratic Party. The understanding of radical is through the Western lens of capitalism, free markets, and hyper-individualism. There are talks of implementing a wealth tax and breaking up companies that dominate markets such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon. These suggestions have gone from being the ramblings of communist anti-freedom madmen to a more mainstream conversation and public opinion is swaying. The middle class that vehemently defended the wealthy because they had somewhat delusional ambitions of one day joining the 1% is dwindling by the day and the voices of the disgruntled are becoming deafening. 
The response of the wealthy to this unrest will determine how society finds a way forward. If the rich carry on being dismissive of the cries of the downtrodden and label them as lazy and entitled, the outcome will be terrible for all. The rich are responding to the poor as Marie Antoinette did to the French masses who needed bread. She responded with, “Let them eat cake.” They ate her instead. 
The wealthy need to acknowledge that there is a problem and they must take the blame for their role in it. They need to frame the discourse from “is it ethical for someone to be a billionaire” to “is it ethical for there to be billionaires while some don’t know what they are going to eat for their next meal”. That changes the enemy from being the billionaires themselves and the accumulation of wealth to there being poverty in a society that also produces billionaires. This way the wealthy can also become a part of the solution without necessarily giving up their wealth and status. Concessions will have to be made and they will not be light. There needs to be a wealth tax, companies need to treat employees better and chronic medication that people need to live should be affordable if not free. These reforms will cost money and the wealthy will feel the leakage in their pockets. However, it is the better option for them if they want to continue to enjoy the luxuries that they have grown accustomed to. 
You can’t stop a river from getting to the ocean, but you can divert its path so that it doesn’t wash away your village, but instead, waters your fields. 

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