Thank The Super Rich? You’re Not Getting It, Boris
Posted: 19/11/2013 | Author: The Political Idealist | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Boris Johnson, capitalism, Conservatives, Inequality, Mayor of London, Politics, social justice, socialism |6 Comments »The airwaves are full of controversial mayors at the moment: the war of words and votes between Toronto’s Mayor and its City Council is being watched with bemusement by the world. Bill de Blasio’s landslide election victory in New York is still sending political shockwaves. And now, the Conservatives’ Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has just endangered his moderate image and the public goodwill that has carried him to City Hall in a Labour heartland.
For in an article in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph, Johnson said that “zillionaires” are a “put upon minority” like the homeless. He proposed automatic knighthoods for this oppressed minority, on the grounds that they keep us all in jobs out of the goodness of their hearts. Here is the best bit of the article:
It is my duty to stick up for every put-upon minority in the city – from the homeless to Irish travellers to ex-gang,members to disgraced former MPs. But there is one minority that I still behold with a benign bewilderment, and that is the very, very rich.
These are the people who put bread on the tables of families who – if the rich didn’t invest in supercars and employ eau de cologne-dabbers – might otherwise find themselves without a breadwinner. We should stop any bashing or moaning or preaching or bitching and simply give thanks for the prodigious sums of money that they are contributing to the tax revenues of this country, and that enable us to look after our sick and our elderly and to build roads, railways and schools.
That’s right: our grandparents are contracting hypothermia, our young have ever fewer prospects, and our workers are watching their wage packets decline… In short, much of the nation faces economic insecurity to varying levels, and where has the money gone? National wealth is growing in most developed countries, but I make an informed point when I say that, in all Anglo-American model economies, you must look up to see where the cash has gone. Our utilitiy and financial services companies have surging profits and our chief executives’ wages and pensions are awarded generous increases every year.
So when Mr Johnson cites the richest 1% paying 30% of all income taxes, we should ask two questions: 1) What percentage of all income do they have? I bet it’s at or above 30%. 2) Whose wealth is it anyhow?
When Mr Johnson’s “zillionaire” pals get to accumulate such obscene levels of wealth, it’s more often than not because they’ve syphoned off the money from the proletariat. The managers and owners of this world are not the producers, and should be aware that their role, though important, is not the central one. Certainly, Johnson is right to say that it isn’t a crime to be super-rich. Provided the money is earned, in the true sense of the word, and one lives up to the responsibilities that come with such privileges. But do we need to feel grateful to the Bob Diamonds of this world?
There are few people who could take such a question seriously or answer it politely if they could.
