Politics
The Real Problem With Rich People
Why the top 1% really are to blame for society’s ills.
Since last December, I’ve been researching the sources of Donald Trump’s rise to power. I noted how the 45th President manipulated his base with professional wrestling showmanship and how he created scapegoats to start his populist movement.
But those were merely symptoms of a larger problem. In my journey to understand the Trump voter, all roads led to income inequality.
The Lack of Social Mobility
The problem isn’t so much the top 1% controls so much of the wealth; it’s that they have made social mobility astronomically difficult for everyone else.
According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, political instability happens when the rich and the powerful value personal economic gains over the rest of society.
While this pattern is recognizable for anyone with a passing knowledge of world history — from the French Revolution to China’s numerous dynastic shifts — the wealthy nonetheless fall victim to this trap when they find themselves in stiff competition to stay ahead.
The population and economic changes of this past century have made advancement particularly difficult. As we move towards a…