The truth about the villains
of the
Christmas season
By Andrew Bissell-
Arrow Staff
"Harry Potter is the
richest, meanest man in town." Those of you who saw the recent FHS
drama production It's a Wonderful Life observed an image of the rich that
has become ingrained in American lore. It's an image that abounds on television,
in literature and plays, and in the rhetoric of politicians. Especially
around Christmas time, the stock image of a wealthy person as greedy,
miserly, and downright mean begins to flood our popular culture.
The rich take quite a beating around Christmas time.
Crotchety characters like Ebenezer Scrooge present an unfair stereotype
of the more affluent members of our society as despiteful, snooty, and
avaricious codgers who built their resplendent wealth by being incredibly
stingy and doing their best to scam their fellow man. The rich that populate
American media rarely, if ever, make worthwhile contributions to society.
This portrayal, however, is at odds with reality.
In truth, rich people are some of the most productive
members of our society. Donald Trump, Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey are
several famous examples of fabulously wealthy people who amassed their
fortunes by performing some service or making a significant contribution
of some kind to society. The same is true of most of America's six million
millionaires, multimillionaires, and billionaires.
Rich people are also derided for being selfish and having
too much money. These are strange criticisms to level against some of
the most philanthropic individuals in the history of the world. Bill Gates,
whose total wealth amounted to $66.8 billion at the time this editorial
was written (it's in a state of constant flux), has donated well over
$1 billion to charitable causes. Some would criticize Gates for spending
only a small fraction of his holdings on the needy. They should remember,
though, that Gates' donations add up to a much larger sum, and have done
much more to help the needy in America, than any but the most successful
government or private egalitarian programs.
America's rich contribute to society not only through
their entrepreneurship and voluntary charity, but also through that ubiquitous
and patently involuntary method known as taxation. Someone earning a salary
of $1,000,000, even if he retains the services of a high-priced and very
effective tax lawyer, will contribute more than $200,000 to the coffers
of various levels of government. That's $200,000 worth of schools and
roads that the government now has the means to build, a contribution much
more significant than that of an honorable monk who has taken a vow of
poverty.
So, if America's moguls and magnates are such a boon
to society, why do they have such a bad reputation? Some of the blame
should rest with politicians, many of whom manage to keep their jobs by
feeding the flames of class tension and promising to redistribute wealth
from the upper class into the pockets of their constituency. Some blame
should rest with dingbat Hollywood screenwriters, who find it easy and
convenient to construct a villainous character and distance him from the
audience by bestowing riches upon him. Finally, we ourselves should take
the blame for buying into these myths and letting them spark in us unfounded
feelings of envy toward those who enjoy greater material wealth than ourselves.
Many would take issue with the idea that the rich make
"contributions" to society; many believe, rather, that the rich
are simply out to make money. While this may be true, it's important to
keep in mind that the motives of the rich are inconsequential; it's what
they actually do that counts. In their "selfish" pursuit of
riches, America's tycoons power American industry and carry a huge share
of the tax burden. As P.J. O'Rourke wrote in Eat the Rich, "Rich
people are heroes. They don't usually mean to be, but that's their problem,
not ours."
Rather than being chastised during the holiday season,
wealthy people should be commended for being the driving force behind
America's economy and powering philanthropic enterprises. If American
popular culture had any sense of reality, it would cast rich people as
the heroes, not the villains, of the Christmas season.
