No Man Is an Island No Matter How Rich He Is
The Century Foundation recently held a conference titled "Billionaires and Their Impact" to examine, well, billionaires. Seems like we got a lot more of them than we used to.
This year Forbes magazine listed 1,125 billionaires in the world, compared to 946 in 2007—and a measly 140 billionaires in 1986, the first year of the publication's ranking.
They're multiplying, but none of them are you so it might be a good idea to find out what they plan to do with the planet, seeing as how they own it - or think they do. You can see a bunch of videos of the conference here, including my recommendation: my buddy David Cay Johnston of the NYT talking about how billionaires who don't think they owe nobody nothin' actually owe a lot of people a lot, people without whom they would still be sweeping floors at the Hardie's.
And yes, that includes - especially includes - Senor Bill G.
(Videos are in QuickTime, which I don't know hot to post here or I'd post a couple. There's a bunch of them and some of them are...surprising.)
- Original article
- FILED UNDER: Guest Blogger
- August 7, 2008
Pook, read "It Can't Happen Here".
Sinclair Lewis was remarkably prescient in his 1935 novel describing the political rise and ultimate election of a fascist leader here in America (Lewis is a Pulitzer Prize winning author who also wrote powerful classics that examined developing American culture such as "Babbit", "Elmer Gantry", and "Arrowsmith").
Lewis wrote it in just a couple of weeks of intense writing, having watched the rise of fascism in Europe. It is remarkable to note that this was a full four years before Hitler's invasion of Poland.
I read it over a year ago and have had time to think about it... It grows more powerful... Stunning, really.
It chronicles the confluence of MEDIA, EVANGELICAL RIGHT-WING POLITICS, and TRUMPTED UP TERRORISM HYSTERIA that leads to ordinary citizens being locked up and tortured in internment camps.
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It can't happen here??... Yes it can.
Of course in those days, the media was radio... Today President Cowboy-Hat admonishes the Chinese, not for economic and political oppression... Not because they suppress free speech...Not for secular human rights violations...BUT BECAUSE THEY REJECT JESUS.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." - Sinclair Lewis
- parent
By A GAugust 11, 2008 - 1:44pm