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One thing about the tea party Republicans in Congress is that they do know who butters their biscuits. Several have recently rushed forward with an anguished plea in defense of Wall Street barons, CEOs, and billionaires: “Stop the vilification of wealthy people,” is their cry.
A crusade to protect pampered plutocrats from having to hear the public’s scornful words about them is not likely to draw much support from… well, from the public. Still, it is true that being a 1 percenter is not an easy burden to shoulder. Yes, they do have money and power, but don’t you see, they never have enough. If your sense of self-worth is tied up in your net worth, then what if your net is comparatively small?
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It’s important for us riff-raff to realize that there are the rich – and then there are THE RICH. The relativity of status within the 1 percent creates enormous stress, even feelings of wealth inadequacy. They’re constantly thinking: “Is his bigger than mine?” Imagine if you had to live with that!
Perhaps you didn’t know, but the average household income for the 1 percent as a whole is a mere $1.26 million a year. Okay, that’s rich, but it’s not RICH. For that honorific, you have to step it up many notches and climb into the elite class of the richest one-tenth of 1 percenters. Their average household wealth is $6.37 million a year. Now that’s money.
Yet, it’s not enough. Those elites are looked down on by an even thinner slice of net worthies: The royal class of the richest one one-hundredth of 1 percenters. This is the stratosphere where the richy-richiest of THE RICH dwell, making ends meet on an average household income of $31 million a year.
Come on, people, have some feeling for the psychic pain of those who’re struggling to keep up with the one one-hundredths of 1 percent. It’s a tough world up there.
“Even Among the Richest of the Rich, Fortunes Diverge,” The New York Times, February 11, 2014.