The world will have its first trillionaire within a decade

How much power and privilege can society tolerate before we face the next revolution?

Consider the statistics. There are more billionaires than ever, and they are richer than they have ever been before (Forbes). The world’s five richest men (there are no women in the top 18, and only 15 in the top 100) have more than doubled their fortunes since 2020 —at a rate of $14 million per hour— while nearly five billion people have been made poorer. If current trends continue, the world will have its first trillionaire within a decade, but poverty won’t be eradicated for another 229 years. (Oxfam). Why do the rich get richer, even during global crises? (AlJazeera) Where does their wealth come from, and how has inequality gotten this bad?

The thought of having billions of euros or dollars is simply bewildering to me. This feeling coalesces with frustration, anger, and indignation when I read about someone like Elon Musk, who can buy Twitter and ban users he disagrees with, and at the same time start an online war with governments over their alleged attacks on freedom of speech. Or Rupert Murdoch, billionaire who founded the “fake news” factory Fox News. Or Silvio Berlusconi, now deceased, who was prime minister of Italy four times, but also a billionaire, scandalous playboy, and media mogul. Or Donald Trump, convicted criminal, former president, billionaire and founder of Truth Social. The list goes on. More than 11% of all billionaires worldwide have held or sought political office directly. And there are myriad other ways in which their money is indirectly translated into power, as I’ll talk about below.

One of the first things you might think about regarding the rich is the frequent scandals. Forgetting the endless stream of court cases against Donald Trump, take, for example, Jeffrey Epstein and his (as yet undisclosed) list of rich and powerful friends who attended his private parties with young if not underage sex workers and sex slaves. Or the Panama Papers, listing thousands of wealthy tax dodgers from around the world. Or think of all the corporate scandals, financial scandals, oil spills, etc, that hardly ever seem to lead to any jail time for rich and influential culprits. Just like the banks during the financial crisis of 2008, some individuals just seem “too big to fail.”

All of this should trigger concern. It paints a picture of power and privilege. Even if our wealthy elites were pure of heart – and to my mind, they are humans just like the rest of us, but with more means and temptations to be corrupt – we should still wonder about the influence they have on democracy, freedom, justice, and equality for the rest of us. Let me list four reasons why.

“The fundamental concept in social science is Power,
 in the same sense in which Energy is the fundamental concept in physics” 
(Bertrand Russell, Power – A New Social Analysis)

Take, for instance, the influence of the ultra-rich on culture. By virtue of their wealth and fame, people like Musk, Soros, and Bezos can have an influence on the thoughts of millions. For better or worse, when they engage in philanthropy, or the support of universities, museums, and the arts, they can help determine what we value and what we teach our youth (and what we don’t).

Another argument you may come across is the climate problem. Billionaires contribute a million times more to the climate crisis than the average Joe. And their behavior often sets an example that others are more likely to follow.

Thirdly, and perhaps most worryingly, is the effect of billionaires on democracy. Especially in a country like the USA, political donations, lobbying, and the control of media outlets are ways of not just controlling the political narrative, but of making policies that are to their benefit. In a nutshell, when you’re that rich, you can rig the economy in your own favor.

This ties into the last issue on my list: that of inheritance and social mobility. Wealth, as was shown in a study of 700 years of Florence’s history, tends to stay concentrated in the same families. Reports of inequality paint a picture of little to no social mobility in the Netherlands.

A lot of these examples are touched on by philosopher and economist Ingrid Robeyns’ in her book on Limitarism, which has been turning heads recently. Robeyns argues against extreme wealth and for limiting the maximum amount that an individual should be allowed to own. Her point is simply this: on top of all the societal problems, extreme wealth is morally indefensible.

So I’ll leave you with the question: how much power and privilege can society tolerate before things explode in violence? What do you think? Join me and my colleagues in the coming weeks as we try to figure out where we stand.

Klaas P van der Tempel, program maker at Studium Generale TU Delft

Check out SG’s related events this quarter on the theme: Power and Privilege

This quarter is all about wealth, greed, and the roots of inequality. With more billionaires than ever, global crises in the 21st century have enriched the few while billions have been made poorer. Can our society keep sustaining this divide? And if not, where will you stand in the next mass uprising?