NOTE: Several family members were brutally slaughtered recently, so I will take a break from writing. Their deaths erased my affinity for writing about politics or the economy, thus I'll later limit myself to health and brainpower in addition to completing my book on rapidly overcoming racism and bigotry. BTW, the two men who murdered my father are still on the lam; I am offering up to $100,000 for information leading to their arrest and conviction.
The danger of speaking out—or not speaking out
Bill Gates epitomizes the danger of speaking out: hoping to address a pressing global issue, he proposed a remedy for reducing carbon emissions via population control that led many people to conclude he is a monster with bizarre and flawed ideas of how to achieve that goal. Hoping to squelch some of the criticism, he released a halfhearted explanation of his rationale that did nothing to deter his detractors.
My point is not to criticize or defend his proposal but to highlight the personal risk inherent in speaking out on sensitive issues that polarize people. This likely explains why so many prominent people choose not to speak out, even though society may benefit from their ideas. Instead, they cede the stage to Joe Sixpack and politicians who are masters of demagoguery and campaigning, not thinking up novel solutions to pressing problems. So no matter if you agree or disagree with Gates's plan, you should give him credit for having the guts to speak out, not cower in silence, hoping someone else will solve the problem.
The legions of wealthy or otherwise prominent people who choose to shy away from political, economic, scientific, or social debates likely think they are better off keeping quiet. Perhaps they are in the short run, but they will eventually regret not becoming involved. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to look at the world and realize that it is run by people who are bereft of great ideas. Instead of deep thinking and cogent discussions that solve problems, they pat themselves on the back for using divisive platitudes and rehashing freeze-dried ideas from bygone American politicians.
Years ago, as virtually everyone was convinced that the United States was destined to be the world's indomitable economic superpower, in the late 1980s I read the writing on the wall and concluded that we were headed for an economic collapse so severe it will result in civil unrest. In a book I published in the 1990s, I predicted this will culminate in a civil war. That seemed like an extreme prognostication at the time, but some prominent people now agree with me. For example, in a radio interview on Bob Brinker's Moneytalk, Thomas Mackell, then Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, discussed the possibility of intergenerational warfare in the United States.
On August 4th 2009, Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee and the man who Obama initially selected to be Secretary of Commerce, said that “we’re basically on the path to a banana-republic-type of financial situation in this country” within 10 years. “We're going to undermine fundamentally the quality of life for our children by doing this. […] It will be hard for our kids to buy a car, buy a house, or send their kids to college. The standard of living will drop.”
As our standard of living drops, anger and resentment will brew in millions of Americans who feel entitled to a good life. Rather than put their thinking caps on and solve problems that are solvable (I proposed some solutions in this blog and have many to add), they will resort to violence in desperation to achieve their objectives. The net result of that violence is predicted by history: it will fail and result in a net loss.
So where does that leave the prominent people? Sitting pretty on their piles of gold? Not likely. They will be running like scared rabbits for safety or rapidly cooling to room temperature. As an ER doctor, I've seen how viciously violent people can be—and I'm not speaking only of sociopaths and others with mental illness (learn how to spot a sociopath). Given the right provocation, even people who've led exemplary lives can become murderous savages. For example, I was able to peer deep inside the skull of one patient, without a CT scan or MRI, after his best friend ventilated his skull with a bullet that erased most of what he had north of the eyebrows. In another case, my predominantly liberal yuppie town was shocked when a heretofore perfect gentleman massacred a rich business owner in the parking lot of an upscale restaurant.
People are slow learners: violence magnifies problems; it does not solve them. Nevertheless, people and nations often gravitate to violence in an impulsive and impetuous need to scratch the itch of revenge.
Many—arguably, most—Americans blame the über-rich for running our economy into the ground by using their money to influence politicians who vote for plans such as TARP and the bailouts that transferred wealth from the poor and middle class to the rich and well-connected. When the economy collapses, and it will, those rich will be running for cover, like Saddam Hussein after the fall of his régime.
Some very wealthy people are indeed tinkering with our economy to our detriment, but most rich folks are just minding their own business creating products and services we purchase, thereby augmenting their wealth. There are even more non-tycoons who are dragging our system down. For example, I know a man who was able to retire decades early and live like a king because he thought of a clever way to run much of his business on cash the IRS and other revenue officials never saw. No income, no taxes, right?
I went on one date with a woman who shocked me by admitting that she hadn't bothered to file tax returns or pay taxes in years. Her beauty and stunningly attractive body put my hormones into overdrive, but as fond as I am of supremely gorgeous women who are blind enough to think that I'm hot, I am even more fond of doing the right thing, and consorting with unprincipled people is not justifiable, period. Goodbye, fox; hello, more Saturday nights alone.
I met many similar people in the ER. Officially poor, they received government assistance even though their cash-only means of generating income without taxes made them able to afford luxuries that I as an ER doctor (paid somewhat more than an average doctor) could not begin to afford: motorhomes, $70,000 cars, exotic vacations, and more. My income was rapidly dissipated by a home that many teachers could afford, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a snowmobile and Sea-doo (both of which I am now selling to help a deported person reenter the U.S.), and a stockpile of electronic parts and machine tools that enable me to create things you will love to buy. If I become rich, I will likely have mental midgets gunning for me, too, alleging that I stole money from them when all I did was create products they eagerly purchased.
