WHATS MONEY WORTH?

IF I WERE A RICH MAN

In the song. “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye begs God for just a little more, saying, “If I were wealthy I wouldn't have to work hard,” And, most tellingly, says were he rich people would seek his advice and it wouldn't matter if what he said was right or wrong because, “When you're rich they think you really know!” Tragically he was speaking truth for in America today we seem to believe that a fat bank account proves the rich man is smarter than we are, just ask New York Mayor Bloomberg.

Some who are rich certainly do work hard, but for every Bill Gates or Steve Jobs there are thousands who sit at a “poker table” on Wall Street and gamble with other people's money, and when they win they're paid millions. This “capitalism” is certainly not what Adam Smith had in mind, nor even Frederick Hayek. Smith's “invisible hand” would slap they silly. That “hand,” he argued, allowed men to pursue their self-interest without regard to “public good” but it would enhance the general welfare anyway. Today's capitalists have proved him wrong and the “hand” is flapping in the wind.

It may, of course, turn out that the wealth cozened by the 1% will eventually benefit others, just look at the value to tourism of the doge's palace in Venice or the good the Rockefeller Foundation has done. But America can not wait for the money hidden in the mattresses of the mega-rick to trickle down over the next century. The invisible hand needs to become a clenched fist with which to knock some sense into those who drive the price of gas up by gambling on the futures market, who seek to destroy unions, and rig elections by making it harder for the poor and minorities to vote. Bill Gates has a lot of money, but just one vote. That's all the power he, and other 1% folks should have on our government. \If I were a rich man I'd make it illegal for anyone but live human beings to contribute to political campaigns. That would be a start.