How much money is too much?

Most readers here might agree that the top professional soccer players are paid too much money these days. There are many other examples of what people do for a living appearing to be rewarded out of all proportion to, for example, the local hard-working and dedicated life-saving nurse.

Some people don’t have much money; others enjoy (!) vast fortunes and strange as it may seem, the lowest percentage are those who say they have ‘enough’. Knowing when you have just enough money is a gift that brings peace of mind. Stranger still is the fact that it is the group at the top of the money making ladder who strive hardest to increase their pot of gold. ‘Much wants more’ and those with much are more ruthless in seeking more than the parents trying to improve the food on the family table. The ceist here has to be how much money is too much? And if you read on, you will see that we have good reason for asking.

When I was going to school, the average wage in Ireland was £7 per week. We were primarily an agricultural economy and a farm labourer (probably the most common job?) was earning around a fiver – less if the man got fed. In school, we learned what a millionaire was – but we also knew that these supreme beings all belonged in America. When the master quizzed us on what we were going to be when we grew up, it occurred to me that I might go to America and be a millionaire… but I didn’t say it out loud. In doing our ‘sums’, we knew how many hundreds and thousands it took to make a million. So everybody knew the worth of a rich man. (Yes, Gorls, they were all men!)

But how all that has changed. My limited brain, even with the benefit of calculators, internet and computer, cannot grasp the enormity of what the richest people (men and women!) in today’s world are worth in monetary terms. It is crazy and it is dangerous. Money is power and the sort of power that is money-driven spells trouble for the rest of us. Donald Trump’s family have amassed several billion dollars since the president’s second inauguration. You don’t have to be a begrudger to believe that to be a dangerous misuse of power.

Help me with this one if you can… because my egghead cannot get a grip on it. Elon Musk is about to be declared the world’s first trillionaire. I cannot count that many zeros one after another… try it yourself. All I know is that it worries me, and you should be worried too. That obscene amount of money in the hands of a single individual can, and will, pose problems for entire countries. Musk has now got more power than most democratic countries.

Musk already bought bundles of votes for Trump in the American presidential election. He is a friend of the far right; in other words, ‘might is right’. To put Elon Musk’s power in context (an educated man worked this out for me), he could pay for the entire running of this country for the next decade. Would you not be scared if it transpired that the Trumps and Musk decided they wanted something we have in Ireland? Musk has already said he wants to redefine the structure of western society with a swing back to white domination. Musk owns half a percent of the world’s entire wealth. That is a man with too much money and our best hope is that he establishes his dream of founding a human community on Mars… and that he likes it there! Money man Musk has too much of it.

Here in Ireland it has to be galling for ordinary families struggling to survive while reading in the papers of the lavish demands made for ‘living expenses’ in divorce proceedings and property disputes of the wealthy. It is easy to say it is ‘all relative’, but misses the point of moving any closer to a just society.

Many of the billionaires acquired their wealth through inheritance and luck rather than personal ability. This next ceist flies in the face of the concept of individual rights and free enterprise, but should there be a cap on individual wealth? Higher taxes and wealth tax don’t seem adequate in the quest for fairer distribution of wealth. There could be a line above which the money would have to be transferred away from any single individual. Of course that would be hard to enforce as those with the money can buy avenues to move and hide their money. One way or another limitless wealth to the extent of Elon Musk should be unacceptable.

Don’t Forget

A person’s character is put to a severe test when he suddenly acquires or quickly loses a considerable amount of money.