Plutocrats

There’s Wealthy, and Then There’s Really Wealthy

Globalization and technology have given rise to a stratum of society made up of the superelite and the ultrawealthy. These individuals typically are young and make $20 million to $40 million annually; their fortunes are self-made, not inherited. They are the 0.01%, the tip-top stratum of the top 1% of the population, and that 1% now earns about one-third of the nation’s income.

The mechanisms that create the gap between the simply rich and the megarich have devastated the US’s workforce. When the majority of American employees end up with a smaller slice of the economic pie, globalization threatens them further. Corporations run by members of the elite ultrarich often amass more wealth by finding laborers in developing economies to do the jobs of skilled Americans for less money. This devalues American labor.

The uberrich are usually active members of the global society; they’re competitive, well-educated and dedicated to their businesses. They believe they have earned their status and wealth by “winning” the economic competition. Their belief systems isolate them from the rest of society and draw them into a pack...