The second justification for vast riches has been used by the high and mighty throughout history. It is that the wealth of rich men rubs off on poor people too. This argument is also taken from the bible, which tells the story of a beggar who sat at the foot of the rich man’s table so that he could catch the crumbs which fell from it. The sophisticated argument of the rich man was that if there were no rich man, there would be no crumbs.
Slightly embarrassed by the ‘crumbs’ metaphor, the rich today have invented a new, just as disgusting, notion to justify their riches. They call it the ‘trickle down’ theory. The richer the rich, it is argued, the more will ‘trickle down’ to the poor. No one can explain exactly how this trickling down works – and the facts of the past ten years prove the opposite. While the rich have gorged themselves, as we have seen, the poor have got poorer. ibid.
There would be no wealth at all if no one worked. Labour is essential to everything that is produced. The rich have got rich because they have swiped a proportion of the value of the workers’ labour, and because they use that surplus for one purpose only: to increase their own wealth, power and privilege.
This exploitation of labour, by a class of people who have grown rich because of it, is as central a characteristic of society today as it ever was. The ‘market’ is the economic mechanism by which this system works. It claims to be able to identify what is wanted or needed, and then to produce it. It claims an ‘economic discipline’ which only produces where a profit can be made. If something makes a profit, it is selling and therefore it is needed. If it doesn’t make a profit, it isn’t needed or wanted and therefore shouldn’t be made. ibid.
We have been miserably deficient in the instruction of the poor, perhaps the only means of really raising their condition. Thomas Malthus, Essay on the Principle of Population. ‘Two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by a different breeding, and fed by a different food, are ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same laws.’ ‘You speak of –‘ said Egremont, hesitatingly, ‘THE RICH AND THE POOR.’ Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil
I was told that the Privileged and the People formed Two Nations. ibid.
The poor man’s sins are glaring;
In the face of ghostly warning
He is caught in the fact
Of an overt act –
Buying greens on Sunday morning.
The rich man’s sins are hidden
In the pomp and wealth and station;
And escape the sight
Of the children of the light,
Who are wise in their generation ... Thomas L Peacock, Rich and Poor, or Saint and Sinner, 1785-1866
The dreams of the rich, and the dreams of the poor – they never overlap, do they?
See, the poor dream all their lives of getting enough to eat and looking like the rich. And what do the rich dream of?
Losing weight and looking like the poor. Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger p225
A small number of very rich men have been able to lay upon the masses of the poor a yoke little better than slavery itself. Pope Leo XIII
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. John F Kennedy, inaugural address 20th January 1961
Mankind is divided into rich and poor, into property owners and exploited; and to abstract oneself from this fundamental division; and from the antagonism between poor and rich means abstracting oneself from fundamental facts. Joseph Stalin
A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money. W C Fields
When the rich wage war it’s the poor who die. Jean-Paul Sartre, Le Diable at Le Bon Dieu, 1951
As kids we didn’t complain about being poor; we talked about how rich we were going to be and made moves to get the lifestyle we aspired to by any means we could. And as soon as we had a little money, we were eager to show it. Jay-Z
The rich will do anything for the poor but get off their backs. Karl Marx
An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics. Plutarch
They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody? Princess Diana
Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness. George Bernard Shaw
There are only two families in the world, as a grandmother of mine used to say: the haves and have-nots. Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote
Wealthy men can’t live in an island that is encircled by poverty. We all breathe the same air. We must give a chance to everyone, at least a basic chance. Ayrton Senna
I spend my life ministering to the swinish luxury of the rich. William Morris
The rich are the scum of the earth in every country. G K Chesterton, The Flying Inn
Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, kill your parents, that’s where it’s really at. Bill Ayers
The few own the many because they possess the means of livelihood of all ... The country is governed for the richest, for the corporations, the bankers, the land speculators, and for the exploiters of labour. The majority of mankind are working people. So long as their fair demands – the ownership and control of their livelihoods – are set at naught, we can have neither men’s rights nor women’s rights. The majority of mankind is ground down by industrial oppression in order that the small remnant may live in ease. Helen Keller
I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. Believe me, rich is better. Mae West
Contrary to a myth long popular in the West, it’s been the poor of the world who have financed the rich and not the other way around. John Pilger, War By Other Means, 1992
Thus methinks should men of judgement frame
Their means of traffic from the vulgar trade,
And, see their wealth increaseth, so enclose
Infinite riches in a little room. Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta
I am rich beyond the dreams of avarice. Edward Moore, The Gamester, 1753
So our Lord God commonly gives riches to those gross asses to whom He vouchsafes nothing else. Martin Luther
Riches, the dumb god that giv’st all men tongues,
That canst do nought, and yet mak’st men do all things;
The price of souls; even hell, with thee to boot,
Is made worth heaven! Thou art virtue, fame,
Honour, and all things else. Ben Jonson, Volpone, 1606
A beggar amidst great riches. Horace, Odes
It occurs to me that the best way you hurt rich people is to turn them into poor people. Trading Places 1983 starring Dan Aykroyd & Eddie Murphy & Ralph Bellamy & Don Ameche & Denholm Elliott & Jamie Lee Curtis & Kristin Holby & Paul Greason et al, director John Landis, Billy Ray Valentine to Winthorpe
Do you realise the greed that came to the forefront? The hogs were really feeding. The greed level, the level of opportunism, just got out of control. David Stockman, aide to President Reagan
The scale of Britain’s growing inequality is revealed today by a report from a leading charity showing that the country’s five richest families now own more wealth than the poorest 20% of the population.
Oxfam urged the chancellor George Osborne to use Wednesday’s budget to make a fresh assault on tax avoidance and introduce a living wage in a report highlighting how a handful of the super-rich, headed by the Duke of Westminster, have more money and financial assets than 12.6 million Britons put together.
The development charity, which has opened UK programmes to tackle poverty, said the government should explore the possibility of a wealth tax after revealing how income gains and the benefits of rising asset prices had disproportionately helped those at the top. Guardian online article Larry Elliott 17th March 2014, ‘Britain’s Five Richest Families Worth More than the Poorest 20%’
And say there is no sin, but to be rich;
And, being rich, my virtue then shall be,
To say there is no vice, but beggary. William Shakespeare, King John II i 593
Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back
When gold and silver becks me to come on. ibid. III iii 12-13, Bastard to King et al