Pharmakon II: Sold to the Corporate Libertarian

“Indeed, economist Thomas Piketty observes that the United States presents for the first time in history a society headed towards extreme inequality, driven not by hyper-patrimony (inherited wealth) but hyper-meritocracy…”

Periods of great inequality have frequently coincided with an accelerated pace of intellectual and technological progress. The Greek and Roman societies of classical antiquity, whose systems of governance the West inherited and romanticizes, were slave states. The Renaissance, which gave birth to the ideas that scaffold much of modernity, was also a time of dismal poverty. The modern sophistication and prosperity of European nations is attributable to the imperialistic tyranny they practiced as seats of empires, plundering their colonies into a poverty from which many are yet to recover. Most renowned thinkers and artists—regardless of their century or continent of origin—did not emerge from the largely destitute body of common folk but were the beneficiaries of aristocratic patronage or inherited wealth.

Stark inequality facilitates the existence of a financially-liberated class, whose members are pardoned from enduring the drudgery that robs the average individual of their time, energy, optimism, and initiative. Those in this echelon can receive a private education no public school can match; maintain a portfolio of connections no working man can fathom; devote their productive hours to pursuing endeavors that align with their interests, values, and judgment; and summon capital at the snap of a finger to commercialize potentially profitable ideas. The inevitable outcomes of such an unencumbered life are intellectual and entrepreneurial fruits, the likes of which the average individual—benefitting only from a generalist education of dubious value and having to jump at the first job offer to keep his head above water—can never produce.

It is on the back of this awkward observation on which America currently rests. By following its national philosophy, the country has found itself superficially prosperous, no longer owing to the first principles of liberty, equality, meritocracy, and opportunity, but due to stark inequality, from which a hyper-wealthy class (colloquially referred to as the 1%) has emerged. The American economy is the largest it has ever been, but this top percentile has absorbed half of all real income growth over the last decade.