Yeah, but is it really their responsibility to do that?
Is it the richest 400 families’ faults that homeowners and banks were entering into high risk agreements?
Considering that many of those in the richest 400 made their money working for or running many of the financial institutions that enabled such high-risk agreements, in many cases through predatory practices, yes.
Is it the richest 400 families’ faults that people were wracking up credit card debt purchasing things they didn’t have the money to buy at the time but without which they just couldn’t live?
Considering that many of those in the richest 400 families worked with or ran financial institutions that directly benefited from people running up credit card debt, in many cases by engaging in predatory practices, yes.
This post seems remarkably frivolous to me. Sure, they can, but it doesn’t mean it’s their responsibility to carry everyone. Mind you, this is coming from the perspective of the poor college student who faces a stupid amount of college loan debt when he gets out of college and has to ignore the flashing gas light on a car he doesn’t even own. It’s no one else’s responsibility to foot my bills. If they help, great. I’m happy and grateful, but it’s not their duty.
The point is not “bootstraps,” darling. The point is endemic economic inequality. When the 30-year trend is for the rich to own an increasingly large share of the total wealth in a country while everyone else loses money, loses jobs, loses homes, loses access to education and health care, loses the ability to put food on the table, etc., it’s not an accident or simply a matter of some people working harder than others.
If you’re interested who the richest 400 people in America are, click here.