Thread by @JYSexton

Hey, let's talk about how Howard Schultz's disastrous campaign for the presidency is glaring evidence of our misconceptions about wealth, but also an example of just how broken our system is and has been since our founding.

1/

For starters, Schultz’s cluelessness is a symptom of just how poisonous the culture of wealth is. With enough money you can surround yourself with sycophants whose entire purpose is to reassure your perceptions. This weakens thought, which we’ve seen with Trump. 2/

But we’ve come to associate wealth with intelligence and capability. This has been a side-effect of the myth of fair capitalism. We see winners and losers as determined by money instead of talent. 3/

This country was founded, explicitly, to benefit the wealthy. Founders saw their status as testament to their abilities and doubted commoners’ talent and intelligence. The system was slanted from the very beginning. 4/

This unequal system, or slanted playing field, picked winners from the start. But the American myth of capitalism perpetuated the idea that successes were all earned and failures earned as well it was the only way the system could continue. 5/

Eventually it was believed that God’s invisible hand worked through the market. This ridiculous idea still holds sway and it crowns people like Schultz and other billionaires with a sovereignty like a monarch. 6/

This bizarre world resulted in a situation where corporations actually outgrew their countries and became their own libertarian kingdoms. Their philosophy was one of wealth and determination rather than public good. 7/

So...we end up in a place where they not only avoid most taxes and starve the people while pausing progress but also where any hint of fairer taxation leads to righteous anger that it’s a revolt or in opposition to natural laws. 8/

That’s where we are. The billionaires and corporations are now trying to do the work we once reserved to nations because they see themselves as rightful heirs to the power. Our myths and misconceptions have only aided this perception. 9/

Now, we’ve even internalized the myth. We see ourselves as failures when we fail to get ahead. We question those who need help. We’ve swallowed the lie to the point a failed businesses turned huckster on a TV show can be elected president. 10/

It’s a disgusting cycle and the last thing we need is to continue kowtowing to these billionaires. They’ve already bought our representatives. The last thing we need is for more control to be wrested away. 11/

Hopefully Trump’s incompetence and Schultz’s ridiculous vanity project can shake the illusion free. We need to get money out of politics, radically change our perceptions of money, power, and society, and get past this terrible moment in history. And fast. 12/12