In this society, wealth privilege means you get to enjoy spending your wealth in the company of other equally rich people, while you ignore the millions struggling to survive.
Businesses are creating more exclusive and luxury goods and services that allow their rich patrons to experience their vacations and theme parks without having to be around lower classes.
In response to the growing spending and expanding of the top five percent in the United States, businesses have decided to further class divisions and are purposefully redesigning their business to cater to the rich only.
Basically, businesses are doing what they can to make sure the people who have money to pay for more luxury and exclusive goods and services can enjoy them away from the people who can’t afford them.
If this isn’t indicative of class warfare, I don’t know what is.
Businesses are reacting to the growth of wealth, but only the growth of wealth by the one percent.
Professor of economics at the University of California Berkeley Emmanuel Saez said the top one percent of U.S. households controls 42 percent of the wealth in the country and that the top .1 percent of that group controls 22 percent of wealth.
And this is just a ballpark estimate of the one percent’s control of wealth.
While the one percent amasses wealth at an alarming rate, the top five percent is growing.
From 2010 to 2014, the number of American households with at least $1 million in assets rose by one third.
The number of American households with more than $1 million in assets had their wealth grow by 7.2 percent, which is eight times faster than wealth growth for American households with less than $1 million in assets.
Yes, the rich are just getting richer and at a rate that other people can barely even hope to achieve.
Michael Bayley, president of Royal Carribbean, a company which is currently designing luxury cruise ships exclusively for rich customers, told The New York Times, “I think society is prepared to accept that if you pay more for certain elements, then you deserve them.”
I’m sure it’s easy for the president of a large corporation to say money determines what people do or do not deserve, but for most people to know this philosophy is driving businesses is sickening.
Instead of having business spend millions to build new luxury cruise ships with personal servants available to be at your beck and call (yes, this is real and is available through the Norwegian cruise line), why don’t we have businesses feed hungry people.
The philosophy of money equating what people deserve is not limited to the cruise ship industry.
It permeates every aspect of our society.
If I want better health care, education, transportation, food or clothing, I have to be willing to pay more or make due with what I can afford.
In this society, money dictates your quality of life and in the most extreme cases, dictates how and when you die.
Businesses and pro-capitalist people may think that paying more for better quality services is fine but when those services such as health care and education determine your quality of life it is no longer fine.
It’s disgusting.
rcm2@indiana.edu
@RachelCMiller1
