By Tom Thomas
“The acquisition of wealth is a work of great labor; its possession, a source of continual fear; its loss, of excessive grief,” John Steinbeck wrote in “The Pearl.”
Pity the poor billionaires!
I am serious. While we all envy their financial status (at least a little), there are downsides:
First, they believe that they deserve their riches. But then they have to come up with a reason why, to justify themselves. This may not come easily. They can easily fear that they are imposters.
Second, many have never known financial or physical hardship. Anyone is more sensitive to the prospect of loss than that of gain. For these souls, the thought of losing their fortune must be excruciating. They risk losing the self-regard they artificially obtained through their wealth and they have no confidence that they can cope with hardship. If being wealthy provides them a sense of superiority now, losing their fortune would be a personal disaster.
They have more concrete problems too. They have to be concerned that government will increase their taxes, place regulations on their businesses, subsidize their competitors, fine them for sharp practice or outright break up their enterprises. There are not a lot of voters with similar interests. They are vulnerable and they know it.
So what’s a poor billionaire to do? They have to find ways to influence governments. Lobbyists and campaign donations will ensure that they can get a hearing and help get sympathetic officeholders elected or appointed. They can “influence” even Supreme Court justices; you never believed that Harlan Crow was so kind to Clarence Thomas out of the goodness of his heart, did you? Thomas was a vote for the 5-4 Citizens United decision that removed PAC contribution limits, and for the recent decision to overrule Chevron, making it harder for the federal government to regulate business.
Still, they have to find a source of voting strength that complements their position. I believe that they have found this in the religious right. They fit well, the rich providing the funding for both political campaigns and religious organizations, and the evangelicals providing the votes. Both gain by supporting a party dedicated to the particular interests of each.
There are many threads of support and control that the rich weave into this partnership. For example, the DeVos family and Koch brothers are funding and lobbying for charter schools. Betsy DeVos, in her time as Trump’s Secretary of Education directed that charter school applications be accepted from religiously affiliated groups. Supreme Court judges supported by the Federalist Society (funded in part by the Mercer family and John M. Olin Foundation) have been chipping away at prohibitions of religious expression in publicly funded schools. At least one organization (Student Statesmanship Institute of which Ms. DeVos is a former board member) sponsors “Legislative Experiences” summer camps for high school students which include topics like “Laying a Biblical Foundation.”
Other attempts to influence politics by religious organizations include Capitol Ministries. This group, funded significantly by California agricultural magnates, conducted Bible studies in the West Wing of the White House attended by eleven of Trump’s cabinet members. Its President, Ralph Drollinger is on record with statements like: “The Bible mandates adherence to right-wing policy positions on a wide range of issues, including environmental regulation, the death penalty, abortion, LGBTQ equality and more.” And “Free Market Capitalism is God’s blueprint for growing a nation’s economy.” Music to a billionaire’s ears.
Other organizations (e.g. United in Purpose and i360, which are Koch-funded) use religious organizations to mobilize political support. UiP has built and analyzed a database of nearly 200 million potential voters and makes this information available to churches and volunteers, providing support and talking points to register and turn out those with a right-wing religious mindset.
Clearly, not all people of faith are committed or even sympathetic to this. And a wealthy contributor to right-wing evangelical organizations may only be expressing their faith. But it is awfully convenient that organizations they sponsor both drive votes for their favored political party by energizing their members over culture-based issues like LGBTQ rights, abortion and evolution, and advocate positions that advance the donor’s business interests.
Does this make you uneasy despite your pity?
Tom Thomas lives in Louisville.
