#robber barons

in recognition that TODAY is ECONOMIC BLACKOUT DAY, i ask us all: "When did firing park rangers, scientists and air traffic controllers become a better idea than simply TAXING BILLIONAIRES?

Somehow calling them “oligarchs” doesn’t convey the appropriate level of disgust and contempt.

The Vanderbilt Ball of 1883 was hosted by Alva Vanderbilt, synonymously known as Alva Belmont. Married into the Vanderbilt family, she strived to keep the Vanderbilt name prestigious. In the early 1880s, a social rivalry between the Astors and the Vanderbilts became prominent among the wealthy. Caroline Astor controlled the exclusive “400” circle, if your name wasn’t on the list, you weren’t welcome. The Vanderbilts had newly acquired wealth, gained by a massive railroad empire. Caroline Astor, was not impressed. The feud was a divide between new money and old money. The Astor family’s wealth was passed through generations and their social status was built over time. This was the root of the issues between the families. Alva Vanderbilt built a mansion on Fifth Avenue and threw a “house warming party”. It was an extravagant costume ball, a calculated social power move. Alva invited 1,000 of New York’s most wealthy and influential citizens, excluding Caroline Astor’s daughter. In a time where an invitation equaled importance. Naturally, this upset Carrie Astor which prompted Caroline to ask Alva for an invitation, therefore, flipping the power dynamic and the Vanderbilts were now socially accepted. This was one of the most significant family feuds in history. After time, social status began to die down and Alva began focusing on bigger things such as fighting for female suffrage. ⊹ ࣪ ˖

ONE OF MY FAVORITE CARTOONS OF THE GILDED AGE WHEN I TAUGHT AT CHURCHILL HIGH SCHOOL, 1972-2006 (Zoom in on the signs above the robber barons.) We are back in the 1800's with the Robber Barons, who have INFINITELY more power over government now than you do. And with their power over media increasing, you need no explanation about the danger. Just look at Fox. Imagine the major networks all going full Fox. Wikipedia has an entry for this Puck cartoon, published in 1889, right after "the trusts" got a friendly president, Benjamin Harrison. See below. The cartoon surely had a role in elevating public awareness of the problem with unrestrained monopolists. Already, populism and progressivism were emerging as political forces to combat this national malady. Though we got the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, it took time for the likes of the Roosevelts and Wilson (Clayton Act) to come along and foster more effective congressional attention to the matter. Also, see below. But with today's Extreme Court, the power of concentrated wealth has turned the clock back to the reality portrayed in this cartoon. Hell, the Extreme Court majority is palsy-walsy with our contemporary yachting robber barons. From Wikipedia: The Bosses of the Senate is a "frequently reproduced cartoon, long a staple of textbooks and studies of Congress". NPR has called the cartoon "the defining image of late 19th-century Washington". Historian Josh Brown has stated that it "expresses general public discontent and concern about the growing impact and power of large businesses" and "their control over the political process". Some contemporary commentators have asserted that such corporate interests still have immense power over lawmakers in modern-day America. 

I’m not calling them “billionaires” anymore