Aaron Miller
Are we in the middle of a second Gilded Age? The original Gilded Age, which took place during the late 1800s, was a time marked by an incredible inequality of wealth in this country. In 1890, the richest 1 percent of Americans owned 51% of the wealth. There were very few wealthy Americans, while most people struggled to put food on the table, working as farmers, miners, and factory workers. The term, “The Gilded Age,” came from the title of an 1873 novel by Mark Twain.
Now, the richest 10 percent of Americans own 60% of the wealth of the United States. That’s a club that I ain’t in. The lower 50% of Americans only own 6% of the nation’s assets. Income and wealth disparity have become worse since the 1980s.
The original Gilded Age also featured corruption, graft, and monopolies. In the late 1800s, the oligarchs were John D. Rockefeller, the Vanderbilts, Andrew Carnegie, and J. P. Morgan. Today their names are Zuckerberg, Bezos, Musk, and Thiel. Back then, the monopolies were oil, steel, and railroads. Today, it is big tech, big box stores, and still oil.
Today, those in power are either making cuts or wanting to make cuts to health care and public education in the name of lowering spending and cutting taxes. But who are getting the tax breaks?
Many Americans depend upon Medicaid and Medicare for health care. Not surprisingly, most people like having health care. They have a strange aversion to not dying. Even if you are not currently on one of these programs, cuts will mean that local hospitals will have to increase prices, cut programs, or both. Most Americans also depend upon public education. Recently, we have seen cuts to education and health care coming from Washington and Indianapolis. Are these cuts helping or hurting the average person?
We are already seeing the impact of frozen grants and the budget cuts here in Columbus. We are also seeing the impact of graft and corruption from some of our elected officials on our community. Who has paid the price for that corruption? Who did that hurt? Meanwhile, our oligarchic overlords continue to live like kings—splurging on lavish trips, yachts, and private jets.
Do you think elected officials, Congress, and CEOs have our best interests at heart? Do the wealthiest know what it is like to have to decide between going to the doctor or fixing the car? Do they know how much a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk costs?
Who do you think has more influence on Washington and Indianapolis? Is it us the people or is it corporations and wealthy elites, represented by the best lobbyists money can buy? The tech oligarchs had a front row seat to the president’s inauguration, ahead of the supposed representatives of the people, Congress.
The income inequality has been made worse by easy access to credit. Credit cards, slick advertising that convinces us that buying junk is the true path to happiness, and predatory lending have conspired to keep too many people on a treadmill of never-ending debt. But again, the government is unwilling to protect its citizens from the opiate of consumer credit.
Some of the cowards in the media landscape often claim when giving their opinions that they are “just asking questions.” Well, I’ve posed a lot of questions here, but I’m not hiding behind that rhetorical sleight of hand. Consider your own answers to the questions I posed and make up your own mind. In my humble estimate, we are indeed in the midst of another Gilded Age.
Aaron Miller is one of The Republic’s community columnists and all opinions expressed are those of the writer. He has a doctorate in history and is an associate professor of history at Ivy Tech Community College-Columbus. Send comments to editorial@therepublic.com.
