the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Oct 11, 2021
Forbes came out with its annual list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, all billionaires. While many Americans have suffered financially this past year due to the pandemic, the collective fortune of these 400 billionaires increased 40% over the last year.
The usual suspects were in the top five. Jeff Bezos (Amazon), worth 201 billion dollars, up from 179 billion dollars, is still the richest. Then there is Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Larry Page (Google).
But there are some new faces on the Forbes 400 list. At least three people with a stake in the coronavirus vaccine race are among some of the new arrivals to the list!
These 21st century wealthy 400 are not so different from the robber barons of the 19th century—like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Cornelius Vanderbilt. One example: taking advantage of the pandemic by making profits off a potentially life-saving vaccine.
Yes, the rich have gotten billions and billions richer during and because of the pandemic. That’s enough to make anyone sick. Too bad there is no vaccine for that!