We are businessmen in the 1%. It's time to increase taxes on us
Inequality in America is out of control. From 1989 to 2018, the top 1% of Americans increased their cumulative wealth by an astounding $21tn, while the bottom 50% of the country saw their share decrease by $900bn.
If you believe the prevailing philosophy of US conservative ideology, the handful of individuals in the 1% are entitled to every bit of their wealth and power because they deployed their capital wisely.
As businessmen in the 1%, living in a conservative state, we confront this philosophy every day, and frankly, we’re sick of it.
The Republican party’s embrace of the “I’ve-done-it-all-on-my-own” mentality is extraordinarily delusional, harmful, and counterproductive. Collective goods – like a sound infrastructure system, a strong K-12 and higher education systems, and rule of law – are critical ingredients to building both individual and societal economic prosperity.
Until more of our wealthy contemporaries recognize their responsibility to strengthen these collective goods, there is little hope of addressing our growing inequality before it destroys us.
That’s why we joined the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy Americans from all walks of life across deep red, deep blue and purple states, who are united under the idea that our system – the same one that created the opportunity for businessmen like us to succeed – is fundamentally broken, hijacked by the ultra-wealthy.
Many of our peers are confounded by this assertion, in light of the benefits we have reaped. But it’s precisely due to our privileged vantage point that we feel a duty to speak out about the injustices we see.
Neither of us succeeded on our own. Our business benefited immensely from our country’s and state’s infrastructure, which we did not create. For example, we had the advantage of an affordable and outstanding public education system at the University of Utah, and of a complex and thorough system of laws and rules that we learned to successfully navigate.
Yes, the right combination of smart decisions, hard work and talent are essential ingredients of success, but they’re of limited value if the opportunities aren’t there to begin with.
Today, for much of our country, there are more barriers blocking opportunity than there are pathways leading to it. The tax cuts passed by Congress in December 2017 accelerated the concentration of wealth at the very top, at the expense of our rapidly deteriorating institutions and infrastructure that once allowed Americans to climb the ladder of opportunity.
As members of the Patriotic Millionaires, we are organizing to ensure that wealthy Americans – including corporate America – pay more taxes (so that our institutions and infrastructure are available to all people living in this country) and that there is a national minimum wage (so that everyone in this country who is willing and able to work can live a reasonable life).
“Conscious capitalism”, a term that is often used cavalierly, needs to be reclaimed from the corporate marketing spin masters who merely want to rebrand while continuing to abuse the existing system. About 200 CEO members of the Business Roundtable appear to recognize that if capitalism in America is to survive, it must undergo radical, transformative change.
But a substantive and sincere commitment to an evolved form of capitalism requires a few things. It requires us to confront the reality of the climate crisis as the existential threat of our time; and to acknowledge that we are a country founded on the toxic prejudice of white supremacy, which continues to unjustly shape the future of millions of Americans before they’re even born. We must separate money from politics, so that the influence of special interests doesn’t overpower the voices of voters; and shift our financial goals from short-term profits to longterm sustainability.
And it requires economically advantaged folks like us to not only pay our fair share, but also unequivocally commit to and support the policies that will achieve that reality – and to get all of our similarly situated friends and associates to do the same.
No one, not any one of us, succeeds in a vacuum. It’s time we build a country and an economic system that recognizes this truth.
Jonathan MRuga and Scott FYoung are members of the Patriotic Millionaires, a non-profit group which focuses on promoting public policy solutions that encourage political equality, guarantee a sustaining wage for working Americans and ensure that wealthy individuals and corporations pay their fair share of taxes. They are both the co-founders and executive management of Sentry Financial Corporation in Salt Lake City