Against this backdrop, the richest among us are amassing outsized influence over American society. Take the world’s wealthiest man, Elon Musk. Musk has accumulated more than $800 billion in wealth, earned himself the title of “Kingmaker” for his hand in re-electing President Donald Trump, and unleashed a war on Washington. The members of Musk’s small but powerful economic class live lives few Americans can relate to—or even imagine. Look no further than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who rented much of Venice, Italy, for his wedding.
The contrast is stark: the wealthy maintain lavish lifestyles in segregated mansions, as millions of hardworking Americans lose good-paying jobs and livelihoods, putting democracy at risk. But this story is not new. This is history—specifically, the Gilded Age—repeating itself.
The First Gilded Age, roughly from 1870 to 1914, was also a period of technological and economic progress, during which many major inventions were made, including electricity, the combustion engine, and the telephone. However, this era also saw the rise of lavish lifestyles among the wealthy, alongside severe economic and political inequality. The Robber Barons, who dominated the age, did not believe competition was the right way to run the economy. These leaders believed they were superior men destined to create a better society. To them, monopolies were progressive, and industry monopolization was unstoppable because, as John D. Rockefeller stated, it was “the law of God.”
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