Tech Billionaires. Are They New Gilded Age Robber Barons of the 21st Century?
The Encyclopaedia Britannica entry written by Stephen Schneider states:
"Robber Baron, pejorative term for one of the powerful 19th-century American industrialists and financiers who made fortunes by monopolizing huge industries through the formation of trusts, engaging in unethical business practices, exploiting workers, and paying little heed to their customers or competition.
Alternatively, those who credit the explosive growth of American capitalism during this period to the indefatigable pursuit of success and material wealth are likely to celebrate these entrepreneurial tycoons as “captains of industry.”
Among the sectors in which they compiled their great wealth were the oil, steel, liquor, cotton, textile, and tobacco industries, railroads, and banks....
The robber barons transformed the wealth of the American frontier into vast financial empires, amassing their fortunes by monopolizing essential industries."
By the early 20th Century, US laws, lead by Teddy Roosevelt, were passed against the Robber Barons' activities to break up their monopolies & curtail their unbalanced powers & influences economically, politically & societally.
"Using the classic game of Monopoly, we can understand the power of monopolies and robber barons during the industrialization era. By taking on the roles of the robber baron and everyday workers in a rigged economy, giving us a firsthand look at wealth inequality and business practices of the Gilded Age. And seeing how unfair the system becomes when one player controls most of the resources while the others struggle to survive."
- Peter Klozik, Robber Barons and Monopoly Simulation Game for Industrialization
Perhaps the time has come to revisit, rejuvenate & rebalance these laws to fit the Techno Billionaires' activities today for the good of continued Democratic rather than Oligarchical rule as well as preserving free markets for the Citizens.
