THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
(apologies to Keith Olbermann)
Gina Rinehart
There are those born into wealth. There are those who achieve wealth through hard work, dedication, and focus. Then there’s Gina Rinehart, who achieved her wealth the old-fashioned way- she inherited it- and yet believes herself to be something special and therefore able to hold herself above lesser (read: “poor”) mortals.
I’ve refrained from bestowing my Worst Person in the World award of late for what I’ve felt were good reasons. I didn’t want to descend into moralizing and judging, and there were simply too many far too worthy of such an “honor.” That there’s a surfeit of well-qualified candidates is indisputable. That most of them seem to be Conservative Republicans steeped in the “I got mine, you can damned well get your own” ethos makes them easy targets. Almost too easy. Names like Sheldon Adelson, Donald Trump, the Koch Brothers, and others may be unique in the depth and breadth of their wealth. They’re certainly not at all unique in their disregard and disdain for lesser mortals.
Gina Rinehart falls into this category. What makes her stand out is her self-righteous, to-the-manner-born sense of entitlement and her never-ending greed and acquisitiveness. How much is enough? How many does one person really need? She’s certainly not going to be the one to speak to that…but she can certainly tell you why you’re not rich: you’re fat, slothful, and spend too much time drinking, smoking, and socializing. So says the woman who inherited her vast wealth.
Just in case you were beginning to think rich people were deeply misunderstood and that they feel the pain of those who are less fortunate, here’s the world’s wealthiest woman, Australian mining tycoon Gina Rinehart, with some helpful advice.
“If you’re jealous of those with more money, don’t just sit there and complain,” she said in a magazine piece. “Do something to make more money yourself — spend less time drinking or smoking and socialising, and more time working.”
Yeah, let them eat cake.
So to what does Rinehart attribute the proletariat remaining locked in poverty? It’s quite simpley, really:
“Socialist,” “anti-business” government policies (that don’t allow her and her ilk to do exactly what they want in exactly the way they want)
The
rentminimum wage is too damned highBusiness taxes are too high
Lazy, shiftless sloths drink, smoke, and socialize too much
The recipe for success is almost too easy, according to Ms. Rinehart.
“Become one of those people who work hard, invest and build, and at the same time create employment and opportunities for others.”
What Ms. Rinehart fails to address is the fact that their are millions who work hard at minimum wages jobs…and yet never seem to get ahead. How can one invest and build when they’re overwhelmed and kept busy keeping a roof over their head, putting food on the table, and keeping the lights on? How can one create wealth when you live hand to mouth, and from paycheck to paycheck? How can one build an empire worth billions when your job provides no health, insurance and your health care is a combination of trips to the emergency room and praying that your and yours remain healthy?
You can see that it’s so much easier to understand income inequality when you break it down scientifically, right? What it really comes down to is that we’re not worthy, people.
Happy Labor Day, indeed….
Gina Rinehart makes the likes of Sheldon Adelson, Donald Trump, and the Koch brothers look like Boy Scouts in her cold-blooded, callous, self-righteous sense of self-superiority. May she have a reserved parking space waiting for her in Hell.
