Why Are So Many Rich Guys Always So Fucking Aggrieved?

This seems like an important question of our oligarchy-adjacent times, right?

I’ve written about topics similar to this for years, so I think I can keep this concept relatively short. I actually used to hate Paul Krugman columns, and I don’t know what exactly has happened to my life in the last little bit, but now I find myself nodding along to 75% of the stuff he writes. Here is a latest ditty, on the confusion around “socialism” and “laziness.”

Krugman opens with classic older white guy Bernie Marcus, who made a fortune off guys wanting to escape their house for 1.5 hours — or being told a list of “Honey-Do” projects by their wife. Marcus, who now shouts at socialist clouds, said this:

Bernie Marcus, a co-founder of Home Depot, had some negative things to say about his fellow Americans in an interview last December. “Socialism,” he opined, has destroyed the work ethic: “Nobody works. Nobody gives a damn. ‘Just give it to me. Send me money. I don’t want to work — I’m too lazy, I’m too fat, I’m too stupid.’”

Nice. We’ve seen this narrative many times, especially since COVID.

Krugman then moves into debunking that: