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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Arwa Mahdawi

Pity the poor billionaires – demands for higher taxes must feel hurtful

A group of protesters hold up signs with the words 'eat the rich' at a rally in New York
Held to account … a rally outside the New York governor’s office last month. Photograph: Gina M Randazzo/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Won’t anyone think of the poor, poor, billionaires? Their endless money can buy them political power, but it can’t buy them love. Instead of being worshipped by the hoi polloi, titans of industry are denounced! Despised! Disrespected! Insert another D-word of your own!

Thankfully, class solidarity is strong among the super-rich. Steve Roth bravely brought attention to the plight of his fellow billionaires during a recent earnings call. “I consider the phrase ‘tax the rich’ … spit out with anger and contempt by politicians … to be just as hateful as some disgusting racial slurs,” the Vornado Realty Trust CEO said.

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