Four members of the Wal-mart Walton family are collectively worth more than $140 billion— more wealth than the entire bottom 40% of Americans. That’s right, four members of the Walton family have a combined wealth of $140 billion. They are the richest family in the world. They are the new Rockefellers, the modern synonym for “vast wealth.” And indeed, income inequality in America has reached levels not seen since John D. Rockefeller roamed the earth. The Waltons are the kings and queens of our new Gilded Age.
But surely they do a lot of “good” for their communities, right? Sure, Wal-mart has big impacts on the surrounding areas’ quality of life – for the worse. Not only does Walmart drag down local economies by stamping out local small businesses and then hiring workers for less than a living wage and thereby driving up local taxes and creating more and more people dependent on government assistance, but their stores themselves have extreme negative impacts on the surrounding environment as well. There is a lot else that Walmart could be doing to support local communities that they refuse to do for no other reason than unadulterated greed.
But surely folks with that kind of wealth are philanthropic, and give back? How much do they give to their charitable foundation? Let’s take a look The Walton Foundation (set up as a tax dodge (ie welfare for rich folks) to fund their own stupid art museum), A new report (funded by labor groups battling Walmart over its wages) examined how much money these Waltons donated to The Walton Foundation, in the past two decades. The answer: an exceedingly small amount. In the past *23 years*:
The total contributions from Jim Walton, Christy Walton, and the Walton family holding company (Walton Enterprises) to the Walton Family Foundation amount to $58.49 million,which is equivalent to:
−.04% of the four Walmart heirs’ net worth.
−Less than one week’s worth of the Walmart dividends the Walmart heirs will receive this year.
−Less than the estimated value of Rob Walton’s collection of vintage sports cars.
Contrast that with fellow billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, who have given 27% and 36% of their wealth to charity, respectively.
I concede that stewarding a juggernaut can be pretty daunting. Doing so should be duly rewarded! The reward probably should not be equal to the collective monetary value of 125 million Americans. The reward should not be such that your family could spend a million dollars every single day for 2,740 years. Nothing is worth that much, not even building a whole bunch of crap peddling super stores. While the ladder of success technically still exists, many that have climbed it (or been born at the top) have devoted their lives to greasing the bottom rungs. It’s repugnant and you’re reprehensible to defend it. And, even in my disgusting distributive hypothetical, I left the family- SEVEN people- a billion dollars. A billion dollars! Fuck, let them each keep a billion dollars, I don’t give a shit. But I’m just some wacko “eat the rich” lefty, what do I know. Maybe the Waltons will save the world someday. Then won’t I feel dumb!