According to a much related story, a newspaper reporter once asked the renowned bank robber Willie Sutton (1901-1980) why he robbed banks. "Because that's where the money is," he is supposed to have answered.
Sutton denied ever saying such a thing. It was too obvious, he claimed. Perhaps he didn't say that, but he did say he loved robbing banks. It gave him a tremendous thrill, he claimed. And he was very good at it. He never killed anyone. He even carried unloaded guns to make sure he didn't. [Image: Willie Sutton]
Sutton was no heroic Robin Hood, despite some attempts to romanticize his exploits. He robbed the rich, but kept the proceeds. He spent about half his life in jail, but savvy technician that he was, escaped from prison three times. He was a master of disguise and subterfuge. His nicknames included "Willie the Actor" and "Slick Willie."
Nevertheless, one can't help wishing that a man of Sutton's ability could help our world separate the filthy rich from their ill-gotten gains. Perhaps its too obvious to need saying, but defenders of obscene wealth keep pulling the wool over our eyes and dragging red herrings across our path.
In the world today, the super rich and huge corporations are like an enormous vacuum, sucking up an astonishing percentage of global wealth. In the process, they have caused or exacerbated enormous economic, environmental, and social problems.
Think Exxon Mobil, Shell, and other fossil fuel giants. Think Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and their ilk. I will give a pass to Bill Gates for his well directed philanthropy, and a partial pass to the rich who urge governments to tax them more.
Increasing taxes on the rich will not solve all our current problems. But it would help more than decreasing taxes on the rich, the default position of many countries in recent decades.
The promises of "trickle down" economics have proved false. Much like the "opportunities" of Brexit in the UK, the benefits have not materialized, only the costs.
Higher taxes on great wealth would also help to restore some sense of fairness in our society, a social contract that any healthy polity must possess. Our present trajectory is leading us to an apocalyptic world.
So, the next time you meet with friends to have a drink, raise a toast to Willie Sutton and don't forget where the money is.
[[Image: Willie Sutton in 1966]
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One of the banks he robbed was just a few block from where I lived in Queens NY. He was a hero in my neighborhood, and my family that never got over the Great Depression, hated the banks, as well as Wall St.
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