Diogenes, as you may know, was an ancient Greek philosopher “in search of an honest man.” He apparently never found one. Being a cynic and a moralist, he may never have expected to find one.
The Twist
In his book, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us, Ralph Nader picked the wrong people.1 People like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. Naively, I wrote the two and included my most recent book at that time in which I cited their philanthropic organization, “The Giving Pledge” as a source of the super-rich who could rescue America and the world from the evildoing of the power elite of America’s corpocracy. 2 Nary a response. Either they are too tethered to the corpocracy, or their gatekeepers ditched my mail. It is just as well. I later discovered that both have run afoul of the law on several counts. 3
I then turned to allegedly the richest person on earth, Elon Musk, creative inventor of useful and harmless products (the Tesla auto, for instance). I tried reaching him unsuccessfully several times. Just as well, also, for I soon learned that he did not have an impeccable record. 4 So, I have at the last moment pulled him from the manuscript for my latest book, Wolves Dressed in Suits Leading Humanity to Extinction, currently being considered for publication.
I contacted an organization by the name of Patriotic Millionaires. They seemed interested initially then responded no further, causing me to wonder which of these two forms of patriotism they practiced: “My country right or wrong,” or “My country please do no wrong.”
I also contacted a few wealthy celebrities in various fields. One was the well-known feminist, Gloria Steinem. The Chicago Tribune declared she was a “spook” of the CIA. 5 She candidly admitted it and defended her work for them, saying, “In my experience the Agency was completely different from its image; it was liberal, nonviolent and honorable.” 6 She obviously did not know or want to admit that the CIA operates with a forked tongue.
Perhaps the super wealthy are afraid of being associated with any endeavor aimed at neutralizing the elite’s power. Their fear and the same fear of all Americans is well founded. America’s corpocracy has an unquenchable craving for conducting undeclared and declared wars and for spying on people. 7 The deep state that includes the CIA and the NSA and probably some dark agencies as well know more about the American people than they know about themselves. John and Nisha Whitehead, creators of the alternative news media outlet, The Rutherford Institute, warn that “all of us are in danger” of seeking and telling the truth. 8 George Orwell’s famous 1984 book should be retitled “1984 and Evermore!”Recently I personally experienced the workings of “Big Brother” 9
I have been collecting for several years the writings of investigative journalists about their findings in investigating the true cause of the “911” explosions of the Twin Towers and the East Wing of the Pentagon. Recently, I noticed in browsing the Web a new article on the subject by one of journals in the alternative news media. The article’s title implied that a “smoking gun” had been finally found. When I tried to open the site, my computer was immediately blocked. It took a Microsoft technician to unlock my computer. Moreover, the site had been removed.
Heeding the Whiteheads’ warning and my own brush with the deep state, I modified my new book by stating that stripping the elite of their power was punishment enough since they crave power as much as money but with the caveat that they must no longer be allowed to reap all sorts of tax breaks.
In Closing
Perhaps it is impossible to be both wealthy and moral. A progressive journalist thinks so, having written that “it’s basically just immoral to be rich,” and then adding that “people who possess great wealth in a time of poverty are directly causing that poverty.” 10
Be that as it may, like Diogenes and like Don Quixote in his quest for the improbable, I remain undaunted in my search for one or more “super-rich outliers,” my name for the honest wealthy.
- Nader, R. Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us, Seven Stories Press, 2011.
- Brumback, G.B. 911! KDP Independent Publishing, 2019.
- Stein, T. “Microsoft Ruled a Monopoly / Court Finds Firm Abused its Power”, SFGGate, November. 6, 1999. See, also, Allen, P. “Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft. Portfolio”, 2012, and Warm, B. “Is Warren Buffett an Ethical Investor?” Seven Pillars Institute, December 11, 2019. Mr. Warm was a research intern there when he wrote this article.
- Boudetta, N.E. “Telsa Faces New Scrutiny Over Racial Bias and Elon Musk’s Tweets”, The New York Times, February 7, 2022.
- Kounalakis, M. “The Feminist was a Spook” Chicago Tribune, October 25, 2015.
- Ibid.
- Brumback, G.B. America’s Oldest Professions: Warring and Spying. KDP Independent Publishing, 2015.
- Whitehead, J.W. and Whitehead, N. “The Mind Control Police: The Police and Government’s War on Thought Crimes and Truth Tellers“, February 15, 2022.
- Brumback, G.B. “911 Revisited and Two Bizarre Encounters”, Uncommon Thought Journal, February 10, 2022.
- Smith, A.Q. “It’s Basically Just Immoral to Be Rich“, Current Affairs, March 30, 2017.
This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Gary Brumback.
Gary Brumback | Radio Free (2022-02-20T10:42:46+00:00) Diogenes Revisited with a Twist. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2022/02/20/diogenes-revisited-with-a-twist/
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