Plutonomy: Of the Rich, By the Rich, For the Rich

I want to take up the webmaster’s space and your bandwidth to talk about something that some key people feel is coming in the future. The thing I’m talking about is a plutonomy.

Essentially, a plutonomy is an economy where most of the activity comes from the wealthiest people participating in that economy. It’s the complete opposite of what we have now. Believe it or not, the middle class and poor contribute the most to this economy on a continual basis. Sure, the rich need to eat too, but it’s not like they go out and buy a new Enzo every other day. In fact, most of the money from rich people goes to charity, taxes, food and once in a great while, extravagant things. So they don’t contribute a lot directly to the economy, like they would in a plutonomy.

It seems kind of random the fact that I’m highlighting this, but leaked memos (thanks to jdeanicite for the link) from Citigroup point to such a thing happening. According to the document, there is a widening gap between the rich and poor, and the rich are beginning to contribute more to the economy; which is something I felt for years now. The middle class is going away. Oh, and that document is from 2006.

So, what will happen when the middle class goes away? Essentially, the United States (and the whole globe eventually) will become an economic feudal system with multiple lords, while still selling the idea that anyone can claw their way up from the depths and be who they want to be. In a sense that will still be true, just don’t expect to make as much money as people previous, because most of it will be tied up in the government or this plutonomy. It will become more important, maybe even essential to do what you like to do; as the money will be discouraging.