Those lousy one-percenters! (Not the bike gang. I’ve got enough problems already.) You know EXACTLY who I mean: Those rich, greedy, insatiable billionaires who are ruining all our lives.
“We Are the 99%” was a slogan popularized by the Occupy movement in 2011. Over the last 15 years, the term “one percent” has grown ubiquitous. It’s everywhere in our political discourse — and it’s the go-to boogeyman of the radical left.
Well, that and Jews. (But since all Jews are billionaires anyway, tomatoes, tomahatoes.)
“One percent” has become political shorthand for corporate greed, economic oppression, the “Epstein class,” and income inequality.
Plus, according to cherub-faced Senate candidate Rep. James Talarico (D-Tex.), the evil, terrible, no-good “one percent” is the ONLY minority group that’s “destroying America.”
"The only minority destroying America is billionaires. Trans people are 1% of the population. Muslims are 1% of the population. Undocumented people are 1% of the population. We are focused on the wrong 1%.” James Talarico Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas. pic.twitter.com/RaVwZ3a2x6
— eric jacobson (@ejacobson) July 21, 2026
Ooh, how I hate them! Those rich billionaires are “destroying America” by… uh… [flails arms wildly].
Serious question: Can you name a single way a billionaire has ruined your life?
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is worth close to a trillion dollars. But approximately 99.9% of his wealth is tied to the valuation of his companies. In other words, he didn’t get rich by stealing your rent money, hoarding cash, or plundering your 401(k)’s; he built companies that revolutionized digital payments, electric cars, AI, and space travel.
And in the process, 4,400 of his current and former employees became millionaires themselves.
Mr. Musk hasn’t made my life worse. The opposite is true: I love my Model S. (Zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds, baby! Although I’m jonesing for a Plaid.)
It’s weird: Left-wingers are selling the Occupy Wall Street Revolution Handbook on Amazon — and airing the 99% - The Occupy Wall Street film on Prime. The Democratic Socialists of America have an official account on X. (As does the Communist Party.) For all the evils that billionaires have unleashed on the wholesome/pure 99%, they’re surprisingly generous in letting their critics use their platforms to make a buck or promote a cause.
And their critics are surprisingly eager to exploit the fruits of billionaire ingenuity.
When Democrats complain about the tyranny of “billionaire influence,” it’s code for “they’re donating to the wrong party.” Because you might’ve noticed that left-wing billionaires like George Soros, Tom Steyer, JB Pritzker, Reed Hastings, Reid Hoffman, Oprah Winfrey, and countless others have vast influence in the Democratic Party — and have for many years.
Yet I don’t recall Rep. Talarico condemning their influence. (In fact, he’s actively courting Silicon Valley billionaires, and a pro-Talarico PAC just received a $10 million donation from billionaire Reid Hoffman.) Pretty strange, huh?
Personally, I wouldn’t want to be financially tied to the people who’re “destroying America,” but, apparently, James Talarico disagrees.
Think about it: Billionaires aren’t indoctrinating your kids at school. Billionaires aren’t defecating in the streets. Billionaires aren’t leaving drug needles in public parks. Billionaires aren’t competing for your jobs. Billionaires aren’t trying to access the girls' bathroom. Billionaires aren’t spreading diseases. Billionaires aren’t mugging you at night. Billionaires aren’t breaking into your car. Billionaires aren’t building tent camps and homeless cities. Billionaires aren’t why there are long lines in the nearby emergency room. Billionaires aren’t shoplifting so many flippin’ razors, beauty products, and allergy medications that CVS, Walgreen, and Rite Aid are locking ‘em up.
But you know who is?
The OTHER one percent!
Let’s try a thought experiment: Imagine the top one percent — those rich, powerful billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Warren Buffett, yada yada — suddenly vanished from society. (And with them, so do all their creations.)
Has your life improved? Everything all better?
Or are you bummed that there are no electric cars, no SpaceX, no digital payments, no Starlink, no Amazon deliveries, no Uber, no “Netflix and chill,” no Google, no AI, no iPhones, no chatbots, no Microsoft Office, no personal computers, and no social media? (Okay, that last one would be fine.) But I’d bet you’d miss the 2.3 million jobs that just the top 12 billionaire job-creators are responsible for.
And how badly would we miss the 40.4% of U.S. federal income tax revenue that comes directly from the top one percent?
Without billionaires, we’d all be paying a lot more in taxes. The one-percenters are shouldering a disproportionately large burden. (The “warmth of collectivism” would get a helluva lot more expensive.)
Get ready for tax hikes!
Now, let’s tweak our thought experiment: Imagine if the BOTTOM one percent suddenly vanished from society. Poof!
Has your life improved?
Well, we know that poor households have more than double the rate of violence as high-income households. We know that the bottom one percent pays 0% of federal income taxes. (Fun fact: The bottom 50% of earners pay just 3.3% of all federal income taxes.) Instead of contributing, they’re far more likely to receive federal money, social services, and government assistance.
Financially, they’re a net negative.
About 25% of the bottom one percent are homeless. So, if the bottom one percent vanishes, so do all the homeless camps. (Along with the crime, drug abuse, sexual exploitation, diseases, and public urination/defecation.)
The biggest change would probably be the violent crime rate: According to studies, just 1% of the population is responsible for 63% of all violent crime convictions.
That’s nearly two-thirds of all murders, rapes, assaults, muggings, and kidnappings!
So, in a roundabout way, Rep. Talarico was exactly right: The one-percenters really are “destroying America.” Hey, the facts are the facts.
He’s just attacking the wrong one percent.
One Last Thing: 2026 will reach a crescendo with the midterm elections. Nothing less than the fate of the America First movement teeters in the balance.
Never before have the political battle lines been so clearly defined. Win or lose, 2026 will transform our country.
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