“Behind every great fortune there is a great crime…”

- Honoree de Balzac

This quote has been attributed to Balzac, the 19th Century French novelist, writer, and critic, and his observations of societies in that century and beyond have proven themselves to be quite accurate, over generations.

He influenced writers well into the 20th Century and likely still influences writers, in his realism and dead-on depiction of the powerful and the not so powerful, as well. Although he may not have said it in these exact words, his intent was clear: there are few great fortunes that have been accumulated through pick-and-shovel work or grinding out the paperwork at an accounting desk.

On the way to accumulating great fortunes, many things are done that the accumulator hopes never see the light of day. The U.S. and, indeed the world, have many great fortunes. Recently, in fact, it was noted by the global anti-hunger non-profit Oxfam that eight individuals, all men, have the equivalent wealth of the combined wealth of half of the poor population of the world. Now, surely there are several great crimes involved in the accumulation of such great wealth. We just have not heard about them, or we’ve ignored them.

Or, we don’t care about them, because we might be convinced that, someday, we may use the same techniques to become obscenely rich ourselves. For the most part, people accept the disparity in wealth if they are getting by in reasonable comfort and feel that their children will be able to do better. That’s the rationale that is used to convince entire peoples that this is the case, so let the billionaires be billionaires. “Someday, we’ll get there too,” is the thought that is implanted in a worker’s mind. It’s about as realistic as thinking that just about anyone can become a football great, an entertainment superstar, or the president of the United States.

Oxfam released a report on the disparity in wealth in countries around the world, as the world’s political leaders and business chiefs are meeting in Davos at the World Economic Forum this week, when one of the topics of discussion reportedly will be the profoundly negative effects of the disparity in wealth and income in virtually every country.

This week, on the King Holiday, an elderly woman who lives in flyover country and who obviously was a Donald Trump voter and is among his many supporters as he prepares to take the oath of office of U.S. president tomorrow, indicated that she was willing to ignore his racist comments, his Islamophobia, his misogyny, his narcissism, his pride in his wealth, and his lack of any government experience. Her main reason for supporting him was his business experience. She was apparently so discouraged by the condition of the nation’s economy, she was willing to ignore his negatives and hope that he will run the country like one of his businesses.

Notwithstanding his business failures, he has made a lot of money, and the woman made the same mistake as millions of others in thinking that the U.S. can be run like a business. But government is not a business and it can’t be run like one. Businesses are in it to make money, to make a profit. The only profit that government should be interested in is how an efficiently run government can profit (benefit) all of the people. That’s not what Trump is about, but that’s what his supporters are wishing he will do for them, especially those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder.

Businesses typically do not provide health care for all, they do not provide education for all, they do not seek to increase the overall number of jobs (or reduce unemployment), they do not seek to provide clean water and air, they do not seek to provide a livable wage, they do not build roads and bridges (or maintain them in good condition), they do not put forth housing policies that result in clean and safe and warm homes for all. It’s a long list and there are some exceptions, but overall, they are in business to make money. As Oxfam reported, the world’s 10 biggest corporations have more in revenue than 180 of the world’s poorest countries combined. That’s an unbelievable amount of money and it covers most of the world’s nations. The remaining nations are the “developed” or the rich nations.

Over all others, that included the U.S. Apologists for the disastrous disparity in wealth and income point out that corporations are not in the human services business (not completely, since they have not taken over all government services, yet) and that it is the requirement of corporations to make money for their shareholders and that’s really their sole responsibility. This is not to mention that their profits also include annual millions for their CEOs and other executives and tens of millions in their retirement and other benefits in their golden parachutes.

Those meeting in Davos this week will likely mull over the chasm of inequality that they are confronting in their countries and speculate how much the populace can withstand before something catastrophic happens. Considering that, already, many countries are run like businesses (in many cases, owned by a single leader), it is time to reconsider how “the people” are viewed by those who control politics and economics in those countries.

The people are suffering in so many countries, and because of that, they are more than restless. How much they will take is anyone’s guess and the U.S. is not exempt from that condition. Part of the reason that the country is faced with a Trump presidency is that restlessness and they have chosen to elect someone who has no experience in government and has given multiple signs that he would run the country like a business, not knowing any other way to conduct himself and acting like a corporate CEO, being in business to make money for his stockholders.