Recently, at the Wall Street Journal award ceremony, Billie Eilish won Music Innovator of the Year and used her time-sensitive acceptance speech to argue that there is “no reason to be a billionaire” and that if you are able, you should donate to help the less fortunate. This sparked many online debates about donating and whether billionaires are a problem in society. People like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos seem willing to do anything to grow their empire, avoid spending money, and find ways to evade high taxes. And while most people dream of being rich, it gets to a point where you lose the respect of being self-made and become full of greed. Though I think that people should have the opportunity to live in luxury and have lots of success, if you aren’t doing anything beneficial with an abundance of wealth, then why have it in the first place?
Billie argued that billionaires shouldn’t exist because rich people should be donating their money regularly to science and the less fortunate. Donation is important because not only do we need to give resources to people with limited access to necessities, but we should also help with research so that we gain access to new technologies that help our world advance. Billionaires won’t even give away money, let alone 22% of their net worth as Billie did. Billie giving out $ 11.5 million is such a big deal because her net worth is only $ 50 million. “We’re in a time right now where the world feels really dark, and people need empathy and help more than ever—especially in our country. If you have money, it’d be great to use it for good—maybe give some to people who need it,” Billie Eilish said.
Billie Eilish has gotten a lot of backlash for her speech because people claim that she is attacking billionaires, but as I see it, she was just calling them out on their behavior and lack of empathy. While donating $50 million might look good on paper, how much is that affecting someone? If you donated 50 million dollars to “Feeding America,” then that would feed 500 million children. When we think about big numbers like $100 billion, it is hard to comprehend how much money that is and how much power it contains. $100 billion dollars could feed every child through “Feeding America,” and it could cover clothing costs for 69,107,266 people for a whole year as well. There is a huge class disparity because the rich are getting richer and the poor are staying poor, so if you can donate, you should, so we can close this gap.
Most people would think that the more money you make, the more you are taxed, and for some, this is true, but the top 1% are avoiding taxes. The average taxpayer pays about 14% of their income in taxes, but millionaires and billionaires have brought that number down to 3%, and some less than 1% for themselves. They lower taxes by selling stocks, buying sports teams, and tax write-offs from the oil industry. If we raised taxes on billionaires by just 3%, that would raise about $52 billion. Taxes are important because they pay for police officers’ salaries, build parks, and provide free education to children. People like Elon Musk are prime examples of tax evasion because his company, “Tesla,” refuses to pay them.
Even though Elon Musk has donated, his effect on the world has been relatively negative, and he has been stingy with his money. Allegedly, he has fired Tesla employees for disagreeing with him, and the working conditions through that company are terrible due to claims of racism and misogyny from employees. He also posts negative tweets about other political celebrities and anyone who disagrees with him. I don’t like what Elon Musk supports; he donates money to make himself look better, and he pays taxes for his personal fundings, but not his huge business.
I fully understand the idea of building your way up the economic ladder and being rich; I would love to be rich as well, but not to the extent of Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. Making a difference is so much more important, especially with how broken the world is right now. People aren’t giving others the empathy that they need, and it’s sad how many people refuse to give back to the world when the world has given them so many opportunities for the life they have.
