I couldn't disagree more. Most economists (the people who actually study economics) are not rich and most of them comprehend the danger of trickle-down "economics". The idea that only rich people know how to run this country is like saying that only over weight diabetics know how to run a candy store. Of course Trump doesn't want anyone who isn't filthy rich in his cabinet, it makes him feel less filthy.
Any wealthy person would tell you that the path to filthy wealth begins with an adjustment to one's personal philosophy. I actually agree that one's state of mind is directly connected to their wallet. Poverty, as many have noticed, can be a self-defeating slide into cynicism and pessimism about the future, where there is a sense that literally NOTHING can change your outlook. There is a flip side to that coin, however. The mindset that allows a person to believe that they deserve extravagant wealth is built upon lies every bit as insidious to our society yet as vital to wealth accumulation as the lies poor people use to explain their condition.
The primary pathology that affects the rich is based upon the lie that resources are limitless, that there is no shortage of anything and, thus, one needn't feel at all guilty that they are eating caviar off of gold-plated plates while others eat **** off of the ground. They kid themselves that they deserve to have educated children while the children of the poor must suffer in ignorance. Behind the legal safety of LLCs they are empowered to pursue wealth acquisition in an environment of moral ambiguity. They aren't screwing over the rest of us, they're just doing their job. You see, each lie creates an apathy to the way others exist. That apathy is at the very heart of so much of conservative policy and it shows.
I am disgusted by the wealth worship that has come to define conservative economics. It is nothing but re-imagined feudalism and the modern version of monarchs, like those of the past, feel entitled to their vaulted position. This dynamic is so bad for humanity that it builds pressure upon the poor until they lash out, as they did in the French revolution. When the poor in the US finally blow, the race to divest and appear of humble means will be a comical display that, ultimately, will not save the heads of the plutocrats. I can't wait to see justice rain down upon these fascists. I hope their pain is as limitless as their political treachery is.
