Rhetorical Situation: Giving a speech at the Democratic National Convention, attempting to promote an extremely high marginal tax rate on the wealthy.

 

Attempting to craft a speech on billionaires and the injustice of their existence is a remarkably difficult task. Not because of deficiencies or perceived flaws in the arguments. The statistics are jarring enough. I could stand up here and tell you that 45 million Americans still live below the poverty line, that 79 million Americans are facing medical bill or debt problems, that 16 million, or 1 in 5 American children go hungry each year. But that’s not difficult. These are statistics that most everyone has heard in one form or another but have yet to have been effective in spurring genuine change.

 

Should I attempt to tell you all how much money one billion dollars really is? It’s difficult to fathom how much one million really is, how can we be expected to properly consider what 1,000 times that is? Should I tell you that a million seconds is less than 12 days, while a billion seconds is 32 years? How about that 1 million dollars in $100 bills stacked up would be roughly the height of a chair, while a billion dollars in the same denomination would be taller than the height of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building?

 

How about considering the way money is distributed in this country? I could tell you that the three richest people in this country have about as much wealth as the bottom 50%. That those that comprise the Forbes Top 400 have more combined wealth than the GDP of Britain. But again, we’ve all heard similar statistics in the past and elected to do little.

 

This speech intends to do more than raise awareness to the issue. If I give this speech tonight, you all applaud, but no substantive policy initiatives come of it, then I have failed. I stand before you all tonight with the intention of enacting change, real change. I hope for tonight to be a transformative night in the history of the Democratic Party. I hope for tonight to be the night that the Democratic Party decided to truly represent a constituency that has gone underrepresented for decades now—that being the 99%. The only way to do so is to set our sights on those who have dictated the terms for too long now.

 

This is not a call to arms. This is not me asking for revolution. Billionaires can go on living outlandish lifestyles and hoarding preposterous amounts of wealth. They simply can no longer possess over a billion dollars.

 

But the same question still lies before me, how do I convince you all of something that I believe to be eminently true? How can I bring you over to my side? I read these statistics about difficulties that Americans are facing, and then the preposterous amounts of wealth hoarded by so few and see a demonstrative moral injustice.

 

Some of you may say that it is inherently un-American to restrict the amount of wealth that can be attained. That American’s have a right to free enterprise and the riches that they garner as a result of their ingenuity. That any policy proposal that prevents one from holding over one billion dollars is incongruent to the American dream.

 

To that I point you toward the 45 million Americans living below the poverty line. Those that have no realistic means of achieving anything resembling the “American dream.” Those who so desperately are in need of being propped up by the system, who with a share of this wealth could reasonably be expected to productively contribute to their local communities in a more beneficial manner.

 

I would also point out that America has not always so ruthlessly cast the poor aside in favor of the imperceptibly rich. That during the 1950s, a time when the American economy thrived, the top marginal tax rate peaked at above 90 percent for households bringing in more than the equivalent of $2 million in today’s dollars. This is a period of time that is often harkened back to as the golden age of America, as it gained hegemonic power globally.

 

To those who remain skeptical, let me leave you with some final thoughts. The largest American corporations are no longer major employers of Americans; Walmart, U.S. Steel, General Motors. These corporations have been surpassed in market value by new-age companies. Apple, Amazon, and Google are the mega corporations that drive the American economy. But they’re also tech companies that have embraced automation. As representatives of the American people this trend should scare you greatly. Unless support systems are put in place for the most vulnerable Americans now, then it could very well be too late.

 

Before I finish, I have one question to ask of you. Who do you represent? Because I’ll tell you who you don’t. It’s not Jeff Bezos, it’s not Sheldon Adelson, it’s not Mark Zuckerberg. These people already do a grand job of making their voice heard. I’ll tell you what else you don’t represent. Your job isn’t to represent this grand monolith that is America. That’s not your responsibility. You are beholden to your constituents. People of all kinds of color and creed. People that are struggling, that are fighting, but are also immensely prideful. I’m asking you to give them a fair chance. Give those people a fair shot at the American dream. That’s the difficult part, deciding who you represent.

 

As for the solution, that one’s easy. There’s a giant stockpile of money just waiting for you. And you should know where to find it.