“With great power comes great responsibility.” This famous quote by Uncle Ben in Spider-Man hits the nail on the head. Having wealth is a great power. It allows you to do things and influence on a level that could not be reached otherwise. But with that power comes great responsibility. There are many examples of people using their wealth and money to exploit others and push their own agendas forward. In our capitalistic society, the people who gain monetary wealth are essentially entrusted with the responsibility to use it how they see fit. Of course, there are examples of good and bad when it comes to people using their monetary wealth, but true wealth comes from social support in conjunction with monetary wealth. Being able to attract people to your cause and back you is a power monetary wealth can’t buy. It comes with giving back to society in a positive way.
Current example of the responsibility of wealth
In today’s world, we live in a society of censorship and defamation. It has become obvious that companies of great monetary wealth don’t have the public’s best interest in mind, yet they control public narratives and news headlines. Recognizing this disparity, the wealthiest man in the world today, owner of Tesla Elon Musk, devised a plan to combat this injustice. Elon posted a public poll on his Twitter account asking the public whether or not they think Twitter acts as a platform that promotes free speech or not. Over the course of the last few years, Twitter has gained a reputation for banning people they don’t agree with politically namely the 45th President of The United States Donald Trump due to obscure and not clearly defined “community guideline violations”. Musk used his status to gauge the American public’s true feelings towards the platform so that he can use his monetary wealth to enact justice on the behalf of the American people. After 70%+of the respondents reported they don’t think Twitter is fair and unbiased, Musk bought over 9% of Twitter’s public share on the stock market giving him the option to sit on the board of directors for the company. Musk refused this offer stating the company was basically too corrupt and unsalvageable as it stands, offering to buy it outright for $43 billion which would be significantly beneficial to Twitter’s shareholders. Twitter now faces an impossible conundrum due to their obvious but not yet public closeted demons. Twitter can either not sell to Elon and show their shareholders they don’t have their best interest in mind more than likely tanking their stock or sell to Elon and in all probability have their closeted demons released for all the public to see. This power and influence Elon Musk wields is an amazing use of his wealth. He along with his supporters are holding big companies accountable to the people they are supposed to serve rather than them serving their own purposes and narratives. This is an example of why capitalism is such a great system. Holding people accountable would not be possible without it. Twitter would be able to do and say whatever they want without any sort of backlash. Elon’s actions are a great example of the responsibility wealth brings for you to act in favor of the greater good of society.
Capitalism Holds people accountable
Capitalism is truly a system in which everyone can win so long as they have good intentions with their newfound wealth. We live in a society that will fairly quickly weed out the bad and hold them accountable for their injustices. This Elon Musk example is just one of the newest and most significant developments that pertains to this subject. Capitalism in itself is very sophisticated. It understands that there will be good and bad people who gain monetary wealth. However, when you use monetary wealth for bad intentions, you will be exposed for it and turned on by the public ruining your reputation. Reputation means more than money because if no one likes or trusts you, who will do any business with you? Capitalism also knows that in a society where everyone is free to do as they so choose so long as it isn’t violent or illegal, there will be many good people who rise to power and gain monetary wealth. These people will gain the backing of large groups of followers and with social acceptance and monetary wealth going hand-in-hand, the greater good of society can be accelerated to new levels. Contrast this with a socialism system in which a country is controlled and monitored by a small group of elites that can’t be questioned or argued with, and you will get a system riddled with tyranny and evil with no accountability to the public. It is important we get the message of capitalism out to the general public so we can have an overall acceptance of it again as a mainstream belief. Everyone deserves to understand and know the benefits they neglect to see on a daily basis so that they can appreciate what they have and their limitless possibilities. It is people like Elon Musk who see this and how companies like Twitter vilify capitalistic belief in favor of their own oligarch-like control over people’s thoughts and beliefs. This is the true power of wealth in a capitalistic society, and it is one that needs to be used for the greater good of the people within that society.