Being rich isn't easy

At least, not if you have a heart.

You are surrounded by people who have been infected with greed.

Modern inequality began when people began to be able to hoard resources such as food, tens of thousands of years ago. So what we are facing now is nothing new - it's just greed on steroids.

I don't expect millionaires and billionaires to come to the rescue like white knights - by the very nature of unregulated capitalism and bribery they are far more likely to be on the dark side, polluting the Earth, contributing to global warming, squeezing the poor for every penny, and cutting the safety net so they can pay less tax.

But in so doing, they are making the world a worse place for all. As Ashville residents learned recently, it is not so easy to escape the effects of global warming. As Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett lay out in their book "The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger", inequality causes a lot of social ills, including more violence. More details at The Equality Trust.

But for those who are still decent human beings and aware that we are all living together on the same planet which is going down the tubes, I ask them to consider doing one or more of the following:

• Consider the general welfare. If you care about people, you should tell politicians that you believe that the social safety net is far more important than tax cuts for you.

• Join Patriotic Millionaires like you.

• Don't take more money out of your business than you need - invest it in your workers and/or R&D instead.

• Set an example in decreasing your carbon footprint.

• Invest in climate research, and develop products with a lower carbon footprint and which are less polluting.

• Persuade your fellows to grow up and show some responsibility too.

• Teach your own kids responsibility to their fellow humans and the Earth too, and if possible, their friends, too.

• Pay for videos and movies teaching about real history, civics, responsibility, critical thinking, climate change and the harm that greed does.

• Show or teach that real men are more like Superman than Hitler - they aren't bullies - and that people of all races and genders can be special.

• Buy or create radio and tv stations and have truthful programming, to counteract the lies that so many stations currently blast out. Left wing stations can be profitable, but greedy oligarchs won't countenance hosts who call for an increase in their taxes. Buy or create web sites and newspapers to counteract the pandemic of misinformation and disinformation, too.

• Above all, be a good example. There are far too many bad examples out there, the human race should be ashamed.

So please, if you want the world to be a better place, then be a better person. And thanks to those who are setting a good example.