Chapter 10: I Don't Think They Play Fairly At All

Alice pulled up a chart. It showed the distribution of wealth across households in the United States by tier, ranging from the bottom 50% to the top 1%.

“See those 3 bars that look roughly the same? One third, one third, one third?” Alice asked. “That’s the distribution of wealth across the top 3 tiers of American households. About one third of wealth is held by the top one percent of households. The next third is held by the nine percent of households below that.”

“That’s two thirds of America’s wealth held by just 10% of households?” asked Erika.

“Roughly speaking,” confirmed Alice. Then she continued the lecture. “The next third is held by the forty percent of households below that. All-in-all, that’s almost all the wealth held by half the top half of people in America.”

“How much is left over for the bottom half?” asked Erika.

“2.6%,” said Alice. “68 million households barely register on the chart.” She turned and looked at Naomi, “Does that seem fair to you?”

“No,” replied Naomi. She preferred to keep her answers short with Alice. She knew the elderly woman could turn on you at a moment.

Rosa, on the other hand, had not learned that lesson. “Where are these numbers coming from?”

“The Federal Reserve,” replied Alice. “This isn’t some hippy crap, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“No, no,” said Rosa. She looked taken aback. “I was just curious.”

“Be nice, Alice,” said Erika. “I told you, she’s a friend.”

Alice nodded but didn’t apologize. She continued her lecture, “But of course, even within that top one percent, there are huge disparities,” said Alice. “There are a handful of guys with billions. We all know who they are. They’re out there whining on social media about how hard it is to be a rich white man.”

“Hold onto your hats,” said Erika. “She’s getting worked up now.”

“Let’s talk about that top 1% — the millionaires and the billionaires,” said Alice. She brought up an interactive picture with stacks of money. “Let’s take a look at what all that money actually looks like. If you stack up one-hundred-dollar bills, how tall would a million-dollar stack be?”

“As high as a house!” said Erika, clearly having fun. At least she was undeterred by Alice’s salty vibe.

“Nothing so grand,” said Alice. She typed a bit, clicked a few buttons, and a stack of money appeared next to a chair. “Just over 3 feet tall.”

Erika tut-tutted, “Such a shame. And they thought they had made something of themselves.”

Alice smirked, picking up just a little on Erika’s mood. “How about a billion dollars?” asked Alice. “That’s got to be enough to get you in with the in-crowd, right?” She typed a little more, clicked a few more buttons, and a stack of hundred-dollar bills appeared that was taller than Dubai’s highest skyscraper.

“There we go!” said Erika, “Now we’re talking!”

“Yeah, that’s pretty nice,” said Alice. “But honestly, billionaires are starting to be a dime-a-dozen. We’ve got hundreds of them in the U.S. What about the really rich guys?”

Rosa spoke up, “Yes, isn’t that tech mogul worth half a trillion dollars now?”

“Exactly!” exclaimed Alice. “Let’s see what that looks like.” She typed and clicked one more time. A stack of one-hundred-dollar bills higher than the International Space Station appeared on the screen.

They all stared at the graphic, taking in the enormity of the sum.

“Now,” said Alice. “Can I ask you a personal question, Rosa? I assume you’re a hard-working woman. If you cashed it all in today — sold your house, pulled out all of the money from your retirement accounts, and then paid off all your loans, about how much money would that add up to?”

Rosa was quiet. Naomi thought she might not respond. Finally, she said, “About $250,000.”

Alice showed a pile of money about a foot tall. It was roughly the height of a laptop.

“Naomi,” asked Alice, “Rosa over here is unemployed, she has a family to take care of, and the job market is dismal. She’s got 250K and she might need to make it last her for the rest of her life. Does that seem fair to you?”

“No, of course not,” said Naomi.

Erika quietly reached out and put her hand on Rosa’s shoulder.

“You’re damn right it’s not fair,” said Alice.

“But Alice,” asked Naomi, “What does this have to do with the virus?”

“Do I have to spell it out for you?” asked Alice. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Naomi just shook her head.

Alice turned back to Rosa, “You said someone made a big deposit into your mother’s bank account. Do you know where it came from?”

Rosa shook her head.

“Let’s say someone decided to fly up to the space station and skim a handful of hundred-dollar bills off the top of that big pile and give them to your mom. Hell, what if they skimmed off a few handfuls? Do you think Mr. Money Bags would notice?”

“He might not, but his accountants would,” replied Rosa. “He didn’t get a pile that big by being careless. He pays people to keep a close eye on that money.”

Alice’s eyes lit up and a grin spread across her face. “But they can’t keep an eye on it right now, can they?” Then, Alice’s grin got so wide, all Naomi could think of was an octogenarian Cheshire Cat. “A bunch of barnyard animals keep getting in the way.”

[Chapter 11 coming soon]