Die neuen Raubritter sind die Tech-Tycoons

What most defined the Gilded Age was the rise of fortunes like those of John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J. P. Morgan. Altogether, the richest 10% of the population owned 70% of all property in the country. Their presence in U.S. society caused a stir comparable to the one caused today by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.

They were long referred to as “robber barons,” and they were far less discreet than today’s tycoons. Their parties — and their art collections (the Frick Collection in New York contains an extraordinary group of Vermeer and Rembrandt paintings) — were legendary in their time.

What they did have in common with today’s barons was their constant fight to avoid paying taxes and to block any kind of regulation of their businesses. It was not until figures like Franklin D. Roosevelt came to power that it became clear these companies had amassed too much power and were capable of triggering enormous economic crises.

For the Democratic Roosevelt, this was not a problem of free enterprise but of corporations — such as Cornelius Vanderbilt’s — that had grown excessively powerful and enjoyed privileged treatment.

As historian T. J. Stiles wrote, the term robber barons “conjures up visions of titanic monopolists who crushed competitors, rigged markets, and corrupted government.”

Far less discreet than what? A pedophile running the US and with it the world into the ground?

>They were long referred to as “robber barons,” **and they were far less discreet than today’s tycoons**.

You have to be a moron to believe this.