Lately, I have been hearing a lot of negativity being directed at billionaires. First off, billionaires are a minority and should be protected just like any other minority in this country of ours. There are roughly 1,000 of them in the U.S. Then there are those who are not billionaires who are also affected disproportionately by discrimination. Among them are about 70,000 whose assets are in the $100 million to $999 million range. Those who hold these ranges of assets are treated like billionaires even though they have a way to go before they reach billionaire status. This minority needs special protection as the group is so small compared to, for instance, the number of minority people in the US from Mexico.

Another consideration we must make is that many of these people inherited their billions and millions, or at least inherited a good start, from their parents. We shouldn’t poke fun or get mad at them for something that is inherited genetically. Do we treat people who have other inherited defects this way? Hasn’t our goal as a nation been to create a kinder, gentler society where all differences between people are celebrated? In short, we should not discriminate nor make fun of those who are born with differences. Did billionaires ask to be born that way?

There are some billionaires who are worshiped for their contributions to humanity. Elon Musk comes to mind, the man who is using his billions to save mankind by moving us all to Mars. On the one hand, he is worshiped and on the other, he is demonized just like the billionaires who are putting up the data centers to solve all of humanity’s problems and Bill Gates who gave free vaccines to India and places in Africa. It has been pointed out that the data centers are trashing the planet and that Gates’ vaccine gift not only made him a ton of money but injured and killed several who got it. Those people just don’t understand what the billionaires understand. Sometimes one has to pay for progress with collateral damage.

A big item too many of us miss while we are struggling to pay our electric bills and put food on the table is that billionaires are job creators. Their investment capital allows them to finance the building of resorts, summer homes, yachts, private prison complexes, personal underground bunkers, robots, and the training of robots. We should all be thankful for this. Without billionaires, there would be a lot of people out of work, and with no job, we wouldn’t be able to pay the bills.

We should be thankful for the contributions that billionaires make to our society and to our economy. Instead, there are too many who boo them and want to tax them more while blaming them for our country’s problems. There has even been violence visited upon them such as the time that fine, upstanding billionaire Bill Gates took a pie in the face for all billionaires and became a martyr to their class. The next time you see a billionaire, don’t think taxes or pie in the face. Instead, walk up to them and thank them for all they do for us little people. Without them, our economy would fall apart and we would never have the opportunity to go to Mars.