In 1816, Jefferson wrote a letter to Samuel Kerchival explicitly laying out the dangers of an entrenched aristocracy, as today’s billionaire class has now become.
Jefferson wrote, “Those seeking profits, were they given total freedom, would not be the ones to trust to keep government pure and our rights secure. Indeed, it has always been those seeking wealth who were the source of corruption in government. No other depositories of power have ever yet been found, which did not end in converting to their own profit the earnings of those committed to their charge."
We as a nation are paying a very high price for letting billionaire-funded think-tanks and lobbyists convince us - and Congress - to move to low tax rates, free trade policies, deregulation, stagnant wages and record profits.