Today we are talking about the billionaires that have hijacked the American government. My guest, Chuck Collins, is uniquely qualified to talk about this issue. As heir to a family fortune, he had an insider’s seat at the table of wealth management - and what he learned about how things operate - caused him to do something considered radical - by the others at the table. He chose to donate his inheritance and dedicate himself to exposing the corrupting influence of dynastic wealth. This is Aspire with Osha; art, nature, humanity, and I’m your host, Osha Hayden. My guest Chuck Collins, has been on the show several times. Let me tell you more about this remarkable man.Chuck Collins is the Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies where he co-edits Inequality.org. Author of several books on wealth inequality, including most recently, The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions. He also wrote a novel, Altars to an Erupting Sun and has a new book coming out this Fall, and we’ll hear more about that.You may have listened to our previous interview from Nov 5, 2023, available on my podcast https://oshahayden.com/podcast/how-trillions-in-hidden-wealth-impacts-us-insights-from-chuck-collins/Osha and Chuck Collins discuss what happens when wealth is transferred from working citizens to the top .01% and billionaires are able to influence policy and elections.Are you curious about how billionaires have captured such a large percentage of the world’s wealth? About how they have rigged the system in their favor and yet pay so little in taxes? Chuck Collins states that “the combined wealth of the nine-figure club is now $16.1 trillion, up $2 trillion from a year ago.” What are some steps we can take to challenge the takeover of our government by Billionaire oligarchs?We discuss what happens when mega billionaires seize control of the levers of power, and how that affects middle class and poor citizens.In Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, he describes the rings of power and the one ring to rule them all. In the trilogy, evil and hatred are on the rise and the dark lord Sauron seeks to find this ultimate ring of power. Because - once he takes possession of the ring, he has control over everything. But the ring is toxic in its power, it utterly corrupts the soul of whoever carries it. Osha notes the relevance of this story to the corrupting influence of extreme wealth and power.It’s worth noting that although one of Musk’s corporations, Tesla, is valued at over $1 trillion, it paid zero income tax last year. (ITEP, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Jan 30, 2025) https://itep.org/tesla-reported-zero-federal-income-tax-in-2024/The US Debt is now over 36 trillion. It is estimated that the budget package being proposed would add another 5.1 trillion to the deficit. Who is on the hook for that deficit?Chuck Collins has a new book, Burned by Billionaires, coming out this Fall. Learn more about Chuck’s work and his books: https://inequality.orghttps://www.chuckcollinswrites.com/Other Sites of Interest:https://www.postcarbon.org/. Richard Heinberg, author of If you enjoyed this show, please leave a positive review and share with your friends. Thank you! Osha

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