Just one percent of Americans hold nearly a third of the nation’s wealth.
So it was fitting that, after organizers announced an apparently earnest “March for Billionaires” for this Saturday at Alta Plaza Park, only a few handfuls of pro-billionaire agitators actually showed.
Mission Local contributor Benjamin Wachs coined a term for an event in which media observers outnumber participants: a panopticonference. This was close to that. Those in attendance did their best to field questions from the barrage of journalists that backed them into a tree.
The march’s organizers did many of the things good protesters do, like hold up handmade posters with slogans like, “We *heart* you Jeffrey Bezos,” and “It’s very difficult to write a nuanced argument on a sign,” even when their hands trembled.
Aella, a writer, sex worker and former tech worker with a sizable online following, even made an appearance.
But the discourse sounded more like what you’d hear at a high-school debate conference, public forum style (which, for those who were cool in high school, consists of speeches, crossfire questioning, and rebuttals).
The protesters argued that, broadly, very rich individuals have gotten a bad rap.
Derik Kauffman, the founder of an artificial-intelligence startup and the leader of the small band of billionaire admirers, laid out his stance to the assembled crowd of reporters, observers and passersby looking to get in a good heckle on a sunny Saturday in the park.
Kauffman feared that California’s proposed wealth tax, a planned one-time 5 percent levy on the state’s roughly 200 billionaires, would drive the fat cats away and discourage aspirational billionaires from forming companies here.
The tens of billions of dollars that could be raised from this tax would fund healthcare, a journalist said. What did Kauffman think of that?
Kauffman began his rebuttal, but it was drowned out by the hubbub of a “counter protester” wearing a towering papier-mâché Swedish Chef puppet chasing around a man in a crown.
“He’s coming to eat the rich!” the royal provocateur yelled. “Help me get away from the unwashed masses!”
Nevertheless, Kauffman persisted.
“California is, I believe, the only state to give health insurance to people who come into the country illegally,” Kauffman said nervously. “I think we probably should not be providing that.”
Fourteen states offer health coverage to undocumented immigrants. Far more offer health coverage to pregnant undocumented immigrants. Kauffman later clarified that he meant the state was the only one to extend state-funded health coverage to all low-income adults, regardless of immigration status.
“So you’d rather everyone just be sick, and get everyone else sick?” another reporter asked.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” said Kauffman.
“Isn’t that effectively what happens?” the reporter countered. “They don’t have access to health care and they just have to get sick, right?”
Kauffman contemplated that one for a moment.
“Then they have to just get sick,” he said. “I mean, it’s unfortunate, but I think that it’s sort of impossible to have both liberal immigration laws and generous government benefits.”
Kauffman, who recently left his tech job, has since been completely occupied with organizing Saturday’s march. He said he expected dozens to join him.
All told, at least 20 did, Kauffman later said. It was for the best that more did not: The group later decamped from Alta Plaza Park and marched to Civic Center, where they did not have a permit for a rally.
Despite the San Francisco locale, a participant said the event had “grassroots” origins at a “little rationalist restaurant get-together” in a “group house” on Shattuck Avenue, subverting any assumptions that Berkeley is all radical hippies.
This is where Annie, a young transgender woman who attended the protest in a T-shirt that said “I’m in a polycule with Aella,” first met Kauffman. An impromptu debate ensued, with Annie “aggressively defending billionaires.”
It was, participants concluded, worthy of a larger forum. Phone numbers were added to a Signal group chat, and organizing began. On Saturday, some of the protesters met in person for the first time.
With the spectacle of “real” billionaire boosters in Adidas and Abercrombie next to “counter-protesters” in ties, tiaras and top hats, one couldn’t be blamed for wondering if this was performance art, or just something that felt a lot like it.
As the clock struck 11:30 at Alta Plaza Park, the fourth estate began to go for the jugular. Was the billionaire bacchanal B.S.?
“I am a Christian,” said Annie. “I swear on my God that I am completely genuine.”
Annie is a software engineer, she told this reporter. She draws a six-figure salary, but lives frugally in an “attic cordoned off with curtains” so that she can retire early. She said there was “no way in hell” she’d share her last name, because she could lose her job, and because she did not trust reporters.
“It is the intention of journalists to lie, which is why we need to not do anything to the journalists themselves, but we need to simply remove them as a class,” Annie said. “Just like Germany does to the extremist organizations.”
Well, Germany certainly did excel at removing classes of people from society. With that said, she also told this reporter that she would be happy to discuss the matter off the record over a beer.
Her political awakening, she added, was watching the press “constantly pump out obviously fake information” against Trump during the 2016 election, instead of reporting on the “actual abhorrent views he holds.”
Pressed forward by the handsome swarm of reporters recording the event (we’re in the business of giving a voice to the voiceless), I asked who would publicize her march and her message without journalists.
Other methods of communication would come up to spread the word, Annie replied. Billionaires were just that great.
“People are just jealous that they are poorer and weaker and uglier,” she said. “We are beautiful. We’re smart. We’re strong. … We are supporting the billionaires, here.”
PS I’m not against billionaires, bless their hearts. I’m just old enough that I’ve watched them receive tax benefits all throughout California and then when they don’t like some policy, they stamp their feet and say they’re leaving and they leave without repaying their tax benefits that they’ve received from the people to entice them to come here. that’s also not very fair that we invest in them and then they just pull out whenever they’ve got a problem and also threaten us like they are now. The American way is that we are all equal and billionaires don’t and shouldn’t have more say than anybody else in the country. That’s at least how we had set it up so that we wouldn’t be repeating medieval Europe all these many years later.
your argument is that of a 4yo throwing a tantrum & sounds more like ignorant jealousy… “billionaires” are literally just humans with more money than you, they are not criminal & did nothing wrong. You folks have been brainwashed again by progressives into thinking rich people are the problem when its in fact the democrats your voting for that is the problem……….
Too bad you had your brain washed, bleached and desiccated by billionaires and their apologists.
Seems to fly in the face of “all men are created equal” I don’t envy the rich but they are not deserving of special treatment. They should express their appreciation more that they live in a country where such obscene wealth can be obtained. That they don’t speaks volumes of their values.
Health care at emergency rooms is provided to all comers, regardless of immigration status, in all 50 states, each territory and the District of Columbia. Furthermore, it is far cheaper and far better for public health in general, to have ALL persons covered by health insurance.
Emergency room care is very expensive too. It’s better, and sometimes cheaper, to provide the care to keep people out of the emergency room.
The billionaires in our area love Trump. They’ve all donated money to him, praise him publicly, and get photographed with him.
They start companies like OpenAI, whose employees take our parking spots in the Mission.
I think we should all do our best to make these people want to leave the state. Let’s remind everyone in the mission: you’ll get the parking spot in front of your house back if these people leave town.
@Em – I dunno, the focus on parking spots just means you’re buying petroleum from a different set of billionaires.
“the billionaires in our area love Trump” has to be the craziest thing ive ever read… where exactly do you live where you actually have billionaire neighbors? You live on an Island? Just so your aware, no one believes you lol
Wake up – you live in the Bay Area. There are billionaires in the area, SF, and even the mission. Zuck used to live here. Sam Altman lives in SF and commutes through the mission. Tim Cook, Sergei Brin, and Larry Page live in the South Bay. I could go on and on.
There are 82 billionaires here, one of the highest concentrations in the world: https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/bay-area-california-most-billionaires/
Pro-billionaires are self-hating morons.
*extended period of astonished blinking after reading this*
Thank you for covering this in detail; it didn’t deserve the attention, clearly, but it did deserve the sunlight on what a peculiar, ill-thought-through “movement” it is trying to be. (Also, chef’s kiss on the photo framing which OF COURSE I read as hearting that other Jeffrey in the news associated with the ultra-rich.)
Oooh, nice catch, Ms. Sanders!
I am convinced that protesting for billionaires is a humiliation ritual…. also Aella and her sister started out as online chess influencers, and it is embarrassing and dangerous how they now keep trying to push young impressionable girls into sex work.
That’s interesting, was she at this event? Is she a strong chess player? Just curious, I don’t play chess. I would not say I’m any fan of her porn work although I think she’s good at it, just not my taste.
Most top chess streamers are 2000+ online elo rating, which she probably is not, but it’s possible. I’m curious too.
“That they now keep trying to push young impressionable girls into sex work.”
Uh, why do you think that’s what’s going on?
They do it on podcasts and their personal social media, I didn’t necessarily see it at this protest.
“Aella, a writer, sex worker and former tech worker with a sizable online following, even made an appearance.”
In other words, not a billionaire, never will be, but happy to shill for them.
Wow, really lame. My above comment shows that I didn’t do a good job of reading the article. I have read her blog some so I know that she was raised in a hyper religious environment. In my experience this is associated with various kinds of political extremism in adulthood.
“People are just jealous that they are poorer and weaker and uglier.”
Oof, they’ll get far on that argument. The proposed one-time wealth tax really has these beneficiaries of massive tax cuts (at everyone else’s expense) really bothered. All the signature-gatherers for that proposition will also ask you to sign another one written by Chris Larsen that would undo the first one. It purportedly benefits small businesses—you know, the multimillion-dollar ones like his.
Ironically, on the subject of taxes, let’s talk about how everyone benefits from all the taxes collected from undocumented workers that bolster our economy and pay for things, but they get nothing back. I’d like these smart young people to calculate the amount of taxes that undocumented workers provide to the country and to the state of California and calculate the difference between billionaires leaving and immigrants who work hard leaving. Billionaires make money on money not from their physical labor. If billionaires can’t handle a one time tax to live in this great state beautiful state then I’m sorry to say, but I think they are very short sided and unappreciative of what this state provides them and their businesses, like all the tax breaks We’ve had to deal with over the last 20 years which have compounded the deficit and lack of funding for important essentials. I’m surprised no journalist brought up the amount of taxes that immigrants pay without any return while billionaires gain tons of benefits without paying taxes. Perhaps these young people should research a time in this country when billionaires were charged 90% in taxes and still did plenty well. At some point maybe they can be grateful that they’re not paying 90% in taxes and contribute to the country in the measure that is more than what a secretary pays in taxes.
This is funny. Eat billionaires.
I don’t want to eat that
Gristle, no thanks.
its honestly kind of amazing that the billionaires couldn’t be bothered to do more for this.
It implies they either A; *Vastly* underestimate the power that public, irl actions can have in impacting local opinons and movements. And/or B; Literally just don’t have that many actual supporters. Either scenario is immensly beneficial. Hence despite the comedy, we kinda appreciate them doing this in a wierd way? they’ve exposed a very major weakness, that we wouldn’t have been sure was there otherwise.
They already have political and economic power. They don’t need marches. Nor do they deserve them.
That’s right, Cynthia. The very successful are only ever going to be a tiny minority, and so democracy typically doesn’t work for them. They have instead to protect themselves by using some of their funds to balance the scales.
The left has feet on the ground. The rich have money. Everyone uses what they have to protect their turf. Seems fair to me.
Those holding their signs up. God bless your simple minds. When you begin college level statistics you will begin to see so many continuity errors in your ways. And really all those who are there trying to score points with your tech gods, you are circling a drain., even if you don’t know it.
I’d love to know who the weirdos are in these comments jumping onto the side of the rich.
I’d love to know who are the posters who are so riddled with envy that they discriminate against those who achieve success.
Is this the same rationalist sect out of Berkeley that produced the Zizians? Just wanted to note that possible connection and that cult is/was nuts and murdered multiple people…
@Binkystinkletoes – I wondered the same thing. Zizians technically were a breakaway offshoot of Berkeley “rationalists” but there’s a particular departure from reality in their thinking where it all starts.
BBC News editors: If you read this, that’s one for “all the biggest stories” Simon McCoy.
Stupidity paid for by dot com. Communists. Google blocks freedom of speech worldwide and artificially creates social opinions contrary to reality. Im sad for you in Callie, my home has turned to garbage
the media only caters to the stupid these days & it shows by the comments im reading… Billionaires dont strike because this will & CANNOT ever happen, this is literally just a gaslight for stupid folks, ALSO there is NOT 200 billionaires in San Fran, there’s only 300 in the entire country… this has to be satire smdh
John —
As clearly noted in the article, the 200 billionaire approximation is a state figure, not a local one.
Best,
JE
I love how rich people can be labeled …FAT CATS. But don’t you dare label vagrants… BUMS. No billionaires poop on the sidewalk, which is thoroughly disgusting. But no one is envious of bums, so no mass complaints about that real nasty behavior. But most people are filled with envy and think billionaires must be punished for the sin of being successful, while we waste billions on vagrants who are spectacularly unsuccessful. It’s a society of political and economic Illiterates we live in. I can’t wait until every homeowner in California is forced to give up their … STOLEN LAND ! That is going to be so funny !
“Just one percent of Americans hold nearly a third of the nation’s wealth”. So what… Just a few percent of Americans hold 100% of the nations Meth. I don’t see anyone complain about that, even that segment of the population causes way more problems than the 1%. The 1% whiners are all about envy and greed. Greed to get what is not theirs.