We’re going global this week with Peter S. Goodman, the New York Times’s global economics correspondent. In his writing, he’s captured the myth of heroism that billionaires build by themselves, about themselves — how the ruling class is building a narrative to justify and rationalize their dominance, and how this move is accompanied by a turn inward, a reflection on how their success comes from something inside them that makes them, well, better than us.
“In the pandemic, it was C.E.O.s in many, many cases all over the world who were the heroes,” Mr. Benioff said. “They’re the ones who stepped forward with their financial resources, their corporate resources, their employees, their factories, and pivoted rapidly — not for profit, but to save the world.”
— Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, from “CEOS Were Our Heroes, at Least According To Them,” Peter S. Goodman, for the New York Times
Peter’s work, then, is a look at the man behind the curtain, who’s asking us to pay no attention. In his NYT piece and in his book, Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World, he points out the scaffolding of government-enabled economic perks that keep these false superheroes rising above the masses. And he questions the value of this “heroism,” particularly in the age of COVID. Here, wealthy governments’ failure to provide a robust response to public-health crises opens the floor for big corporations to do the bare minimum and earn kudos (while their workers earn next to nothing).
We desperately need to dismantle the individualistic cult of heroism that surrounds billionaires — those who slash workers’ wages and protections to turn an extra dime for themselves, strong-arm the government into offering them tax breaks, and offer halfhearted gestures at charity to the very people they’ve wronged. We’re thrilled that Peter will be joining us for that conversation. If you can’t wait until Saturday for the interview, subscribe now to get video access on Friday. And if you can’t wait till Friday, check out Peter’s writing online.
You can find the audio version of this episode when it releases on Saturday through Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and other major streaming platforms. Paid subscribers will receive the video through Substack on Friday.
I still cannot watch anything. I've paid this month I can send screenshots. It says I'm subscribed to Krystal Kyle and Friends but gives me audio only. When I click a new video it asks me to subscribe. I've watched Kyle for a long time. The support page has no one to speak to. Thank you for looking into it if you can.
It doesn't show up for me, and instead gives me a Subscribe button, even though I'm already subscribed.. Is it okay to be paranoid about big tech fuckery?