Nick Hanauer: Plutocrats Made in America
on Monday, January 11, 2016 Nick Hanauer Money Quotation saying wealthy need to understand the value in a strong middle class in capitalism. Nick Hanauer said:
“We plutocrats need to see that the United States of America made us, not the other way around; that a thriving middle class is the source of prosperity in capitalist economies, not a consequence of it” — Nick Hanauer
In this quote, Nick Hanauer is again directly addressing other wealthy “plutocrats” like himself. He is arguing that the plutocratic class needs to recognize that it was the United States as a whole that enabled their wealth, not the other way around where they created the country’s prosperity.
Additionally, Hanauer states that a thriving middle class is the true source and driver of economic prosperity in capitalist systems, rather than the middle class being just a consequence or outcome of plutocratic-led growth.
In essence, he is pushing other wealthy individuals to acknowledge their debt and role in supporting a strong middle class in America, since that middle class is what fuels broad-based economic success, in contrast to the idea that the wealth of the few alone creates prosperity for all.