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How inequality hits the rich as well as the poor

This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to What did you think of the Jeff Bezos wedding, where he and his bride, Lauren Sanchez, took over the city of Venice in a festival of extravagance (accompanied by an army of security guards to keep the hoi polloi away)? Personally, I thought it was gross. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's great novel turned into a great film. There is a line in it about the hyper-rich: "They were careless people," Fitzgerald wrote. "They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Careless people who retreated into their enclaves and let the common people sort out the mess, is a thought for our times as the power of the rich seems completely unconstrained. When Donald Trump came up with his plan in February for a Riviera of the Middle East in Gaza, I assumed it was some sort of Trumpian "joke" - just a daft suggestion to annoy the chattering classes. But it turns out it was real. The Financial Times has seen the presentation slides. "Titled the 'Great Trust' and shared with the Trump administration, it proposed paying half a million Palestinians to leave the area and attracting private investors to develop Gaza," it reported. "The plan also envisages what the authors called the Gaza Trump Riviera & Islands, 'world-class resorts along the coastline and on small artificial islands similar to the Palm Islands in Dubai'." We are now in a new Gilded Age, where the very wealthy flaunt extravagant lifestyles as they did from the 1870s until the new century. It's not just in America. In Australia, the gap between rich and poor is widening. "Australia is becoming more unfair and more unequal. Our research shows that the wealthiest Australians now have 90 times more wealth than those with the least - and that gap is widening every year," Anglicare's director Kasy Chambers said after the organisation had studied the matter. Should those of us who are comfortable worry? As concerned, caring citizens, of course, we should - but beyond that? Does it have any real consequences? It does. The research shows that the more unequal a society is, the worse a raft of bad consequences are, and these bad consequences affect everyone, including the very rich who might imagine they can isolate themselves in gated communities and private jets. A marvellous book, The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, says that unequal societies have higher levels of violence, mental illness, drug abuse, obesity, and poor educational achievement. Moreover, these bad effects affect the rich as well as those down the scale. The rich in unequal societies suffer more stress than the rich in more equal societies. They are more prone to depression. They are more likely to be victims of crime. When we all feel like we're in the same boat, we feel better and behave better. When we are not, community spirit withers. Bad things happen. Obvious, really. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it obvious? Let me know what you think. How does inequality cost all of us something? What should be done about it? What did you think of the Bezos wedding? Send your thoughts to echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Erin Patterson was found guilty of three murders and one attempted murder after three members of her family died from death cap mushroom poisoning in August 2023. The 50-year-old invited her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, to lunch on July 29, 2023. - The former police officer who fatally shot an Indigenous teenager in a remote community was racist, a coroner has found, and those attitudes were reflective of an institution that tolerated racism. Mr Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, in November 2019. - A woman in her 50s who was mauled by an African lion in a "horrific" attack lost her arm in the incident at Darling Downs Zoo in Pilton, a small town in Queensland's Toowoomba region. THEY SAID IT: "New money shouts. Old money whispers," Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. YOU SAID IT: I opined that AI couldn't create music I would want to listen to. Music wasn't just a string of notes, I thought. It needed human experience behind it. Sue disagreed: "As I understand AI music, it is composed from past human experience, and if that is the case, then the notes and words are based on previous emotions. As for wedding poetry, if the words resonate with the bride and groom, isn't that enough?" Philip leaned towards my view: "AI will only ever repeat the past because that's where it gets its data. It can never develop a new style. It can never innovate." Elaine said: "AI is mimicry, so who gets sued for copyright? It is cheating original artists of their work without consequences, I say NO to AI's use of other people's talent without their permission." I had disagreed with Garry, who had more time for AI-generated music. "Sorry, Garry, Steve is right," Patricia said. "Music comes from the heart, the soul, the guts. It comes from human experience." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to What did you think of the Jeff Bezos wedding, where he and his bride, Lauren Sanchez, took over the city of Venice in a festival of extravagance (accompanied by an army of security guards to keep the hoi polloi away)? Personally, I thought it was gross. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's great novel turned into a great film. There is a line in it about the hyper-rich: "They were careless people," Fitzgerald wrote. "They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Careless people who retreated into their enclaves and let the common people sort out the mess, is a thought for our times as the power of the rich seems completely unconstrained. When Donald Trump came up with his plan in February for a Riviera of the Middle East in Gaza, I assumed it was some sort of Trumpian "joke" - just a daft suggestion to annoy the chattering classes. But it turns out it was real. The Financial Times has seen the presentation slides. "Titled the 'Great Trust' and shared with the Trump administration, it proposed paying half a million Palestinians to leave the area and attracting private investors to develop Gaza," it reported. "The plan also envisages what the authors called the Gaza Trump Riviera & Islands, 'world-class resorts along the coastline and on small artificial islands similar to the Palm Islands in Dubai'." We are now in a new Gilded Age, where the very wealthy flaunt extravagant lifestyles as they did from the 1870s until the new century. It's not just in America. In Australia, the gap between rich and poor is widening. "Australia is becoming more unfair and more unequal. Our research shows that the wealthiest Australians now have 90 times more wealth than those with the least - and that gap is widening every year," Anglicare's director Kasy Chambers said after the organisation had studied the matter. Should those of us who are comfortable worry? As concerned, caring citizens, of course, we should - but beyond that? Does it have any real consequences? It does. The research shows that the more unequal a society is, the worse a raft of bad consequences are, and these bad consequences affect everyone, including the very rich who might imagine they can isolate themselves in gated communities and private jets. A marvellous book, The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, says that unequal societies have higher levels of violence, mental illness, drug abuse, obesity, and poor educational achievement. Moreover, these bad effects affect the rich as well as those down the scale. The rich in unequal societies suffer more stress than the rich in more equal societies. They are more prone to depression. They are more likely to be victims of crime. When we all feel like we're in the same boat, we feel better and behave better. When we are not, community spirit withers. Bad things happen. Obvious, really. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it obvious? Let me know what you think. How does inequality cost all of us something? What should be done about it? What did you think of the Bezos wedding? Send your thoughts to echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Erin Patterson was found guilty of three murders and one attempted murder after three members of her family died from death cap mushroom poisoning in August 2023. The 50-year-old invited her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, to lunch on July 29, 2023. - The former police officer who fatally shot an Indigenous teenager in a remote community was racist, a coroner has found, and those attitudes were reflective of an institution that tolerated racism. Mr Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, in November 2019. - A woman in her 50s who was mauled by an African lion in a "horrific" attack lost her arm in the incident at Darling Downs Zoo in Pilton, a small town in Queensland's Toowoomba region. THEY SAID IT: "New money shouts. Old money whispers," Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. YOU SAID IT: I opined that AI couldn't create music I would want to listen to. Music wasn't just a string of notes, I thought. It needed human experience behind it. Sue disagreed: "As I understand AI music, it is composed from past human experience, and if that is the case, then the notes and words are based on previous emotions. As for wedding poetry, if the words resonate with the bride and groom, isn't that enough?" Philip leaned towards my view: "AI will only ever repeat the past because that's where it gets its data. It can never develop a new style. It can never innovate." Elaine said: "AI is mimicry, so who gets sued for copyright? It is cheating original artists of their work without consequences, I say NO to AI's use of other people's talent without their permission." I had disagreed with Garry, who had more time for AI-generated music. "Sorry, Garry, Steve is right," Patricia said. "Music comes from the heart, the soul, the guts. It comes from human experience." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to What did you think of the Jeff Bezos wedding, where he and his bride, Lauren Sanchez, took over the city of Venice in a festival of extravagance (accompanied by an army of security guards to keep the hoi polloi away)? Personally, I thought it was gross. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's great novel turned into a great film. There is a line in it about the hyper-rich: "They were careless people," Fitzgerald wrote. "They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Careless people who retreated into their enclaves and let the common people sort out the mess, is a thought for our times as the power of the rich seems completely unconstrained. When Donald Trump came up with his plan in February for a Riviera of the Middle East in Gaza, I assumed it was some sort of Trumpian "joke" - just a daft suggestion to annoy the chattering classes. But it turns out it was real. The Financial Times has seen the presentation slides. "Titled the 'Great Trust' and shared with the Trump administration, it proposed paying half a million Palestinians to leave the area and attracting private investors to develop Gaza," it reported. "The plan also envisages what the authors called the Gaza Trump Riviera & Islands, 'world-class resorts along the coastline and on small artificial islands similar to the Palm Islands in Dubai'." We are now in a new Gilded Age, where the very wealthy flaunt extravagant lifestyles as they did from the 1870s until the new century. It's not just in America. In Australia, the gap between rich and poor is widening. "Australia is becoming more unfair and more unequal. Our research shows that the wealthiest Australians now have 90 times more wealth than those with the least - and that gap is widening every year," Anglicare's director Kasy Chambers said after the organisation had studied the matter. Should those of us who are comfortable worry? As concerned, caring citizens, of course, we should - but beyond that? Does it have any real consequences? It does. The research shows that the more unequal a society is, the worse a raft of bad consequences are, and these bad consequences affect everyone, including the very rich who might imagine they can isolate themselves in gated communities and private jets. A marvellous book, The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, says that unequal societies have higher levels of violence, mental illness, drug abuse, obesity, and poor educational achievement. Moreover, these bad effects affect the rich as well as those down the scale. The rich in unequal societies suffer more stress than the rich in more equal societies. They are more prone to depression. They are more likely to be victims of crime. When we all feel like we're in the same boat, we feel better and behave better. When we are not, community spirit withers. Bad things happen. Obvious, really. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it obvious? Let me know what you think. How does inequality cost all of us something? What should be done about it? What did you think of the Bezos wedding? Send your thoughts to echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Erin Patterson was found guilty of three murders and one attempted murder after three members of her family died from death cap mushroom poisoning in August 2023. The 50-year-old invited her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, to lunch on July 29, 2023. - The former police officer who fatally shot an Indigenous teenager in a remote community was racist, a coroner has found, and those attitudes were reflective of an institution that tolerated racism. Mr Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, in November 2019. - A woman in her 50s who was mauled by an African lion in a "horrific" attack lost her arm in the incident at Darling Downs Zoo in Pilton, a small town in Queensland's Toowoomba region. THEY SAID IT: "New money shouts. Old money whispers," Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. YOU SAID IT: I opined that AI couldn't create music I would want to listen to. Music wasn't just a string of notes, I thought. It needed human experience behind it. Sue disagreed: "As I understand AI music, it is composed from past human experience, and if that is the case, then the notes and words are based on previous emotions. As for wedding poetry, if the words resonate with the bride and groom, isn't that enough?" Philip leaned towards my view: "AI will only ever repeat the past because that's where it gets its data. It can never develop a new style. It can never innovate." Elaine said: "AI is mimicry, so who gets sued for copyright? It is cheating original artists of their work without consequences, I say NO to AI's use of other people's talent without their permission." I had disagreed with Garry, who had more time for AI-generated music. "Sorry, Garry, Steve is right," Patricia said. "Music comes from the heart, the soul, the guts. It comes from human experience." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to What did you think of the Jeff Bezos wedding, where he and his bride, Lauren Sanchez, took over the city of Venice in a festival of extravagance (accompanied by an army of security guards to keep the hoi polloi away)? Personally, I thought it was gross. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's great novel turned into a great film. There is a line in it about the hyper-rich: "They were careless people," Fitzgerald wrote. "They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Careless people who retreated into their enclaves and let the common people sort out the mess, is a thought for our times as the power of the rich seems completely unconstrained. When Donald Trump came up with his plan in February for a Riviera of the Middle East in Gaza, I assumed it was some sort of Trumpian "joke" - just a daft suggestion to annoy the chattering classes. But it turns out it was real. The Financial Times has seen the presentation slides. "Titled the 'Great Trust' and shared with the Trump administration, it proposed paying half a million Palestinians to leave the area and attracting private investors to develop Gaza," it reported. "The plan also envisages what the authors called the Gaza Trump Riviera & Islands, 'world-class resorts along the coastline and on small artificial islands similar to the Palm Islands in Dubai'." We are now in a new Gilded Age, where the very wealthy flaunt extravagant lifestyles as they did from the 1870s until the new century. It's not just in America. In Australia, the gap between rich and poor is widening. "Australia is becoming more unfair and more unequal. Our research shows that the wealthiest Australians now have 90 times more wealth than those with the least - and that gap is widening every year," Anglicare's director Kasy Chambers said after the organisation had studied the matter. Should those of us who are comfortable worry? As concerned, caring citizens, of course, we should - but beyond that? Does it have any real consequences? It does. The research shows that the more unequal a society is, the worse a raft of bad consequences are, and these bad consequences affect everyone, including the very rich who might imagine they can isolate themselves in gated communities and private jets. A marvellous book, The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, says that unequal societies have higher levels of violence, mental illness, drug abuse, obesity, and poor educational achievement. Moreover, these bad effects affect the rich as well as those down the scale. The rich in unequal societies suffer more stress than the rich in more equal societies. They are more prone to depression. They are more likely to be victims of crime. When we all feel like we're in the same boat, we feel better and behave better. When we are not, community spirit withers. Bad things happen. Obvious, really. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it obvious? Let me know what you think. How does inequality cost all of us something? What should be done about it? What did you think of the Bezos wedding? Send your thoughts to echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Erin Patterson was found guilty of three murders and one attempted murder after three members of her family died from death cap mushroom poisoning in August 2023. The 50-year-old invited her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, to lunch on July 29, 2023. - The former police officer who fatally shot an Indigenous teenager in a remote community was racist, a coroner has found, and those attitudes were reflective of an institution that tolerated racism. Mr Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, in November 2019. - A woman in her 50s who was mauled by an African lion in a "horrific" attack lost her arm in the incident at Darling Downs Zoo in Pilton, a small town in Queensland's Toowoomba region. THEY SAID IT: "New money shouts. Old money whispers," Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. YOU SAID IT: I opined that AI couldn't create music I would want to listen to. Music wasn't just a string of notes, I thought. It needed human experience behind it. Sue disagreed: "As I understand AI music, it is composed from past human experience, and if that is the case, then the notes and words are based on previous emotions. As for wedding poetry, if the words resonate with the bride and groom, isn't that enough?" Philip leaned towards my view: "AI will only ever repeat the past because that's where it gets its data. It can never develop a new style. It can never innovate." Elaine said: "AI is mimicry, so who gets sued for copyright? It is cheating original artists of their work without consequences, I say NO to AI's use of other people's talent without their permission." I had disagreed with Garry, who had more time for AI-generated music. "Sorry, Garry, Steve is right," Patricia said. "Music comes from the heart, the soul, the guts. It comes from human experience."