Let Them Eat Art: Jeffrey Goldberg Fisks Alice Walton’s New Museum

The following statement should give every American pause:

The museum is a compelling symbol of the chasm between the richest Americans and everyone else. In 2007, according to the labor economist Sylvia Allegretto, the six Walton family members on the Forbes 400 had a net worth equal to the bottom 30 percent of all Americans. The Waltons are now collectively worth about $93 billion, according to Forbes.

This bears repeating: The combined wealth of the six Walton heirs is equal to the total net worth of the bottom 90 million Americans. 

These six people did not work for their wealth, do not work for their wealth, and do not create jobs with their wealth. They build massive museums during devastating recessions to celebrate wealth they inherited from their father, Sam Walton.