Everyone deserves nice things.
At the October 5th U.S. v. Billionaires event, Portia Allen-Kyle put it this way: some people having nice things shouldn’t mean everyone else’s are raggedy as hell.
And by nice things, we mean a home you can afford. Healthcare when you need it. Clean air. An education. Groceries in the fridge. The radical luxury of getting sick without going broke.
You know, the sort of outrageous extravagance that should apparently remain out of reach for millions of people.
So why are we being asked to believe there’s no money for the things that keep us alive while billionaire fortunes grow beyond imagination? Those fortunes don’t materialize out of thin air. They’re built on our labor, our time, our public resources, and systems designed to keep wealth concentrated at the top. And when we ask for some of that money to flow back into the public good, the airwaves fill with warnings. The arguments get tangled. A one-time tax becomes an existential threat.
Maybe you’ve heard those arguments. Maybe someone you love is repeating them. Maybe you’re still sorting through the claims yourself. Fair enough. But let’s be clear about the arrangement: working people are expected to chip in, scrape by, and make do. Billionaires amass staggering fortunes, then spend millions fighting the idea that any of that wealth should go back to the public. Who exactly is this system working for?
Prop 40 would establish a one-time tax on certain covered assets held by eligible billionaires, directing most of the revenue toward healthcare. It’s a first step, not a cure-all. But it would challenge a system in which money piles up at the top while the cost of staying alive falls on everyone else.
Look at how fiercely that challenge is being fought. Wealth buys access, influence, and the power to shape the rules. It can even buy distance from the consequences of breaking them. When billionaires can insulate themselves from accountability, and politicians depend on their money to stay in power, whose interests are those politicians really serving?
That kind of power does more than distort policy. It corrodes democracy. It teaches people that the system won’t work for them, that their voices don’t matter, that fighting for something better is a fool’s errand. That’s a convenient lesson for people who benefit from the way things are. If we stop believing change is possible, the people at the top get to keep the rules just as they are.
So let’s ask the question plainly: Are we standing with the oligarchs, or with the people?
We don’t have to pretend Prop 40 is perfect to recognize what’s possible: taxing billionaire wealth itself and putting those resources toward the care people need. A future where the people with the most are expected to contribute their share shouldn’t be a radical idea. Neither should a democracy with enough backbone to make it happen.
Everyone deserves nice things. Everyone. And the people with billions of dollars can afford to help make that happen.
Our Feminist Voter Guide breaks down Prop 40 and the connected measures, including the sequence of votes that matters (Yes on 40, No on 41, No on 42). Read it before you vote. Share it with someone who’s been hearing a lot of noise. Ask questions. Have the conversation.
Because apparently, asking billionaires to contribute to the society that made their fortunes possible is controversial. We think the truly outrageous thing is pretending everyone else should just make do.
May we be harder to divide than we are to exploit,
Jane Lin, she/her
Sr. Director, Partnerships, Women’s Foundation California