Welcome to my first Extreme Wealth Center blog, an opportunity for me to opine once a month on what is arguably the central cause of most of the serious problems our nation faces: Extreme Wealth.
A year ago May, I wrote in my Crisis Charitable Commitment letter about an inspirational speech at a graduation ceremony I attended. I had no idea that someday I’d have an opportunity to address graduating students, but last week I received an honorary doctorate from the CUNY School of Medicine (CSOM) which was awarded to me in honor of my mother, who funded the launch of the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education (SDB) at City College of New York (CCNY) in 1974. SDB is now part of CSOM under the leadership of Dean Carmen Green. The graduates refer to themselves as “Sophies.”
Of course I’m biased, but this is truly an amazing institution that attracts underrepresented pre-med students for a three-year BS degree with a guarantee of admission to CSOM. The program heavily incentivizes the students to practice primary care medicine in underserved communities. In the graduating class, 94% were first-generation American, and 60% have a native language other than English.
I was addressing doctors, medical students, the incoming undergraduates of the SDB, friends and family. As my remarks explained, the impact of extreme wealth on Americans’ health was important both for my talk and for this first blog.
“This honor today is for my mother, Sophie, who would be so incredibly proud and pleased – not of or for me, but for what the Sophie Davis School has become, and for its Sophies.
I’m here to celebrate the achievements of the graduating class of 2025 and their family, friends, and the 51-year history of the Sophie Davis School that has been advancing the perfect trifecta: underrepresented medical students plus primary care plus underserved communities.
“My parents had a love affair with City College. It is where they met. And married. Not unlike many of you, they were the first generation to attend college. And they would not have been able to do so if it weren’t for CCNY being tuition-free back then.
“When I took over managing the foundation that I inherited from my parents 25 years ago, I created 2 program areas: one was a legacy program, which included support for SDB. The second was a social change program, which focuses on the two things that account for virtually all the problems we face in America – the intertwined problems of a dysfunctional democracy and wealth inequality.
“We see how the ultra-rich control our government, our politics, the media. This dysfunctional democracy allows the ultra-rich to line their own pockets with even greater wealth. By next year there will be 300,000 households in the U.S. with more than $50 million each, and their combined wealth will exceed the total national debt of $35 trillion. Trillion. 12 zeroes. Unimaginable.
“Extreme wealth harms us all in two ways. First, it is a misallocation of resources…unless you think a $50 million wedding in Venice, or a $250 million New York coop is money well spent.
“I mentioned the importance of tuition-free college to my parents. Think about med school. By my calculation, it would cost about $25 million per year for CSOM to go tuition-free. That happens to be exactly the amount of money Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, spends each year just to maintain his yacht. It is obscene. Taxing the ultra-rich and government funding of medical education would make us all better off.
“Extreme Wealth affects us all in a less obvious way. Research demonstrates that wealth inequality exacerbates status anxiety which negatively impacts the indicators that measure a society’s well-being. The US is highest among measured countries in wealth inequality and among the worst in math and literacy scores, homicides, imprisonment, infant mortality, teenage births, life expectancy, obesity, mental illness, social mobility, and even trust in one’s fellow citizens. And not to mention our role in climate disruption. As if your work wasn’t challenging enough.
“The foundation’s social justice program is called the WhyNot Initiative, based on Robert F. Kennedy‘s famous saying: “Some men see things as they are and ask ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and ask, ‘Why not?”’ RFK was a champion of the underserved. My father was a big supporter of his presidential campaign in 1968, which ended when Kennedy was assassinated.
“So imagine how my father, who co-founded AARP, and created the first health insurance for older Americans which set the stage for Medicare, how he would feel, how I feel, how probably everyone in this room feels, when the government that is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people puts a pretender to the name Robert Kennedy in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services. “Jr.” has already committed more than enough deadly sins: Mass firings and HHS agency cuts; promotion of medical misinformation while canceling grants and halting research; removing experienced leadership, disrupting public health infrastructure, and dismantling critical health programs. As a result of Jr. and Congress, HHS will be shorthanded 20,000 staff and 15 million Americans will lose their healthcare insurance.
“You are entering the health field during challenging times–politically, economically, and socially–but we can make this ugliness short term. One thing our foundation did 6 months ago was launch a campaign called TGB – which depending on your sensibilities stands for Tax the Greedy Billionaires or, as I prefer it, Tax the Greedy Bastards. Our goal is an America without billionaires, an America where we change the narrative from greed to one of shared prosperity. Wealth inequality isn’t some natural order of things – it is created by policies fueled by a thirst for wealth and power. Those policies can be reversed. They will be reversed.
“Here’s your–our–challenge: When you think about the problems the world is facing, see the cup as half full, even though you know that right now it is half empty. Because if you believe, you can be part of the change the world requires. Heck, you already are part of the change, for which I am so grateful. But I’d urge you to use whatever spare time you can muster– I know there won’t be much of it– to protect our democracy in any way you can so that our elected representatives actually represent us. And cure this extreme wealth sickness.
“The Dean has assured me that after what you’ve been through to get your undergraduate Sophie degrees, the Med School will be a walk in the park – not sure if she meant Central Park or Jurassic Park! Whichever it is, I am confident that you, a unique group of graduates–with both brains and heart–are the light at the end of our tunnel. I know you will make a difference. You are Sophies. Your passion and compassion will serve you, your profession, and our country well.
On behalf of Sophie, thank you so much for this honor.”
Thank you, readers, for your interest in making the ultra-rich less rich.