MICHAEL Fry continues to peddle his frankly naive myth that wealthy Scots of the 21st century are not merely “bloated plutocrats”, but often “honest and hard-working folk” (Scotland should be proud of its Rich List billionaires and millionaires, May 26). The rags-to-riches sentimentalism involved in this is frankly sickening, especially in the current climate.
He should have more respect for the hard-working people building the small businesses that constitute a large part of our economy. They will be experiencing unprecedented difficulty at present, and probably don’t have a crew of tax lawyers creatively accounting their way out of this black hole. Scotland should be prouder of these stalwarts. They are hard-working and pay their taxes.
READ MORE: Scotland should be proud of its Rich List billionaires and millionaires
When will the sheer obscenity of untrammelled acquisition become universally reviled and redressed? Fry dresses this up by citing the “good works” of these gazillionaires. This cherry-picked philanthropy - that “charity work they don’t like to talk about” – can simply amount to legacy-hunting vanity, or guilt. He cites Anders Povlsen’s rewilding of Highland estates. Scottish land should be nationalised in order that these noble objectives become a matter of national imperative and not just a hobby or pet-project: a boutique eden here, a biodiversity-blootering golf course there.
Articles like this just prop up an illusion of respectability when it comes to those on any rich list. Lower down the list, far from the cheap glamour these lists trade on, we might find some of those who have made profits from the private care sector – another asset that should be nationalised (had it been, how many lives would have been saved in care homes during the coronavirus outbreak?). Fry’s gloss on greed simply turns a blind eye to the spiv underpinnings of the free market.
There is something truly pitiful in the idea of an individual awash with abundance, blind to the emptiness of those superfluities that are seen to define them. Perhaps Andrew Carnegie perhaps put it best: “to die rich is to die disgraced”.
Monica Foe
Edinburgh
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel