In Billionaires We Trust: How Reagan Blessed Us With Our New Gods

By Michael Smith

Ah, the American Dream: work hard, keep your nose clean, and one day you, too, might own a private island, a fleet of yachts, and a spaceship to escape the planet you helped destroy. Spoiler alert: you won’t. But let’s give a standing ovation to Ronald Reagan, the man who told us this fairy tale was possible while passing policies that ensured it never would be.

Before Reagan, billionaires were the cartoon villains of capitalism, called "robber barons" because "soul-crushing exploiters" was too wordy for political cartoons. Today, thanks to decades of propaganda and deregulation, they’ve been recast as our benevolent overlords. Got a pothole on your street? Pray Elon Musk tweets about it. Can’t afford healthcare? Jeff Bezos’s $100 million donation to food banks (a generous 0.1% of his fortune) will totally trickle down to your GoFundMe page.

But let’s rewind. How did we go from vilifying billionaires to idolizing them?

The Reagan Reboot: Turning Villains into Visionaries

Reagan didn’t just give us big hair and "greed is good" catchphrases. He gave us a new religion: billionaire worship. With a few strokes of his pen, Reagan cut taxes for the ultra-rich from 70% to 28%, gutted unions, and told us that letting the rich get richer would somehow benefit everyone else. It didn’t.

The rich got richer. The rest of us got motivational posters about hustling harder.

And then Hollywood joined the choir. Wall Street, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and those glossy Forbes billionaire lists taught us that wealth wasn’t just success—it was proof of moral superiority. Never mind that most billionaires inherited their wealth or exploited workers to get there. If you weren’t rich, it was because you weren’t trying hard enough.

Billionaire Worship: The New Religion

America loves a good cult, and billionaire worship fits the bill. We give them our money, our data, and our admiration—all for the promise of maybe one day being invited to brunch on their superyacht.

Take Elon Musk, for example. He’s the Tony Stark of our dystopia, building rockets while his workers unionize out of desperation. Or Jeff Bezos, who donates a tiny fraction of his wealth while lobbying to keep his taxes lower than yours. These aren’t saviors—they’re pyramid scheme CEOs, and we’re all at the bottom.

But here’s the kicker: we defend them. We side with billionaires against policies like wealth taxes, convinced that one day we’ll join their ranks. Statistically, you’re more likely to get struck by lightning while holding a winning lottery ticket than become a billionaire. But hey, keep hustling.

Seeing the Gap: Billionaire Wealth vs. Worker Wages

Let’s visualize how the ultra-rich have surged ahead since 1980, while the median worker’s pay has barely inched forward. This chart compares percentage growth from 1980 to 2025:

The difference is staggering: billionaire wealth climbs like a rocket, while worker wages barely leave the ground. This is the trickle-down promise at its finest.

Reaganomics 2.0: The Modern Sequel

Today’s billionaires have taken Reagan’s playbook and turned it into a blockbuster franchise. They’ve got philanthropic capitalism—where billionaires "save the world" by funding their pet projects instead of paying taxes. They’ve got offshore accounts, shell companies, and political donations to keep the system rigged in their favor.

And let’s not forget their starring role in the media. Social media has turned their lives into reality TV. We watch their private jets and luxury yachts while struggling to afford rent, convinced that this is aspirational instead of insulting.

What’s the Real Cost of Billionaire Worship?

Here’s a fun fact: the top 1% control 35% of the nation’s wealth. The bottom 50%? They’re fighting over crumbs. This isn’t just inequality—it’s a rigged game. Billionaire worship doesn’t just distract us—it divides us.

While we argue over who’s to blame for low wages and skyrocketing rents, the billionaires laugh all the way to the offshore bank. They fund politicians on both sides, ensuring that no matter who wins, they win.

Breaking the Spell: Waking Up from the American Dream

It’s time to stop worshiping billionaires and start asking hard questions. Like, why do they have so much power? Why do we subsidize their wealth with our tax dollars? And why do we keep falling for the hustle myth when it’s clear the system isn’t designed for us to succeed?

We don’t need more billionaires. We need systemic change. We need unions, wealth taxes, and policies that prioritize people over profits. Most importantly, we need to stop treating wealth as a virtue and start holding the ultra-rich accountable.

Final Thoughts: Thank You, Reagan, for Nothing

Reagan told us that wealth would trickle down, but all we got was a golden shower. The billionaire class isn’t saving us—they’re saving themselves. And until we break the billionaire myth, we’ll keep living in a system designed to keep us dreaming while they cash in.

Watch Deja Ssde’s video for a deeper dive into this topic, and let’s start building a future where billionaires don’t call the shots. Because the real power doesn’t come from the top—it comes from us, waking up and looking up.