A recent Harris Poll, summarized by Forbes, finds a growing majority of Americans saying billionaires are a threat to democracy and that the ultra-wealthy should play a smaller role in politics. That headline will make elites on both coasts smile, but it deserves a tough, skeptical reading from anyone who believes in the principles that made this country great.
The numbers are stark: roughly 53 percent of respondents said billionaires threaten American democracy, 71 percent favor a “billionaires tax,” and a majority even support limits on how much wealth a person can accumulate. Those raw figures are politically useful soundbites, but polls reflect sentiment, not solutions, and sentiment driven by economic anxiety should not become a license to punish success.
Much of this anger stems from very real frustrations — rising costs, stagnant wages in some sectors, and a perception that the system is rigged. But blaming wealthy individuals for systemic failures is a diversion, not a diagnosis. Thoughtful conservatives argue that the real problems are cronyism, bad policy, and a regulatory environment that rewards connections over competition.
We should also remember the enormous good that high-achieving entrepreneurs and investors have done: creating jobs, funding innovation, and supporting charities that tackle social problems where government often fails. The reflex to impose wealth caps or mandatory philanthropy would punish risk-taking and undermine the incentives that drive the private-sector engine of prosperity.
The policy ideas the poll surfaces—wealth limits, mandatory giving, steep new taxes—are not only economically risky, they are legally dubious and morally suspect. America was built on the idea that success should be rewarded, not criminalized, and that people who build businesses ought to be celebrated for expanding opportunity, not scolded because they exceeded an arbitrary dollar threshold.
There is also a political context the survey omits when headlines simplify the takeaway: public opinion ebbs and flows with media narratives and partisan messaging, and anger at elites can be stoked whether those elites are on the left or the right. Instead of joining that cynical chorus, conservatives should insist on honest debate about policies that actually restore opportunity.
Real reforms that preserve liberty and promote fairness include ending corporate welfare, closing loopholes that favor well-connected firms, and removing barriers that choke small businesses and entrepreneurs. Those steps protect the free market while responding to legitimate complaints about fairness without resorting to wealth envy or heavy-handed redistribution.
At the end of the day, patriotism means defending institutions that protect liberty and opportunity for all, not surrendering to populist resentment that would hollow out the incentives that make prosperity possible. We can acknowledge public frustration while standing firm for policies that lift people up through work, innovation, and a free economy—not by tearing down those who succeed.
