So much of our security, happiness, and stability rests on a robust economy, and also rests on our ability to elect people who actually care that our country is thriving. Do not confuse that with the billionaire class who have proven to be hopelessly addicted to their wealth and the power that goes along side of the money. Do the majority of billionaires care about the average citizen in this country? Sadly no.
Isn't it hilarious the billionaire class took so many of us in with the notion that the billionaires were actually good for our economy!? That nonsense started in the Regan administration with the 'trickle down theory' which of course was a lie. Regan claimed that the people at the top of the food chain, (at that time they were just lowly millionaires) were going to generously help the working class with higher salaries, robust benefits and 401Ks. Guess what? That didn't happen then and it's certainly not happening now. Instead, cleverly they got many of the citizens in the U.S. to hate thy neighbor, especially those who were black or brown and to denigrate people who were homeless. This was a distraction. As you probably know by now, it was a gigantic ruse to fool people into distrusting the poor, the homeless and to fear the immigrant. Flagrant fiction folks! And what wonderful contribution have the preponderance of the billionaires done for this country? Nada. It's all investing in AI and who gets the benefits of that? Certainly not the working class. It's the very rich.
There are exceptions! There are terrific exceptions to the power and greed addiction. The prize winner of who has donated the most in the shortest time period goes to MacKenzie Scott. She has given away most of her Amazon shares in the past seven years. She hired a team that investigates and then funds worthy causes. She currently funds colleges, schools, LGBTQ+, racial equality, democracy and climate change. Hooray!
Warren Buffet is a fabulous and noteworthy philanthropist who has donated billions over a much longer period of time.
Both of the Gates, Melinda and Bill are important donors, especially in the world where few have given before.
However, from a Forbes article I read, "women tend to give more faster."
There are lots of women who are quietly giving every single day to people and organizations across the country. One woman I admire is Taylor Swift who gives vast sums of money to Education (Education for Girls), Food Banks, Fire Departments, Feeding America, American Heart Association and $100K to families of shooting victims. It's said that every town and city that she has performed in has benefited from her generosity.
Then there is another star: Oprah Winfrey. Her donations are well over $400 million to various causes through her foundation.
Billie Eilish is also at work giving millions away. Plus she famously scolded the billionaires who don't/won't give to good causes. The billionaires are the ones are suffering from a hoarding addiction.
 |
Reading to children is so important |
The reason I starting writing this post was because I wanted to sent my love and admiration to Dolly Parton for many reasons. First and foremost I greatly admire Dolly's incredible charity work. This is a woman who has single handedly given away billions and most of it to little children though the Dollywood Foundation. This charity of Dolly's focuses on education and literacy with the Imagination Library. This is just part of the good work she does, it's been every day since 1988.Probably many of us have forgotten that Dolly contributed millions to the COVID-19 vaccine research and disaster relief. I am still grateful. I was very worried about all of us over 70 years old. Do you remember in 2020 the older folks were dropping like flies? Most of the deaths occurred in the South, where there's high poverty rates, limited access to quality food and little health care available. Interesting that the current administration has it's emphasis on funding war, cutting services and monies for the poor while enhancing the billionaires of the world. I believe that the current administration is purposely bilking our treasury and I know that this is against the law and our constitution. We the people demand a refund! Do I believe T and his minions will dutifully pay back the money they've swiped? No I do not.
I wish we had some Dolly's, Oprah's, Taylor's and MacKenzie's in our current government. We need kindness, decency, enlightenment and generosity in our government. Sadly, instead we have completely unqualified people in the administration. An example would be RFK and his band of misguided anti-science people, out to eliminate vaccines. Take measles, please! 1,500 cases currently in the U.S. Sad but true. 92% caused by lack of vaccines. Help us Dolly!
Currently in this administration we have corruption, deceit, incompetence and theft. How is it that most of the administration has made millions of dollars. Where are these funds coming from? I believe it's from bilking our government out of billions. Then they turn around and tell us they don't have money for health care or education. Is there anyone out there who actually believes that's true? What do they have plenty of money for? War! Argentina! Venezuela! Netanyahu! Ballrooms of Gold! Hidden Bank Accounts in Off Shore locations! This is clearly corruption, and addiction to power and greed at it's finest.
So why did we attack and then kill the very awful leader of Iran? He was a cruel dictator but if you do a simple comparison to our own president:
 |
| Very similar but without the turban |
. Happily our country has awakened! We are gathering in the millions, more than 8 million, last count at the NO KINGS protest held on March 28th across the country. People rose up in a peaceful protest. Not one arrest throughout the protests. We vow to continue until there is a regime change in this country.
Keep up the good trouble for the regime change for our country! Even the Pope in his Holy Week homily has weighed in. He warned that there is no justification for declaring an unjust war. He said to remember "Jesus was a man of peace, love and caring." Those who created this war have done so against the Constitution, the wishes of our people and Congress. They have blood on their hands.
Be inspire by the brave people of Minnesota, and now the diligent hero's who are spreading truth, love and insistence that we continue to protest until the corrupt ones are gone. Vote them out, show up and, if you can, give to the candidates who will stop the nonsense that's going on in Washington, D.C.
We all can't have Dolly, Taylor and Billie's talent but we can have their business skills, smarts, goodness and generosity.
susansmagicfeather 2026 all rights reserved Susan R. Grout
