A Signal of Dystopian Wealth Concentration

A Big Beastly Blunder

As of now, the House of Representatives has passed what may be the most regressive piece of legislation in modern American history.

At first glance, the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" may seem like standard tax policy—but if it does, you're missing why it represents nothing short of a systematic transfer of wealth from the poorest Americans to the richest.

Before diving into this paper, I want to acknowledge that I will personally benefit from the passage of this bill. However, I wasn’t always in the position I’m in today, and as a child, I would have been negatively affected by it.

The Architecture of Aristocracy

To grasp the dystopian implications of this legislation, it's important to first understand the mechanics behind the construction of modern aristocracies. If you're already familiar with how wealth becomes concentrated, feel free to skip this section.

Like most historical oligarchies, America's emerging aristocracy operates through a simple principle: use political power to concentrate wealth, then use that concentrated wealth to acquire more political power. This creates what economists call a "feedback loop of inequality.” The rich get richer not through merit or innovation, but through their ability to rig the rules in their favor.

When a government systematically favors the wealthy through tax policy while simultaneously cutting programs for the poor, it accelerates this concentration. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System provides data illustrating the share of total assets held by various wealth percentiles—that is, how much of the "pie" is held by specific segments of the population. As of Q4 2024, the top 1% held 28% of the wealth, a figure significantly higher than the 5.6% held by the bottom 50%.

Data from Emmanuel Saez, who is a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley illustrates how things have evolved over the past century. As seen in the graph below, this trend is not limited to wealth inequality. The average income of America’s top 0.1%—as a multiple of the bottom 90%—declined after the Gilded Age, but since the 1970s, it has risen to levels comparable to what is arguably the most inequitable period in American history.

The Gilded Cage

Now that we've covered the mechanics of oligarchy formation, let's examine how the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" accelerates these dynamics in unprecedented ways.

When ordinary Americans look at this legislation, they see tax cuts and wonder if they might benefit. But when the ultra-wealthy examine the same bill, they see something far more valuable: the systematic dismantling of programs that provide economic mobility for the poor, combined with massive tax breaks that entrench dynastic wealth.

The numbers are staggering and reveal the true priorities embedded in this legislation. According to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis, the richest 1% of Americans would receive $121 billion in net tax cuts in 2026 alone—more than the total tax cuts for the entire bottom 60% of taxpayers . In Colorado, for example, the top 1% of earners would save an average of $70,000 annually, while the bottom 20% would receive a mere $130, per the Colorado Fiscal Institute.

This disparity becomes even more pronounced when examining specific provisions. The bill doubles the estate tax exemption to $15 million for individuals and $30 million for couples, a change that exclusively benefits the wealthiest 0.2% of Americans. This provision alone represents what economists call "aristocracy insurance"—ensuring that vast fortunes can pass between generations without taxation, creating permanent dynasties of wealth.

As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis warned nearly a century ago: "We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.” The estate tax provisions in this bill represent a deliberate choice to abandon the former in favor of the latter.

When the Levees Break

Perhaps most disturbing is how this legislation systematically destroys the safety net that prevents millions of Americans from falling into destitution, while simultaneously enriching those who need help least.

The bill cuts approximately $700 billion from Medicaid over the next decade, implementing work requirements that the CBO estimates will cause 8.6 million Americans to lose health coverage. These aren't abstract numbers—they represent real families who will face bankruptcy from medical bills, delayed treatments, and preventable deaths.

Additionally, the CBO estimates that the plan would cut nearly $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over the next decade. SNAP provides food assistance to millions of Americans—42 million of whom were relying on the program as of February 2025. Such a budget cut would result in millions of recipients being excluded from the program.

We’ve seen the argument that SNAP costs have arbitrarily increased due to waste, fraud, and abuse, but the data does not support this claim. Between 2019 and 2024, the number of Americans receiving SNAP benefits rose from 35.7 million to 41.7 million, and total spending increased from $60.4 billion to $100.4 billion. When accounting for the rise in participation, spending increased by 44.5%. During the same period, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the food category rose by 28.4%. This suggests that the real cost increase was approximately 16.1%, which can largely be attributed to greater demand from families, as benefits are determined by income levels. However, the current bill proposes a 30% reduction in spending.

The combined effect, according to Yale Budget Lab analysis, is that the bottom 10% of American households would see their incomes reduced by more than 6.5%, while those at the top would see increases of nearly 1.5%. This isn't tax policy—it's systematic wealth extraction from the poor to benefit the rich.

Why Do You Want To Burn Down My House?

In this final section, we'll examine why this legislation represents not just bad policy, but an existential threat to American democracy itself.

The "One Big Beautiful Bill" doesn't exist in isolation—it's part of a broader transformation of American society from a democracy into an oligarchy. When Elon Musk can spend $250 million on a presidential campaign—less than one one-thousandth of his personal fortune—and influence electoral outcomes, we've already crossed a dangerous threshold.

The bill accelerates this trend by ensuring that wealth becomes even more concentrated while simultaneously destroying the institutions that provide economic mobility for ordinary Americans. Public education becomes less accessible as Pell Grant eligibility tightens . Healthcare becomes a luxury as Medicaid shrinks. Nutrition assistance disappears as SNAP benefits get slashed. Meanwhile, the ultra-wealthy receive tax breaks that dwarf the entire budgets of most government programs.

This creates what political scientists call a "plutocratic capture" of democratic institutions. When the wealthiest Americans can buy elections, own media companies, and fund think tanks that shape public opinion, democracy becomes a performative exercise while real power rests with oligarchs.

The estate tax provisions make this permanent by ensuring dynastic wealth transfers that create hereditary aristocracy. America's founders fought a revolution to escape exactly this kind of system, where accident of birth determines life outcomes more than effort or merit.

Perhaps most concerning is how this bill creates the conditions for social breakdown. When people lose healthcare, nutrition assistance, and economic opportunity while watching billionaires receive massive tax breaks, the social contract collapses. History shows that extreme inequality eventually leads to either democratic reform or authoritarian control—there is no stable middle ground.

The Ministry of Truth

The administration has deployed what it calls "MYTHBUSTER" statements—official White House publications that brazenly contradict established facts. These documents represent a new low in government propaganda, using official channels to spread demonstrable falsehoods about legislation that will harm millions of Americans.

The White House's primary deception centers on deficit impact. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has repeatedly claimed the bill "does not add to the deficit" and represents the "largest deficit reduction in nearly 30 years with $1.6 trillion in mandatory savings". This statement is not merely misleading—it's factually false. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will increase the deficit by $2.4 trillion over ten years, with total debt impact reaching $3 trillion when interest costs are included.

The "One Big Beautiful Bill" may indeed be beautiful—if you're wealthy enough to benefit from its tax cuts and powerful enough to avoid its spending reductions. For everyone else, it represents a dystopian future wrapped in the language of prosperity, sold through a campaign of lies that would make Orwell weep.

If you enjoyed this write-up, you might also appreciate our other work—feel free to subscribe using the button below. Additionally, if you'd like to read our free monthly report covering the latest real estate and economic developments, visit our website to access the most recent edition!