Criticizing 1% like Kristalnacht

[Lauren Johnson]

Lambert Strether at Naked Capitalism says Kristalnacht Guy broke an unwritten law.

This will be a very simple post. Most of the press blew the Tom Perkins story, whose moral can be summed up in one sentence:

The rich are different. They have class interests, they know it, and they act on them.

Tom Perkins, the expensively accessorized Silicon Valley venture capitalist, in the follow-up interview on his now famous but-for-all-the-wrong reasons letter, explains:

[PERKINS:] I don't feel personally threatened, but I think a very important part of America, the creative 1 percent, are threatened. I think [the] rich as a class are threatened by higher taxes and higher regulation

So there you have it; Perkins transgressed the unwritten law: You never talk about class in America, because that would be "class warfare."

Go here to see Kristalnacht Guy's watch retailing for only $380,000. But hey, some of those watches go for over $2 million.