Certain notorious billionaires just leave me gobsmacked. Although they have so much, they seem to spend every waking moment striving to seize more … and more … and more.
It’s not just about accumulating unlimited wealth, either. They’re also determined to reshape the world according to standards they set but may or may not follow themselves.
About 60 years ago, George Harrison wrote a song about “bigger piggies, stirring up the dirt,” while “in their eyes, there’s something lacking.”
That’s clearer than ever these days.
The good news, according to several recent Thanksgiving-themed opinion pieces, is that just about anyone can fill that inner void simply by counting and enjoying their blessings.
But a syndicated feature led me to the bad news: Some of the biggest obstacles to cultivating an attitude of gratitude happen to be dominant traits among rich and powerful egomaniacs.
“People who are ungrateful tend to be characterized by an excessive sense of self-importance, arrogance, vanity, and an unquenchable need for admiration and approval,” Robert Emmons, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, and the author of several books on gratitude, wrote in a 2013 article for Greater Good Magazine.
“Narcissists reject the ties that bind people into relationships of reciprocity. They expect special favors and feel no need to pay back or pay forward.”
After reading that, my first thought was that Emmons could have been describing Donald Trump, JD Vance, Elon Musk and various Project 2025ers.
My second thought was that we’d all be much better off if these people were more grateful. And humbler, for as Emmons noted, “Becoming aware of realities greater than ourselves shields us from the illusion of being self-made, being here on this planet by right—expecting everything and owing nothing.”
In fact, a study by Emmons and his colleagues showed people who consistently give thanks tend to be more forgiving, helpful, generous and compassionate.
To be sure, some 1 percenters pay it forward; Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, George Soros and MacKenzie Scott have all donated billions of dollars to worthy causes.
But imagine if Trump had thanked his lucky stars for the money and connections his father provided. Instead of lying and cheating to get more, he might have kept busy by running his company responsibly.
He might not have run for president, leaving the field open to less colorful but more qualified candidates. If he did run, he probably would have had higher-minded motives than self-enrichment, self-empowerment and petty retribution.
Either way, our country wouldn’t have to contend with:
* A Justice Department and intelligence agencies that are now Trump’s personal revenge squads
* Arbitrary quotas for placing immigrants, including many hard-working taxpayers, in inhumane prisons and hostile countries
* Unwarranted deployments of the National Guard in U.S. cities — as if Trump was playing with toy soldiers instead of real people’s lives
* Slapdash job cuts at federal agencies by his Department of Government “Efficiency”
* Inflation from haphazard tariffs
* Trump’s meddling in higher education and the media
* His war-mongering
* His idiotic name-calling
* His fawning over dictators
Yes, a kinder, gentler president would mean a kinder, gentler and much more functional United States.
Unfortunately, we’re stuck with Trump as he is. Any gratitude he expressed after dodging an assassin’s bullet was short-lived; he seemed to view it as a sign that the Almighty has authorized him to be as self-serving and cruel as he wants.
I wondered what Emmons thinks about all this, and he graciously replied to my email.
He didn’t say much about politics, but he listed some other reasons for ingratitude, including a desire to be independent, feeling unworthy of benevolence or just plain carelessness.
And he brought up the uncomfortable truth that self-entitlement isn’t confined to the rich and infamous. While they’re probably much more likely to get away with that attitude, I can’t deny that I’ve displayed it myself.
But Emmons has found some compelling benefits from being thankful, including better sleep, a stronger immune system, lower blood pressure and a more positive outlook. That’s prompted me to look for reasons to be grateful.
I wish the power grabbers among us would do so, too. It would be good not only for them but also for everyone else.
Lisa Von Ahn is an experienced columnist previously published in the Pottsville Republican Herald newspaper.
Canary note: Opinions expressed in any Op-Ed column appearing on this site are the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of Coal Region Canary.
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