Agreed that billionaires are not per se villains or heroes — they’re just an indication of out-of-control capitalism. Eventually enough people run out of patience with the situation to change it (e.g. Gilded Age into the Progressive).

IMO, this at least somewhat explains the rise of the populists (Trump, Sanders, et. al). The situation is bad enough that people are willing to try anything. I’m a ‘boomer’. I’ve seen things change from a meritocracy to pay-to-play (e.g. unpaid internships, sky-high tuition).

Given Joe Biden’s age, and that Elizabeth Warren is the closest thing we have to a Teddy Roosevelt, I hope he picks her as running mate. Not hoping that Biden goes the same way as McKinley, but Biden could be a purposefully single term president, like Polk, who explicitly ran for a single term.