KISS frontman Gene Simmons recently opened up on wealth inequality and billionaires. He defended the existence of ultra-wealthy individuals in a statement reported by The Rich Reporter.
The musician’s comments came in response to a specific question about whether billionaires should exist in society.
He was asked “What do you say to people who thinks there shouldn’t be any billionaires in the world?” Simmons offered a detailed defense of wealth concentration.
“Then you wouldn’t have industry and you probably wouldn’t have a job, because a poor person never gave me a job,” Simmons said. “And even if you’re an a**hole hundred billionaire who never gave a penny to charity, you want another yacht and you want another mansion and you wanna buy Vermont and all that, and you’re totally selfish.”
“Well, that selfish billionaire asshole is providing money so you can feed your family and put a roof over your family’s heads because the people have to work to get him whatever he wants,” he explained. “He creates jobs simply because he’s spending money. And if you don’t have enough money to spend, you’re not affecting the economy. You’re not creating jobs. It’s not a romantic answer, but it bears noting.”
Gene Simmons referenced former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher while defending capitalism over socialism. He argued that socialist countries eventually fail economically, while capitalism, despite corruption and flaws, continues to function effectively with limited government involvement.
“Margaret Thatcher, who was the former Prime Minister of England and was called the Iron Lady, socialists were not crazy about her,” he said. “But it also bears noting, there’s not a single successful socialist country that didn’t go bankrupt and have revolutions and everything because it doesn’t work. Capitalism is messy and there’s a lot of corruption, but it actually works without the government getting too much involved.”
“And Thatcher said, it is foolhardy, the English nice way of basically, you’re a f*cking moron, that’s in English, if you think money is the root of all evil,” Simmons stated. “No, no, it’s the opposite. Lack of money is the root of all evil. If I have $100 million in my pocket, why would I grab a gun and go to a 7-Eleven and say, you know, give me a dollar? Why would I do that? That doesn’t mean there isn’t high-stakes shenanigans and stuff, but violent crime comes from people who don’t have money.”
