Hi, Laurn.

Thanks for your comments. I, too, have written blistering polemics about the “New Gilded Age.” And I, too, think the influence of private (wealthy) money to pay for public (electoral and commonwealth) functions is an appalling nightmare.

However, I’ve also looked at the creation of about 130,000 jobs in the last quarter by Facebook, Amazon, Google, et al. and I recognize that there aren’t that many other industries instituting job growth.

Is it fair that Amazon doesn’t pay taxes? Absolutely not. Should we tax the hell out of them and the other multinationals and wealthy people? Of course.

But should we then say, “And while we’re at it, let’s kill the Golden Goose” that’s generating job growth and income? Obviously not.

Rather than talking about breaking up these companies, maybe, just maybe, it might be advisable to get these companies enrolled in a National Service Program.

Create “X” job-training programs, and get a tax break. Create “X” jobs at a good salary (minimum wage + 25% or more), and get a tax break. Create environmental remediation programs to shift from hydrocarbon to renewable energy, and get a tax break. Perform “X” infrastructure work, and get a tax break. Create REALLY affordable health programs, and get a tax break. Create “X” homes and put “Y” people in them, with counselors and other mental-health professionals associated with those homes, and get a tax break.

Set up your headquarters off-shore to minimize your tax burden, and lose your right to do business in the U.S.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

You NEVER make points by telling a new mother: “Oh my gawd! What an UGLY baby you’ve got there!” Telling a Steve Jobs, or a Bill Gates, or a Larry Page, or a Jeff Bezos what evil capitalistic monsters they’ve created isn’t going to solve the short-to-medium term problem in this country.

Instead, bringing them onto the team with, yes, ego-gratification (the carrot) and tax consequences (the carrot AND the stick) is probably far more productive than a simplistic, “let’s bomb ’em all back to the Stone Age” approach.

And, no, we won’t accept a few crumbs. We want a substantial portion of the bakery’s output in terms of education; health care; housing; infrastructure; environmental remediation; and the other things that form the basics of having a decent society. But telling the ultra-wealthy tech giants that we’re going to kill their babies is NOT the way to get our ownership interest in the bakery.