I remember when I was a kid I would always hear things on the news, economists and various others warning about the impending rise to power of the billionaires. At the the time most people could only imagine a millionaire. I think there were only one or two actual Billionaires that even existed, there weren't many anyway. The warning effectively said, if billionaires become a common thing they'll cause chaos around the world as they use their wealth to manipulate financial markets, entertainment, education, religion and every other facet of human life. They will be completely uncontrollable and after that era will come the trillionaires. They will own the world.

Many balked at the time, I never hear anyone doing that anymore. How much does it cost to get someone to sell out their country and everything they believe in? To start a riot and get thousands injured, robbed, raped or murdered? Businesses and communities burned to the ground? To get a politician to destroy an economy and leave countless people without a job, a home or even food for their family? To get a cop to kill? Not much. I've seen some cases where politicians were bribed for anything from thousands of dollars to a few million and the repercussions of what they did affected the lives of tens of thousands. People sell out cheap.