The Mail

The cowardice and the greed of most of the subjects in Evan Osnos’s article on the hyper-wealthy’s preparations for disaster and apocalypse scream out from the page (“Survival of the Richest,” January 30th). Where are the philanthropists and the large-minded benefactors? Eradicating diseases is great and eye-catching, but where is the concern for one’s own community? If today’s billionaires worked together to house the homeless or to guarantee a basic income for the less fortunate, the “revolution” wouldn’t be necessary. And, with the so-called leaders of society refusing to pay their share of taxes, it’s easy to imagine the majority of people following suit. With no morally sound role models to emulate, it’s now up to each individual to formulate her or his own ethos. Woe to the people at the top if those farther down decide that a radical approach is the way to go.