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Home/ stevenwarran's Library/ Notes/ January 26, 2014, New York Daily News, Billionaire compares 'war on the rich' to historic Nazi attack on Jews, by David Harding,

January 26, 2014, New York Daily News, Billionaire compares 'war on the rich' to historic Nazi attack on Jews, by David Harding,

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January 26, 2014, New York Daily News, Billionaire compares 'war on the rich' to historic Nazi attack on Jews, by David Harding,  

The Wall Street Journal published a letter from venture capitalist Thomas Perkins — who reportedly has a net worth of $8 million — comparing the U.S.' 'war on the rich' to the Kristallnacht, the 1930s attack by Nazis on Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues in Germany and Austria, saying that ''progressive' radicalism' is leading to the 'demonization of the rich.'


Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Tom Perkins of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers said in a letter to the Wall Street Journal that the rich are under attack by ‘progressive radicalism.’

A multibillionaire venture capitalist has been criticized after appearing to compare criticism of super-rich Americans to the Holocaust.

Tom Perkins, thought to be worth some $8 billion, wrote to the Wall Street Journal in anger at the "war on the rich" being waged in the US.



Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Three onlookers view a smashed Jewish shop window in Berlin following the attacks of 1938.

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"Writing from the epicenter of progressive thought, San Francisco, I would call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on its 'one per cent,' namely the Jews, to the progressive war on the American one per cent, namely the 'rich,'" he wrote.


AP Firefighters put out a fire set by Nazis at a synagogue in Germany during Kristallnacht.

Perkins tells the WSJ that there is a "demonization of the rich" in America and said the attacks on the rich reflected a "very dangerous drift in American thinking," adding, "Kristallnacht was unthinkable in 1930; is its descendant 'progressive' radicalism unthinkable now?"

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Todd Maisel/New York Daily News
Thousands protest in Zucotti Park in Wall Street.

Kristallnacht (Night of Crystal) was launched in 1938 by the Nazis against Jews in Germany and Austria, where Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues were attacked. It got its name from all the broken shards of glass left on the streets after the attacks.

Perkins comments have not gone unnoticed.


Aaron Showalter/New York Daily News
A collection of leaders representing different faiths ushered a Golden Calf, in as the Occupy Wal Street protests in 2011.

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He has been called a "rich idiot" on Twitter.

One blogger, Kaili Joy Gray said the parallels between the two situations described by Perkins were "exactly ZERO".

Author Steven Greenhouse tweeted: "As someone who lost numerous relatives to the Nazi gas chambers, I find statements like this revolting & inexplicable."

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on Jan 27, 14