Kaylee Rutherford A green woman smiles as she admires the diamond she is holding. Opinion Columnist Ethan Ernst argues that the pay gap between the wealthy and non-wealth in the U.S. is detrimental to society. (Kaylee Rutherford | Northern Star) The wealthiest billionaires in the U.S. earn almost as much per hour than most citizens do in their lifetimes. This may come as little surprise to any who look at the net worth of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, but this makes the extreme and growing gap between the rich and everyone else no less problematic. Musk made headlines in 2024 when he donated hundreds of millions of dollars to support President Donald Trump’s successful campaign for reelection. Concerns about the state of democracy in the U.S. naturally followed; had Musk’s millions secured Trump’s victory? Democracy is by no means a perfect form of government; practices such as gerrymandering tip the scales of a system designed to be fair, and political deadlocks can lead to crises such as the current government shutdown. However, “The American Experiment,” as it is known, has endured since it was created by the Founding Fathers in the 18th century, and it remains the fairest system of government yet conceived. Indeed, people such as Winston Churchill have said that “democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Inevitably, there will be those outside the government who enjoy greater influence on it than the average voter, whether that is through fame, expertise or connections. Wealth, however, should never decide who earns a seat in the White House or Capitol Hill; otherwise, the U.S. risks sliding into oligarchy, ruled by a powerful few. This worry may seem unreasonable to some; after all, today’s billionaires are as divided as Congress. Yet the cavernous gap between the rich and everyone else can lead to resentment, and news such as Musk seeking a $1 trillion pay package despite his already enormous wealth highlights why. “I feel like they’re not using it in the correct way,” said Layla Snowden, a junior psychology major. “I feel like the richest people in America, they use it selfishly, and I feel like it can be used to help better the community or people who are in an economic struggle.” The U.S.’s billionaires are collectively worth $5.7 trillion, yet they have donated less than 4% of this mind-boggling wealth over the last decade, for a total of $185 billion. In comparison, U.S. charities received $484.85 billion in donations in 2024; 67.4% was given by individuals. Collectively, what the general population of the U.S. donated in a single year is almost double what billionaires have donated over the last decade, despite the average citizen having far less money to spare. As red flags are being raised regarding the U.S.’s economy, bitterness toward the wealthiest people in America will only continue to grow. Though Trump can claim that the economy is doing fine, his frequent golfing trips highlight his own billionaire status and the distance between himself and the average citizen.