I&#x27;m ambivalent about this article.  While I agree that the hidden power of mega-philanthropists is unsettling, the hidden players of our &quot;public&quot; government are orders of magnitude more powerful.<p>Frankly, differentiating between the &quot;public&quot; and &quot;private&quot; when discussing the ills of the %1 is pointless [1].  People at this level of society move in and out of the top levels of corporations and government all the time.  They socialize together, intermarry, and share family bonds.  Only together have big business and big government created this massive feedback loop that promotes inequality and loss of freedom for the common man.<p>It pains me to see my &quot;right&quot; and &quot;left&quot; leaning friends blame one side of the coin while completing ignoring the damage wrought by the flip side.<p>1. To be clear, the top 0.01% is what the article is really referring to, since the top %1 includes people like successful everyday doctors and lawyers.  Perhaps a small cadre of powerful bureaucrats at this income level could be reasonably included in the top tier group the article refers to, but for the most part, these are people who are wealthy and influential in their local communities, but decidedly not actors at the level the article describes.