General Discussion

. . . . and I first heard a version of "the wealthy will pack up and leave" back in 2008. I was visiting a friend of mine, when another friend of his stopped by. This man was a wealthy, gay Manhattan antiques dealer who was then in his early 70s (I was 57 at the time). The guy took a liking to me (to be honest, I think he was hitting on me), and we began chatting in depth about current events, politics, etc. He swore up and down that if Obama won the election, he and all of his wealthy7 friends and acquaintances had already made plans to live out some Ayn Rand fantasy of moving themselves and all of their assets offshore, and leave the rest to wallow in the hellscape of our own making! I called bullshit on that claim. I pointed out that they weren't living in NYC in the first place because they liked its tax rates, and that, like most of the rest of us who live here, they were here for a host of reasons, including enjoying being at the center of the business world, as well as the arts and creative worlds, and that they liked the visibility that they got from living here!

He became considerably less interested in our conversation after I said that!

And here we are, 18 years later, when I am 65 and he is now in his late 80s. Last I heard (which was a couple of months ago), he was still here!