Tech Raccoons and the Lessons of History

I did not think there was a billionaire as unlikable as Elon Musk, but this guy just might be. Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, worth an estimated US$11.4 billion, recently said that people with guaranteed pensions should become dependents and lose their vote. He argued that people with a stake in the future should decide instead. Under his logic, anyone paying zero income tax would receive zero votes, while people paying between $1 and $100,000 would receive one vote. The number would rise to five votes for anyone paying at least $500,000. He also described Toronto town hall participants as retired, unemployed, unemployable, and useful idiots.Longtime residents of the tight knit, historically artistic community of Wychwood Park in Toronto have described Lutke and his billionaire tech bro friends as detached and slightly disturbed, comparing them to a nest of raccoons that had taken up residence in your yard. Populism frames politics as a struggle between ordinary people and a powerful elite. Right wing populism usually defines that struggle through culture and national identity. Left wing populism defines it through class, wealth, and corporate power.Billionaires become its clearest targets because extreme wealth creates extreme influence. Billionaires can finance political movements, employ lobbyists, own media outlets, and secure access to governments. Global billionaire wealth reached $18.3 trillion in 2025. Oxfam estimates billionaires are 4,000 times more likely than ordinary people to hold political office. Tobi Lütke just showed us why the left wing populists are correct. Many of the problems we are facing today are because of guys like this. It is really no different than an aristocrat with contempt for the commoners.Left wing populists argue that billionaires already possess excessive political power, but Lütke wants to give wealthy people even more. Someone should remind Tobi that historically, when the wealth gap became too extreme and the ruling class refused to compromise, the commoners resorted to violent revolution. I am thinking about the French Revolution in 1789 and the Russian Revolution in 1917. He should be reminded that there are way more of us than there are of him and his raccoon tech bro buddies. Let me know what you think in the comments. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit quietcanines.substack.com/subscribe