Bud Konheim and Tom Perkins: The 1% Club Who Are Disgustingly Clueless About the Poor

I am not a purveyor of peddling out the phrase 'check your privilege' very often but if I reserve the right to crack it out, even just once, it would be for corporate billionaire Bud Konheim and ultra-wealthy Silicon Valley veteran Tom Perkins.

The world collectively facepalmed a couple of weeks ago when billionaire Thomas 'Tom' Perkins slammed the "progressive war on the American 1%" – the richest part of the population – by claiming the US super rich are being persecuted in the same way that Jews were treated by the Nazis in World War II.

"Writing from the epicentre of progressive thought, San Francisco, I would call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on its '1%', namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American 1%, namely the 'rich'," said the 82-year old.

"From the Occupy movement to the demonization of the rich embedded in virtually every word of our local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, I perceive a rising tide of hatred of the successful 1%."

But when you thought it couldn't get any worse, Perkins then essentially said that he wasn't sorry for the comparison, despite the outrage.

As if that wasn't bad enough, in steps another ultra-wealthy 1%-er, who probably hasn't wiped his own backside since he realised that he could sell $800 sequined dresses and $250 clutch bags from his company Nicole Miller, to tell the rest of population that they should stop moaning about being poor.

Konheim, to quote singer Ed Sheeran, who has "a face that's crumbling like a pastries" said the rest of America to should stop moaning and be grateful for earning $35,000 (on average) a year.

"We've got a country that the poverty level is wealth in 99% of the rest of the world," he said.

"So we're talking about woe is me, woe is us, woe is this." He added that "the guy that's making, oh my God, he's making $35,000 a year, why don't we try that out in India or some countries we can't even name. China, anyplace, the guy is wealthy."

Yes, that's right, at least we're not living in "some countries we can't even name".

Wages in isolation mean nothing – it is all relative to goods and services and the cost for you to live in the society that you are in, to determine whether you are wealthy or not.

Depressingly, the initial public reaction showed that many agreed with him.

Thankfully over time, the gap between agreeing that it is right to tell the poor to shut up and eat their minimum wage with a slice of humble pie has widened - slightly.

So has the dick-ie bow tied man made an apology?

No, but he has suggested that his critics are like the Nazis, much like his tech city counterpart Perkins:

Want to decide for yourself? Check out the video.

But don't bother trying to look up more about Konheim because, since this morning, his Wikipedia page and many other articles and references have mysteriously disappeared.