THE SPORT OF TYCOONS is the title of the 1974 painting of Scrooge McDuck by legendary artist Carl Barks. Barks was a Disney Studio artist who made his way into comics in the early 1940s. Like other artists who worked for Disney at the time, his work was unsigned and so he was known only as “The Good Duck Artist” to fans. Barks created many memorable characters for Disney, including Scrooge, Gladstone Gander, and Gyro Gearloose.
“The Sport of Tycoons” is based upon the tale “Only a Poor Old Man,” published in Four Color Comics #386, the comic book that introduced Scrooge McDuck in 1952. Barks originally sold this and other Disney-authorized oil paintings for $500 each.
A few articles about the state of capitalism and its overwhelming fondness for creating and sustaining billionaires caught my eye. There are now more than 2,000 billionaires in the world, of which more than 600 reside in the US. Many of these people pay absolutely no income taxes on that wealth, which some might argue as beyond obscene.
Of course, some others might argue that they have spent their money well in the bribes—er, I apologize: I mean, “in the support”—they have given politicians and are merely reaping the rewards of their investment. But that’s another story.
So, all this caused me to ask a rhetorical question: “If God did not want rich people to be rich, why did He create loopholes in the tax laws that favor the rich?” Which is also supposed to be a bit of cruel irony.
PS: “The Sport of Tycoons” sold for $262,900 in 2011.
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