Nitpick: the rest of the OECD has not in fact taxed the New Nobility into oblivion. There are plenty of them around, and in some countries they eventually join the Old Nobility. What they have done, at least since WW2, has been to contain somewhat the damage that all of the Nobility can do, and redirect at least past excesses to other uses (such as tourist traps and effective high speed rail).
Nitpick duly noted and accepted.
As an example, Sweden has quite a lot of billonaires per capita, to be sure. What we
don't have are people with enough billions to determine how our governments and elected representatives work. Higher brackets bear much higher tax burdens, leaving it very hard to get past a certain treshold of wealth (one which is already fairly ridiculous).
One of our PM's in the past was literally sacked over having used her official PM credit card to purchase goods and services amounting to, in total, roughly 5k USD during her time in office.
(
Most of which, to be fair, she had immediately paid back although in some cases only after receiving a monthly reminder).
There is zero tolerance when it comes to money interfering in politics and campaigns, the audits are fairly strict and regular, and campaign funding is highly regulated.
Drink that in and compare to the US where a normal campaign year revolves around billions of dollars contributed by
explicit political action committees openly presenting agendas and fishing for candidates.
Almost anywhere in the EU a standard US political campaign wouldn't get off the ground before the candidate, everyone involved in their campaign, and every fiscal contributor would be facing fairly serious charges and disqualified from the race.
I think the key is the difference in perception. In the US, money is
literally sacred. Amassing it is an end in itself and the ones who hold enough of it are surrounded by a mythical
tabu which makes them idols and priests to the rest of the population - all those 'temporarily embarrassed billionaires' who look at the chosen few and dream of being among them. 'Work' is seen as the panacea to everything. The answer to all problems, because, as the myth holds it, work hard enough and you will have no problems.
Meanwhile europeans have the understanding that money - currency - is more of a means to an end. You want enough of it to enrich your life and be able to afford what you want and need but beyond that what truly matters is the quality of your life. Similarly the understanding here is that we work to live, we don't live to work. A human life needs dignity and worth beyond just how fat your wallet is.
