It's a fascinating hypothetical from a man who remains, in fact, very much a billionaire.

Look, Steyer isn't the worst actor in Bay Area politics by a long shot. He's put real money behind climate initiatives and voter engagement. But there's something deeply unserious about a billionaire musing publicly about whether billionaires should exist while continuing to wield billionaire-level influence over our political landscape. As one local put it, "I love asking billionaires about inequality — they always have the most intellectual answers I can't find anywhere else."

To be fair, not everyone is so cynical. One SF resident offered a more measured take: "I think it's unfair to paint every billionaire as bad on this issue... He doesn't think he shouldn't be a billionaire but is willing to contribute more. I think that is a reasonable position."

Maybe. But here's what actually matters to San Franciscans paying $3,500 for a one-bedroom: We don't need billionaires philosophizing about wealth redistribution. We need policies that cut the red tape strangling housing development, reduce the absurd cost of city contracts, and stop treating taxpayer dollars like Monopoly money. Steyer could fund a thousand think pieces about inequality — or he could champion the kind of deregulation and fiscal discipline that would actually make this city affordable for working people.

The problem with San Francisco has never been a shortage of rich people willing to publicly feel bad about being rich. The problem is that feeling bad has become a substitute for governing well. Every dollar the city wastes on bloated bureaucracy and failed programs is a dollar that could have stayed in the pockets of residents who are one rent increase away from leaving.

Steyer wants to talk about what a fairer system looks like? Start with a city budget that respects the people paying into it.