Bilbo was rich. Tolkien was writing about the evil in all men of power, not just the rich. He was thinking about Nazi Germany, and how neighbors ratted out each other under communism. Pretty prophetic in relation to the tribulation and peace coming to the world with the Return of the Great King who is a warrior King. He wipes out His enemies, the enemies of Israel.
The Shire was England. He was writing about the English.
Biblo didn’t spoil the earth, though. Tolkien was into environmentalism, and opposed to industrialization.
Correct.
I myself am over cautious when analogizing with great works of fiction, because they are... fiction and the facts are created to suit the purposes of the author.
In this case I read the lead, expecting a leftist whine about the"vast right wing conspiracy", and was pleasantly surprised when the true ultra rich leftist evil were named.
So much great literature and science fiction works are actually warnings against the leftist academia and intelligentsia that laud them so highly. Of course the left is always entitled to their own set of facts, great works of fiction in themselves.