Insight

[unixronin]

A study that I came across via Chris Martenson set me to thinking somewhat about distribution of wealth, and I found myself with a comclusion that turns out to be able to be expressed in strikingly simple terms.

That conclusion is expressed in the following two simple statements:

Wealth should be shared fairly¹, but government cannot be trusted to do it or to oversee it.

Those who do honest labor must be able to reap the rewards of their labors, or there will be no incentive for them to labor.

Discuss.

[1]  Which does not mean "equally".  See the second point.

Comments

[ithildae]

Wealth comes from creating value for others.

Those who create the greatest value are the best at creating wealth, and they should be allowed to use the wealth they gain to do that. Whether through business or finance or industry or simply training others to be successful.

Government takings reduce the ability to create value.

[unixronin]

Indeed.

What I really wish we could get away from is the idea that accumulation of wealth for the sake of accumulation of wealth is a good thing, that your worth is not measured by anything you are, but by how much more you have piled in your cellar than everyone else. You can only eat just so many meals, only live in just so many houses before they become like private hotels you visit a couple of times a year but never actually settle into.

You can climb to the highest mountain by piling up other people and walking on their faces, or you can settle for a house half way up a small mountain and move ten thousand people from the swamps into the foothills. Which makes you the better person? Which is more a thing to be justly proud of?

[ithildae]

Wealth accumulates when you inherit it from daddy. People who create wealth tend to use it to create more wealth. Breaking down big piles of rotting money is only useful if it is not being used to build bigger piles somewhere else.

Money is dynamic. There is nothing bad about having large piles of it, it is just wasteful to not try to make the pile bigger. (It means you have stopped creating value for others.)

It is quite possible to make money without putting other people down. Those who build wealth should be allowed to use it for their priorities and goals. What I think it should be used for is not as important as their goals and purposes for accumulating the stuff in the first place. (That is my fundamental complaint with the Nanny State government, that my money should be taken from me because someone else has insufficient for their goals.)

Some of my proudest moments, concerning money, are helping others build some small pile of it for themselves. I have spent more than they have accumulated, but I have taught them how to go out and get more if they want it. The wealthy people I know have a similar mindset. (That is where I learned it from.) I know my experience is a statistically insignificant sample, but it still accounts for over two score people, enough to get off the t-test table.