The income gap: real, relevant or ruse

The Battalion ^ | 11/1/10 | Taylor Wolken

[tysonbam]

The media is ripe with sensationalism over the growing gap between the rich and the poor. The left has made it a false flag to rally troops for class warfare, which is neither healthy, nor beneficial for anyone involved. "The wealthy don't work for their money!" "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer!" This is bumper sticker economics and it's time to put the myths around income disparity to rest.

[Rippin]

As government grows to larger and larger shares of the economy, the disparity between the top earners and the low earners will increase.

Big government rewards the few and enslaves the many.

If people want to tighten up the income distribution they need to shrink government. Big government always sets barriers to competition promoting oligopoly. Without competition, the companies paying lower wages can’t turn their competitive advantage into beneficial market entry and hence can’t siphon the froth to lower income workers.

[boop]

I’ve always hated this leftist meme about “the poor are getting poorer”. On what planet do these people live? We have the richest “poor” in the world. Where else do the poor have flat screen TVs, 2 cars, houses, free medical care, free food, and morbid obesity?

[Rippin]

What you say is true but I think the other part of the meme that must be attacked is their assumption that more government will compress the income distribution or that the market is the reason for the disparity.

I propose it is the coercion of government to exclude competition that worsens this.

[HwyChile]

Income inequality is a good thing and necessary for a healthy free market economy. It is not a bad thing like the left keeps preaching. Income inequality is the carrot that pulls people up the economic ladder. Only in Marxist ideology is income inequality a bad thing so that “income redistribution” is needed. Our government has no business trying to manipulate income distribution—our free market economy does that more efficiently and correctly that central planned governments.

[Reeses]

Our government has no business trying to manipulate income distribution—our free market economy does that more efficiently and correctly that central planned governments.

As a rule of thumb, 50% of any wealth that passes through the government's hands is destroyed in the process of feeding the government beast. That is why government has great interest in wealth redistribution, it's the 50% cut. For the same reason they're progressing inch by inch to nationalize the healthcare industry. The beast grows bigger and requires bigger morsels to eat.