Posted on 02/01/2024 9:19:37 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Let’s face it: income inequality in our country has gotten out of hand. I know that these words sound like a Marxists slogan. Marxists will always grab at a shred of truth to push their destructive economic policies in the name of fairness.
We all know (those of us with functioning brains) that there is no fairness in the world, and there never has been, and there never will be. That does not excuse us from being wary of the extreme divisions arising from unhealthy income inequality. There does exist a point where we cannot ignore the issue as libertarians and conservatives. The disappearance of the middle class is the tipping point in the argument. However, capitalism is not the problem; it is the solution.
It can’t be said often enough, because it is no longer taught, that capitalism has produced the greatest prosperity and the highest standard of living in world history. “A rising tide lifts all boats” is true when it comes to freeing individuals to create wealth without government interference.
Remember that wealth can be created only when the creation of a good or a service leads to popular demand. Henry Ford and Bill Gates saw a need and fulfilled it, making themselves fabulously wealthy in the process. None of us is comfortable with the trust fund generation that always accompanies wealth creation. It’s not fair, we say. And it isn’t, but we must accept the byproduct of an economic system that has made all our lives much easier. In some ways, King Louis XIV never had it so good as the guy who lives on East Main Street, USA. That guy has TV, cell phones, a car, and air travel at his fingertips. All this is made possible by a system that encourages private wealth creation
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
A society that puts freedom ahead of “equality” will have a great deal of both. A society that puts “equality” ahead of freedom will have neither. - Milton Freidman.
I see the income gap as meaningless. Some folks are jealous, izall. It’s how people like Zuck and Soros spend their money. The rich folks can’t just give it away, you know. The taxpayers do that.
The left loves to twist the language. Where in the world is “income equality” a real thing? North Korea, maybe. Nowhere in the “free” world, that’s for sure. Where in the world does a street sweeper make the same income as a neurosurgeon? The left is insane via their uncontrollable emotions and rejection of common sense.
Who the hell cares what others make? That’s their right and liberty to do so. We should strive for the best profit we can individually. That is what makes freedom great and that is what makes America great.
FREEDOM FIRST, EVERYTHING ELSE SECOND!!!
Ford. Gates. Build a better mouse trap, and all that . . .
Great. I agree. We are all better off for it.
But we have Crony Capitalism, and that isn’t the way forward.
Enough money spread out across the right levers, and you can move the world. And it’s at every level of Goobermint.
From your local Electrician’s licensing board, to the Teacher’s Unions, to State Econ Dev Agencies, to regional Milk Pacs, up to every US Dept and Agency.
Pay the Pols to get what you want and Grift the system.
It’s easier than building a new mousetrap, quicker than bogus food additives, and safer than robbing banks.
“The poor you will always have with you” (Mk 14:7)
The key is to optimize your inputs (food, housing, friends, entertainment, etc.) and to produce outputs to enable you to obtain those inputs.
We live in a socialist country where ownership and wealth are every much likely to be lost as they were in 1933 National Socialist Germany.
Poverty is often the result of poor choices.
that’s not capitalism, that’s fascism ... aka ‘the Third Way’ ...
Look, even “poor” people have cell phones, health care and food. That those with jobs pay for.
My resentment of the billionaires is because many of them use their wealth to corrupt the political system in their favor further screwing over the “little guy”. Monopolies are a well known disadvantage of capitalism that must be reined in but the Dems who once went after these monopolies quit doing so after they made a deal with big tech to lay off of them if they cooperated with the Dem agenda. Republicans are hardly blameless in this either.
The system itself is definitely out of whack since wealth disparity is at its highest level in all of history. If this isn’t corrected somewhat don’t be surprised when the zoomer generation starts pushing socialism or even communism as corrective measures.
Income inequality is always present in a free market capitalist economy. The problems isn’t that some make too much money, it’s that some make too little. That is where to concentrate, there’s generally no good reason for people to make “too little” other than themselves being the problem.
I made too little 40 years ago. So, I added two side-hustles, which I dropped later and then retired at 60. It wasn’t “hard” it just required work and most of all, learning how handle money and turn it into more. The goal, like Buffet says, is to eventually make money while you sleep. Real estate, stocks and bonds all do that when used properly, as well as investments that are beyond my knowledge.
That’s not the fault of the money, there have always been crooks and there always will be. Some rich people give away most of their money, and they pay the majority of taxes and create most of the jobs. I want to live in the country where the most millionaires/billionaires are. I don’t want to live in a country with few or none.
A homeless person in America with a cell phone is in the top 1% of wealth in the world, and using a tool daily that billionaires didn’t have 30 years ago.
A poor person who had nothing 30 years ago is the same as a person who has nothing today.
“a new sort of tycoon who looks to form a public-private consortium between business and government”
Or allow government to turn a blind eye and operate a monopoly as with some big tech, the defense sector, in pharma...
Many of us believe in the competitive free market where consumers define it with a supply and demand curve. But we realize that’s not really what you have anymore unless you’re talking fast food.
I DEMAND income equality with Musk.
Poverty then:
* no water
* no food
* no heat
* no house
Poverty now:
* no iPhone
* no porn
* no Christianity
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.