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Half the people on this thread are equating income/wealth inequality with poverty. Which is why they make no valid points. Ineqaulity DOES NOT mean poverty.
Inequality is a blessing.
Wealth does not exist in nature. It can't be divided up and shared equally. It must be created.
Oil is useless until someone comes along and figures out an efficient way to use it. Any natural resource is only valuable when people figure out a way to make it satisfy our wants. Income accures to those that satisfy those wants. Income inequality indicates that some are better at satisfying the demands of others. That is a good thing. Everyone is better off because of it. No one is worse off.
Ludwig von Mises explained this very well 60 years ago:
"The consumers [in a market economy], by their buying or abstention from buying, ultimately determine what should be produced and in what quantity and quality. They render profitable the affairs of those businessmen who best comply with their wishes and unprofitable the affairs of those who do not produce what they are asking for most urgently... It is the consumers who make some people rich and other people penniless."
"Inequality of wealth and incomes is an essential feature of the market economy. It is the implement that makes the consumers supreme in giving them the power to force all those engaged in production to comply with their orders. It forces all those engaged in production to the utmost exertion in the service of the consumers. It makes competition work. He who best serves the consumers profits most and accumulates riches..."
"The millionaires are acquiring their fortunes in supplying the many with articles that were previously beyond their reach. If laws had prevented them from getting rich, the average . . . household would have to forgo many of the gadgets and facilities that are today its normal equipment. [Countries like the United States] enjoy the highest standard of living ever known in history because for several generations no attempts were made toward ‘equalisation’ and redistribution’. Inequality of wealth and incomes is the cause of the masses’ well-being, not the cause of anybody’s distress."
Just because Bill Gates has more wealth than me does not I am poor. Taking money from him and giving it to me does not create wealth. His wealth has never and will neverr hurt me economically. Matter of fact, I have bought severals of his products. He created something that I wanted and made my life better. The product was more valuable to me than the cash. The cash was more valuable to him than the product. It is a mutually beneficial voluntary exchange. He provided a service to me that I could not do on my own. In the process he accures cash and eventually wealth. NO ONE SUFFERS BECAUSE BILL GATES HAS MONEY.
Kenny started a good thread a few days ago. The discussion went pretty well. It was explained pretty well why we have the wage gaps we have and Kenny seemed to understand.
That's an artifact of the government's policy of PAYING poor people to breed. Those receiving public assistance have a birth rate 3 times higher than everyone else, so of course we're going to have a high percentage of children living in poverty.
That 3 times higher birth rate among the poor also contributes to increasing income and/or wealth inequality.
Poor people do not get PAID to breed.
Poor people are more apt to breed, and it's been that way throughout history. There's often a correlation between education level, etc., and having kids one cannot afford. This same educational gap often explains why they are low wage earners to begin with.
Without poor people breeding we'd also find ourselves IMPORTING people bred in OTHER countries, so you'd end up paying for the poor no matter what.
A capitalist economy cannot operate without poor people, period, because there will always be the need for low and unskilled labor to be the cogs in the machine.
Kenny started a good thread a few days ago. The discussion went pretty well. It was explained pretty well why we have the wage gaps we have and Kenny seemed to understand.
But yet, couldn't refrain from a post like this.
He listened to more leftist rhetoric, so the sense was knocked out of him. The left appeals to emotions. They're very successful with that strategy among people who feel instead of think.
Liberals are entirely stupid... what is income inequality? Do you want everyone to earn the same income? Should the person who risked everything earn the same income as his/her employees? Then you point to the rich getting richer... that is what happens when you have excess money that is invested and earning interest... are you clueless? or just stupid and envious?
That has nothing to do with income inequality, which is largely how each group's income has changed over time.
What we have found is that the upper income group is capturing more and more of national income. That's the problem that can't be papered over with canards about everybody earning the same.
Instead of name-calling, look at the issue here, which is far from "stupid," "clueless" or has anything to do with "envy."
That has nothing to do with income inequality, which is largely how each group's income has changed over time.
What we have found is that the upper income group is capturing more and more of national income. That's the problem that can't be papered over with canards about everybody earning the same.
Instead of name-calling, look at the issue here, which is far from "stupid," "clueless" or have anything to do with "envy."
There is no "national" income in a free society based on fiat currency.
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