This article appears on HumbleDollar. You can see and join the discussion there at the link below.
Go to main Forum page »
AUTHOR: R Quinn on 9/24/2024
801 US billionaires control a record $6.2 trillion in wealth.The bottom 50% of Americans control $3.7 trillion in wealth.
When 801 people control more wealth than half a country’s population, we have a very serious problem. So says a long ago Secretary of Labor on social media post.
I assume, but can’t verify, these numbers are correct, but in any case I have to ask, what exactly is the problem? Sour grapes?
I attempted to learn the answer using AI, but could not find an answer that was on point and logical -yes, my opinion – except one.
That one answer is consistent with the opinion of many economists who don’t see great wealth as a problem, but rather the potential for great influence, great political influence, but of course that is not limited to billionaires or even individuals and as they say, it takes two to tango.
The wealth of others does not stop opportunity for me or anyone else. In some ways it creates new opportunities. Think of all the opportunities for products and services created by Apple and Microsoft. Consider the positive impact on retirement savings as stock values boosted account balances when the billionaires accumulated their wealth.
I look at many billionaires and think about the companies, even industries they created, the hundreds of thousands of jobs, the wealth and opportunities for others created in the process. In many cases their positive impact goes beyond their organization and includes their vendors and suppliers. Amazon has created many opportunities for small businesses who sell through them.
How did they accumulate great wealth? Mostly by investing, by the power of the stock market and later other types of investing. Isn’t that what we all strive for, except we didn’t start a company and issue an IPO while owning a few million shares.
If only I had made better use of my garage – I never had a dorm room.
In my opinion society can claim a net benefit even if these entrepreneurs paid no taxes and that does not include the philanthropic efforts of many super wealthy. Next time you visit a library there is a chance it’s there because one of those gilded age billionaires, Mr. Carnegie.
My net worth is 200 times that of my parents after adjusting for inflation. I don’t feel guilty. I invested, I saved. All of us have more wealth than someone else and someone else has more than us.
Reading what appears on HD shows investing and accumulating wealth, even planning to avoid or minimize taxes is considered smart and indeed it is. I see no reason to apply different standards based on the amount of money involved.
Becoming a billionaire fairly and honestly is a to be admired accomplishment not a envious moan about problem.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
Counter point: Gates is recently quoted as saying the tax code should require him and other very very rich to pay more taxes. What’s stoping him from donating more of his wealth to the US Treasury? No legal requirement.
Some people, less wealthy, do this.
LikeLike
Certain folks think the billionaires have more than their “fair share”. They obsess on how wealth is divided. What they do not dwell on is wealth creation.
LikeLike
The concern is based on the erroneous concept that the size of the economic pie is fixed and that what one has accumulated comes at the expense of another.
Obviously, false, but keep in mind there is a reason why envy is one of the “seven deadly sins”, also known as “capital vices” or “cardinal sins”. Envy has been described as a sad or resentful covetousness towards others possessions – where the envious attempt to suggest gains are ill gotten, where the envious celebrate others’ failures, or are concerned about another’s prosperity.
Ever notice how those who envy are so, so unhappy? They claim the rich industrialists, tech barons, etc. and their incomes and accumulated wealth leave so many other Americans living in “poverty”. When we hear the word “poverty”, we think of hunger, a lack of shelter and clothing, a significant material deprivation. But, when the Census Bureau calculates “poverty”, it typically includes households that have cars, air conditioning, smart phones for everyone, laptops, TV/Cable/Internet, etc. According to the Census Bureau, American households living in “poverty” were not going hungry and were able to obtain needed medical care. And, when it comes to housing, the typical average poor American has more living space in his home than the average (non-poor) European.
Capitalism has brought great benefits to American and global societies. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels admit that free markets had in a short time created greater prosperity and more technological innovation than all previous generations combined – lifting hundreds of millions from hunger and poverty.
Today, the claim isn’t that living standards haven’t improved. Today, the claim is that too much money is in too few hands – i.e., that economies are a zero-sum game. Keep in mind that adding new restraints on capitalism will deepen the gap between wealthy and vulnerable – and for the truly poor, it would be a disaster.
I celebrate Gates, Jobs, Edison, Musk, and others I have never met and will never know and how they have improved my life and the lives of loved ones.
LikeLike