(April 17, 2015 at 2:45 pm)Heywood Wrote:(April 17, 2015 at 2:06 pm)Brian37 Wrote: But Dubai isn't poor. The Saudi Royal Family is not poor, and China's communist party makes tons of money allowing western businesses to exist. You cannot treat the word "capitalism" as a form of government. There is not one country in the world who does not have people in power that don't invest in the global market. I have no doubt Un's family has bank accounts and global investments.
I agree hard work has nothing to do with success. Neither does laziness. Literally even outside our species both work and luck work.
And I agree a mixed economy is good, which is why you cannot have a huge pay gap or allow monopolies of wealth.
Why can't you have a huge pay gap? If everyone's life is pretty good(and this is generally the case in the united states) what does it matter if their are a few Bill Gates or Donald Trumps around? Your life is pretty close to theirs in all the meaningful ways. Your home is probably comfortably heated and protects you from the elements as well as theirs. You probably consume as many or more calories than they do. You have access to high quality clothing. What do they have that you need? What are they keeping from you by having a much higher pay rate?
Ok, I am dirt poor, cant save a nickle to save my life I have to admit. I hate this "what would you know" crap.
I also can't build a car from scratch, mine the metal, melt it down put it in a mold and build a factory to assemble it. But I do know how to drive a car and understand the overall concept of a combustion engine and can conclude it does not run on pixy dust.
I can point to a BILLIONAIRE named Nick Hanauer who would agree with me not you. I am not asking you to take my word for it.
Economies to me are really no different than evolutionary ecosystems. Diversity will happen and equity will exist. But when one aspect of that ecosystem gets out of control and dominates the rest, the entire system will collapse. Now if you think I am aiming that monopoly only at weath, no, but be it a political party, religion, or business model, controlled publicly or privately ALL OF THOSE sects of society require income.
Our species barter system public or private still requires income and our modern barter system is money and again, there is not one public or private institution that does not make attempts to gain income to gain, maintain or expand power.
No you cannot let gaps get too big. EVER. Gadaffi was a billionaire who owned stock in GE. He got his ass handed to him, and I think rightfully so, because he was more concerned about making a name for himself and his own ideology and power, than he was about the welfare of those he had power over. But he still was a billionaire.