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That's the basis of socialism vs capitalism.
by stealthmodeclan 8y ago
That's the basis of socialism vs capitalism.
- tomhoward 8y agoI don't like to wade into black vs white ideological debates, but it's worth noting that every economic system has had wealthy elites and a relatively much poorer majority. I'm all for discussing ways in which society's wealth can be distributed more fairly and how the worst-off can be helped to live more comfortable and optimistic lives. But the evidence would suggest that when you constrain the wealth-generating capacity of the highest-achievers to reduce the overall wealth being created by a society, the people at the bottom are the first to suffer.
- ionised 8y agoWhat evidence?
- tomhoward 8y agoLike I said I'm not interested in ideological arguments on this topic, and the tone of your comments suggests you are. The evidence I'm referring to is the comparison over the past 100 years or so between open economies where people can keep a substantial share of the rewards for their innovations, vs controlled economies where people can't. In any scenario, elites find a way to be elites. The comparison that matters most is how badly off are the poorest. To answer your other comment and to avert a needless argument, I agree it's not black and white and I agree no system is perfect and that it's an unresolved question as to what kind of system is optimal in terms of generating wealth and distributing it fairly. My initial comment was simply to point out to the root commenter that the action they recommended would more likely lead to the opposite outcome to what they hoped.