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We've had great inequality in the U.S. before (beginning of 20th century) and it somehow resolved itself. Perhaps there is a historical lesson in there somewher
by chrisbennet 8y ago
We've had great inequality in the U.S. before (beginning of 20th century) and it somehow resolved itself. Perhaps there is a historical lesson in there somewhere.
- eloff 8y agoIt was resolved in part thanks to World War II which was a massive all-in undertaking for the US (which it never really backed down from, they've maintained a massive standing force ever since then.) That was a huge redirection of capital that created many jobs while simultaneously removing millions from the work force. That is basically a perfect storm for raising wages across the board, and thus decreasing inequality. Historically wars and unrest seem to be critical for redistribution of wealth once inequality increased to unsustainable levels. I wonder what will happen now in this era of unprecedented peace.
- Carlton87 8y agoYou make my point. I don't believe there has ever been a redistribution from wealthy to poor without war and violence.
- opportune 8y agoSocial democracy is the least painful solution within the current societal organization. That or mass labor movements. Otherwise unfettered capitalism will simply exacerbate inequality until things reach a tipping point - if billionaires and people that control the media don’t begin to shill for more redistributionist policies in the next couple decades they will have indirectly killed themselves