1. Income redistribution via social welfare programs has massively increased since 1970. The actual statistics contradict the theses of the equality sophists.

1. Income redistribution via social welfare programs has massively increased since 1970. The actual statistics contradict the theses of the equality sophists. 2. The unions that pushed wages up 1950-1970 also eroded America's manufacturing competitiveness and efficiency, which contributed to the outsourcing of manufacturing. The reason union membership numbers in the private sector declined was because the industries that employed unions contracted. And that was largely the doing of unions and the very generous collective bargaining agreements they got for themselves. IOW the gains they brought about were not sustainable. In contrast, the wage gains attained in the pre-union, free market era of the late 19th century were sustainable. They accompanied an increase in the competitiveness of American manufacturing, instead of coming at its expense.