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"Bad" is subjective and binary. Let's talk thresholds. As extremes, the floor is death from exposure/starvation and the ceiling is owning all the wealth availa
by orthecreedence 7y ago
"Bad" is subjective and binary. Let's talk thresholds.
As extremes, the floor is death from exposure/starvation and the ceiling is owning all the wealth available. Does it make sense to have a range this extreme? Some think so, but I think they are confusing this for meritocracy. I think it's ineffective and too closely mirrors nature, where one small mistake means perpetual agony or death.
Now the other extreme: the floor and the ceiling are the same. Everyone is paid one wage no matter the work they do. Everyone has a decent amount of comfort. Is this effective? Probably not, because if I get paid the same wage as someone who works half as hard as me, wouldn't I just work less? There's no incentive structure here.
So the rest is exploring areas somewhere in between. Does it make sense for someone to have the power and influence that $100B gives? Does that kind of concentration of economic power make sense? What if it was capped at $1B? Would having $1B be incentive enough to strive for success? What about $500M? What about $100M?
At what point do you say "ok, great job, you've managed to divert an insane amount of wealth to yourself, you won't be needing any more after that?" And the lower you set that level, the higher the floor raises. Is this fair? Debatable, obviously. Is it effective? Probably. Nobody is not going to start a megacorporation because "gee, I wanted to make $100B but I can only ever make $1B, so what's the point? I'll just work in a coffee shop instead."
Now imagine the floor: What if we could all own a house, car, have free tuition, and work 30 hours a week with plenty of time for vacations? In other words, what if we could actually live our lives without running on some endless, stressful treadmill for 45 years?
This isn't about "good" or "bad" but rather being mindful of how wealth is distributed and how it could look if it was done differently. Obviously, we're talking about purely-hypothetical scenarios, but that doesn't mean the ideas shouldn't be discussed.