> When has this ever happened in the history of mankind? It happened across the world this year, in response to the pandemic. People in several countries were

> When has this ever happened in the history of mankind? It happened across the world this year, in response to the pandemic. People in several countries were given enough money to make up for lost income. And even in the U.S. people were given a (comparatively paltry, but not insignificant) stimulus check. Beyond that: universal basic income has been discussed and trialed quite a bit. As a permanent fixture of society I'm not yet sold on it, but as a temporary measure to stave off some of our acutely-deepening inequality, I think it would be a simple and direct (indeed, maybe the most literal) form of wealth redistribution. That's not to say I don't think the government can spend some of the money on society better than our billionaires will (who, with few exceptions, simply don't spend their money on society at all). But I also don't think wealth redistribution has to assume that.