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Can somebody here, in concrete terms, explain what makes income inequality such a negative or evil thing? I see a lot of people obsessing over it for its own sa

Can somebody here, in concrete terms, explain what makes income inequality such a negative or evil thing? I see a lot of people obsessing over it for its own sake, confusing a metric over actual results as a point of focus, but if a society allows a large number of its people to rise above their station at any given moment through effort and some degree of social support, why does the existence of certain billioniares or a 1% have any detrimental effect on overall economic well-being? Given how generally wealthy and well ordered some of the countries with low or moderate gini coefficients are, I'd say that most arguments against income inequality are based much more on emotional dislike and ideological considerations than sound reasoning. Before anyone simply downvotes like an angry monkey pressing buttons, consider the issue, and hopefully, reply with a measured counterargument. Also, amusingly, many of those commenting negatively here about tax cuts for the rich, the 1% or income inequality are themselves part of a very lucky global 1%.

bradlys 5y ago
Just because someone is part of the 1% doesn’t mean they cannot be critical of the way others in the 1% act. What kind of logic is that? “Hey man, you drive too - you can’t critique other drivers!” The point isn’t about wealth inequality inherently being a terrible thing - it’s that wealth inequality without any checks or balances has lead to a lot of terrible things like the gutting of the middle class in the US. We are supposed to be freer than we’ve ever been yet we live in a new age of serfdom. The gains of our economy go to the top 1% (or even less). It is not being shared to all and thus why people are pissed because they’re paying more in taxes to support these guys than some of the 1% when it comes to proportion of their income. People just want equality. They don’t give a shit if you have billions. They want billionaires to pay the fair amount the rest of us W2 slaves have to deal with and not use pledged asset lines and stepped up basis to avoid ever paying taxes.

bradlys 5y ago

Just because someone is part of the 1% doesn’t mean they cannot be critical of the way others in the 1% act. What kind of logic is that? “Hey man, you drive too - you can’t critique other drivers!” The point isn’t about wealth inequality inherently being a terrible thing - it’s that wealth inequality without any checks or balances has lead to a lot of terrible things like the gutting of the middle class in the US. We are supposed to be freer than we’ve ever been yet we live in a new age of serfdom. The gains of our economy go to the top 1% (or even less). It is not being shared to all and thus why people are pissed because they’re paying more in taxes to support these guys than some of the 1% when it comes to proportion of their income. People just want equality. They don’t give a shit if you have billions. They want billionaires to pay the fair amount the rest of us W2 slaves have to deal with and not use pledged asset lines and stepped up basis to avoid ever paying taxes.