> What is missing from your comment is the wealthy get that way by creating wealth, not by taking it from others. (This is why the economy grows - wealth creat

> What is missing from your comment is the wealthy get that way by creating wealth, not by taking it from others. (This is why the economy grows - wealth creation.) Wealthy people accumulate wealth by many means. Creating wealth is only one of those means. Nor is wealth creation incompatible with the model I described. > The government, on the other hand, gets money by taking it. Who said anything about the government? But if you want to argue that point, the government may create wealth just like any private individual or enterprise. In fact, it does create quite a lot of wealth, in the form of public services and overcoming various incentive problems of private industry operating in free markets. Of course, governments do levy taxes in order to fund their activities. But you can't seriously argue that tax revenue is "taken" from the economy and also argue that wealth accumulation does not exist because wealthy individuals' money is not "taken" from the economy.