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I haven't read the examples you mentioned, do they point toward the source of the instability being extreme inequality, or the lower (economic) classes being un
by fxwin 2y ago
I haven't read the examples you mentioned, do they point toward the source of the instability being extreme inequality, or the lower (economic) classes being unable to survive in dignified conditions? (read: can we tolerate great inequality if it comes with increased standards of living for everyone?)
- angusturner 2y agoI mean, it seems possible that with greater absolute wealth people might tolerate greater relative inequality but like … why run the experiment? Anyway, that’s the path we are on - Piketty doesn’t hazard a guess about if/when society collapse, IIRC the point is just that things will only continue to get more unequal unless there’s a major crisis or some political intervention (e.g wealth or inheritance taxes - imagine trying to get the US to agree to that lol). Also you can’t ignore relative inequality because wealth is strongly coupled to political power/influence. Look at the head of DOGE - he spent $300m to get himself a top gov role, in charge of regulating his own business and restructuring US gov spending to suit his own whims. In terms of percentages / orders of magnitude it’d be like your avg citizen spending $100 for a top gov role.