You make some interesting observations, michael. But there is a small voice in the back of my head repeating " Pareto suggested that even if the wealth was red

You make some interesting observations, michael. But there is a small voice in the back of my head repeating " Pareto suggested that even if the wealth was redistributed equally to everyone in society, in a very short time it would revert to the 80/20 distribution". (reversion to the mean -- whatever that mean is!) Now, why is that true? You provide the answer yourself "Powerful people want to glom together and form a clique at the top." That will be very much a given! So how does one bell the cat... Your CTF analogy is a bold thesis, and I agree with your final assertion/outcome, but we both know it is not doable. >> One thing I've learned having studied history is that the best thing for smart people is to create a cleavage within the elite. History is definitely replete with examples that assert to the above, but in the end it is the classic "tying the bell to the cat" stalemate! a) Who will do it? and, b) How will they do it. Time to whip out Sun-Tzu, Arthashastra and The Prince for inspiration then ;-)