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> Wealth is built by extracting that wealth from a shared economy. This is wrong. First wealth is not extracted from people...it is created from a voluntary ex
by holograham 13y ago
> Wealth is built by extracting that wealth from a shared economy.
This is wrong. First wealth is not extracted from people...it is created from a voluntary exchange. Think about why people handed over money to the "wealthy" in the first place. It was in exchange for a good or service that made that person wealthy where wealth is defined by being better off than they were before. Money is just a unit of exchange that we use to move wealth around. Following this logic the wealthy have already paid their dues so to speak by making other people more wealthy.
Again they do not EXTRACT wealth, they GENERATE wealth for their customers. People with a ton of money should be applauded for delivering so much wealth to society not vilified as if they stole it from them.
- guscost 13y agoFor the most part I agree with this explanation, but it does not apply to certain cases such as inheritance. Unfortunately the tendency to portray all wealthy people as entitled heirs has been around since the days of explicit aristocracy.
- holograham 13y agohow does it not apply for inheritances? That money that was inherited came from delivering a good or service in a voluntary exchange. Just because the money was passed down a generation doesnt mean that money was acquired any different way. I think you may be trying to point out that the inheritance isnt deserved because the receiver didnt create the wealth. I see inheritances as how the rich choose to spend their money. Some give it to charity, some give it to their kids (which could be a form of charity), some spend it frivolously. Doenst change the fact that the money was generated by creating wealth in the first place.
- brenschluss 13y ago> Following this logic the wealthy have already paid their dues so to speak by making other people more wealthy. Wow, so simplistic. Answer this, then: Why are poor people poor?
- ctdonath 13y agoWealth can be consumed and destroyed. If you consume/destroy more than you create and/or trade for, you have a net loss which isn't anyone else's fault.
- holograham 13y agoI assume this question is to bait me into a debate about equal opportunity, discrimination, and wealthy privilege. I do not contend that there aren't issues to solve in these arenas. So for the simple economic answer: Poor people are poor because they consume more wealth than they create (or at least break even). Again as to not offend, I fully understand that economic well-being is still dependent on circumstance to a degree that needs to be addressed. But this fact does not change the economic answer to why poor people are poor.