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If a scientist discovered a cure for cancer tomorrow, inequality would increase drastically. Millions of people would each be tens of thousands of dollars poor
by ebfe 13y ago
If a scientist discovered a cure for cancer tomorrow, inequality would increase drastically. Millions of people would each be tens of thousands of dollars poorer, and one man/corporation would be billions of dollars richer. Surely you would not consider this a bad thing?
The same was true for the invention of electricity, the telephone, cars, planes, computers, and every other device that reduced the labor needed to perform a given task. Inequality is the inseparable byproduct of technological progress.
- jal278 12y agoRight, I am agreeing that innovation deserves compensation, and as a result you'll have inequality. But the degree of that inequality overall in society is separable from technological progress -- i.e. through progressive tax rates or other intervention. You might disagree about whether such intervention agrees with you personally, but technological progress need not strictly increase the degree of income inequality