Philosophy Now Forum

Inequality above a certain level is fatal to the idea of a peaceful and just society. Wealth and power inherently accrue upward. Therefore, it is government's primary task to prevent, mitigate, and redistribute that cancer. The benchmark for whether they have been successful is overall, long-term sustainability.

Inequality is also very damaging to a healthy economy.
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When you squeeze wages and overburden people with tax at levels of income below basic living standards, then you also squeeze out demand which is the chief mover and ultimately pays all the wages.
Such inequality leads to unemployment. You either further punish people by cutting welfare, or you pay out to fund people who are not working. This is unused capacity. It would be better were you to pay them for non jobs - as in fact most jobs are.
At the other end of the scale, people who have more money than sense, are disincentivised to do anything worthwhile and have the ability to earn more money just from the fact of having money without doing any useful work. In a society where this occurs the usual rant we hear is traducing the unemployed for doing nothing, yet it is the super rich that do nothing. The money they make from money directly parasites upon the economies causing more inequality.

Sculptor wrote: ↑Fri Dec 25, 2020 6:28 pm ... people who have more money ... and have the ability to earn more money just from the fact of having money without doing any useful work.

Could you please explain this mysterious method by which those having money are able to, "earn," more money without doing any useful work? Sounds like, "magic," or, "miracles."