Pilot you make many good points.How do you stop this and still have a capitalist system?
Thank you falconfan..... You ask a very good question... I'm not sure if it can be stopped at this point....but what it will do, if it continues unabated, is further erode our capitalist spending based economy ... There are some things that would help slow it down over time...maybe stop it...but the things needed to make it a possibility will not be allowed by those that have accrued so much power in the Political process..... things that would make some of the members on here go crazy......
It seems to me there are a lot of very wealthy people preaching wealth redistribution but none are willing to part with their wealth.
Your absolutely right... I'm not saying that anyone has to "give up" a part of their wealth...but changes are needed in how the power that wealth "buys' is used to influence policy that affects the general welfare of the Public......If that could be controlled it perhaps would make a difference in how the Wealthy Corporate elite spend their money.....which in return may benefit Society in a more constructive manner...
It's not just a republican thing,look at Al Gore,The Clintons and just about every political figure in the executive branch on both sides of the aisle.
Your correct.... The reason that it is that way is because of the Wealth, whether individual, or through large Corporate donors, that has purchased the majority of Politicians of all parties...... which is an argument against concentrating the wealth to an increasingly smaller group or class of people....
I agree one man having hundreds of million is extreme but,I also believe a slacker who refuses to work but still lives a middle class lifestyle is extreme.
I agree...no one really needs anywhere close to hundreds of millions of dollars to live a decent productive life.....and I agree that those that are not willing to work and earn their way shouldn't be living a "middle class" lifestyle either.....but I will say this, living a middle class life style is not even possible for many people working these days...much less those not working....but I get your point and can't say I disagree....
I wish I knew the answers,what would you like to see happen about wealth inequality?
I wish I had the definitive answers too....but it is a more of a complex issue that can't adequately be addressed with simplicities...and the solution to the issue would be doing things that are opposite of what is being done currently....in my opinion.... Things such as Eliminating exemptions so corporations pay the official tax rate would be an excellent way start.....The government could also raise income taxes on the wealthy...for example, in the 1950s, the U.S. had a 91% top marginal income tax rate. While that rate is obviously too high, some economists support a top rate tax level of 80% at least "thinkable" again.” which is still to high in my opinion....but at least 50% would be more realistic...A cap on executive pay that sets a maximum for annual compensation would be another direct approach to restraining runaway inequality. So would increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to average executive pay.....It's well known that as the rich have gotten richer, the top income tax rate has gone down. In the 50's, the top marginal tax rate was 91 percent, as I previously mentioned, It's now 39.6 percent....and I needn't tell you that working class Americans are not getting "richer".... Do you suppose there is a correlation?... I know these ideas drive some of the members on here crazy as I mentioned...but you asked and I told you.....
The bottom line is that an economy with the majority of the wealth concentrated at the top will not, and can not, produce a vibrant and thriving economy.....The majority of the wealth of a Nation needs to be in the hands of the majority of the population that will spend it back into the economy......and that is what will grow the economy and create the demand that will create the jobs to meet the demand.....