Why do we tolerate inequality? The answer, according to a new study by economist Eugenio Proto, is for the slight chance to prosper:
“It seems that even if people believe they have just the tiniest of chances to become the next Bill Gates, it’s enough to keep them tolerant of obvious inequality,” says Proto. [...]
“When you look at it rationally, it makes no sense that people are placing such a disproportionate value on that first one percent increase in opportunity,” says Proto.
“But that slight increase in fairness seems to have some kind of symbolic meaning. It appears people are happy to accept extreme inequality when they have this tiny carrot dangled in front of them.
Really? What was the "demand" for the iPod before Apple invented it? The personal computer before IBM invented it? The only thing that "has been proven thoroughly ineffective time and again" is socialism.
You might as well pass a law forbidding the sun to rise in the morning.
There have always been people who are wealthy and people who are not. Why does that shock some of you?
I agree that wealth can be created, but that doesn't begin to describe or address the reality of America's wealth gap.
And let's not bring up trickle-down "job creator" economics, which has been proven thoroughly ineffective time and again.
Yes, it is very important for small businesses to have easy access to capital. But businesses in and of themselves don't create jobs. Demand creates jobs. Specifically, consumer demand. The very same consumers who possess a dwindling amount of the nation's total wealth.
Natey,
wealth can be,and is created. It isn't something that necessarily has to be taken from someone in order for another to have it. Successful entrepreneurs create jobs which create wealth and prosperity for others.
Do some people have some "unfair" advantages? Absolutely! But that's life. This situation should not stop you from working hard to better yourself. Mind your own business, don't worry about what other people have, and focus on your own situation. Stop crying "unfair". The very "fairness" measures you preach are the exact things holding you down. The more "fairness" and "income equality" measures a society takes, the less opportunities there are for individuals. Fortunately in America, we haven't completely digressed to those levels yet, so there is still a chance to better yourself with some hard work.
And don't even start with the "you didn't build that" line. A good teacher in your past or a road in front of your business is no guarantee of success. You are the sum of your own decisions and efforts. The most successful people I know failed many times, and kept at it until they succeeded. They accepted that life was not fair and moved on. What they DIDN'T do was complain about "fairness", "equality", or blame "class disparities" for their problems. They minded their own business, worked hard, didn't look for other people to pay their way, and took responsibility for their own actions.
Well guess what, "life" didn't create the class disparities we see today. The nation's wealthiest lobbying to rig the system in their own favor is what did it. A system designed to divert more and more of the nation's aggregate wealth to the top few percent of citizens is hardly something that should be tolerated. Why would you even defend that kind of system?
It's not about hard work vs. laziness. It is about people setting themselves up to be fundamentally more advantaged from the start, and setting up others to be fundamentally more disadvantaged.
And for sure some poor people are there because they made poor decisions. But does being born with an IQ of 85 instead of 115 mean you "deserve" to pay higher interest rates, go without health care, and live in dangerous buildings? What if you made poor decisions years ago and are still paying for it, even though you've "learned your lesson"? Many single moms are in that position -they wouldn't marry that guy again, they wouldn't have children that young again, etc -but they still pay for those decisions for a very long time. And yes, some single fathers are in that position, too. And some ex-cons. You can "wise up" and do everything right, but one bad decision many years ago can ruin your life.
There are plenty of people who work hard, sometimes at multiple jobs, don't use drugs, obey the law, and still never get caught up, much less get ahead. But they don't have the time or the means to hang around the internet and argue about it. They are too busy working too many hours at minimum wage, or taking care of their disabled parents, spouses, children, or grandchildren, or are in poor health themselves, or trying to combine school with supporting a family, or just trying their best to get along. http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/
And to J Fraz, so those people had a few advantages. So what? They still had to work hard to get what they eventually earned. I know of plenty of people who were dirt poor growing up who still managed to live much wealthier lives than their parents, and there are plenty of rich kids who squander what they've been given and end up broke and wretched.
Life isn't fair; that's not a bug, it's a feature.
My problem isn't income inequality; it's that it's mostly based on having an extremely advantaged youth (and sometimes being a jerk) rather than merit & hard work.
If diligent productive people only get that same even share of wealth for all their hard work, they feel cheated, lose motivation and eventually become non-producers. In the end, there is no wealth for anyone to share.
Is it possible that some people might simply be content with who they are and what they have? I am happy with my lot in life, and I don't care how much money Bill Gates has. How boring a perfectly fair society would be, IF such a thing were possible.
Or was this by Lenin just for the lulz, right before they killed the Romanovs?
"tolerate" -ZOMGDFQ!!?!?!??!?!!!?...,
You know Che, -I mean Eugenio, you could just go to Cuba or North Korea; -they're still running the Communist Experiment.
No, China's not really that red in its "tolerance" for "inequality" anymore, but go ahead and ask the guys driving the gold-plated Lambos anyway.
And there is no radicalized econ-lab coin-flip about working hard and enjoying the fruits of your labor. Business is not a Moscow bread-line where Mother Russia is supposed to dole out to each equally.
++Guess what, Warren Buffett is a much better investor than I am; and I'm not mad at his success or Kruschevian-magnitude-outraged at his 'tolerance' for my non-billionaireyness.
Yeesh!
I do begrudge that the wealthy tend to pay an effective tax rate that is roughly half of my effective tax rate. I'm also upset that US taxpayers have subsidized Romney's Dressage horse.
It's time to get rid of the Capital Loss tax writeoffs (why do we subsidize losers again?) and bring Capital Gains and Dividend Income rates back up to the Earned Income rates.
Yes, but they aren't equally miserable.
There are plenty of miserable people under the current scheme of things.