I'll put it another way: As long as you didn't steal it, it's none of my business what someone else makes. And if you don't make enough to cover your basic needs and made an honest attempt to obtain that amount, then I'm happy to help.
I don't think the solution (if some feel there is a problem at all) is redistrubtion of wealth at all. I do think we need to "look" at ways that those who are less fortunate can become more wealthy. How that is done without government interaction? No idea but I don't want them involved.
Well you liberals, its fine time to do your part in PDX! I've seen many homeless in your area. Most of you probably live a pretty comfortable life. I pledge you go into Portland and give 10% of your extra cash to the homeless in your area. Do your part on making an example for America! Paid for by the Liberals for a "New World Order"
The simple answer is freedom. Freedom from high taxes and regulation so more jobs and wealth can be created. Freedom from teacher's unions that put the needs of the educators ahead of the students. We have followed Kruschev's plan to a "T". He once said, ""We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism." We have the framework for freedom: Our own Constitution. It's time we started following it.
Free enterprise, we need to take the power back from the corporations by starting are own businesses and networking within our communities. The toughest part is educating people on how to do that and breaking them out of the poverty mindset. With the way we are so connected today you don't even need a high school diploma to start a business, just the drive and determination.
its a joke give everyone threehappy meals and a box of crayons and in a matter of weeks, someone will owe ten happy meals a day, someone will recieve a few hundred, and someone will create a beautifull picture..
You were the one who added the stipulation that person should have "earned his or her wealth honestly". Didn't vote for Obama, FYI. Both parties are the party of Big.
Yep, it was a qualifier. Just like you have to assume a rational consumer who maximizes his utility when making economic models, so must you assume that the wealth wasn't gained Dr. Evil style by holding the UN hostage with a nuke. For you to then to add that according to your hypothetical that the one person MUST have stolen that wealth (therefore holding it illegitimately) means that level of wealth distribution was by definition wrong. It was a pathetic attempt at creating a tautology.
You asked a hypothetical. It was completely vague and undefined. You shouldn't expect others to answer an undefined hypothetical. If you'd like to try again with the constraints necessary to make it possible to have a discussion, feel free. Otherwise, you're going to get answers that add constraints necessary to properly answer the question.
The points that matter have mostly been made. Our poorest poor would be middle class in a lot of other countries. People living below the poverty line here have nintendo and air conditioners. There are about 125M houses in the USA. Virtually all of those owned by people not in the top 1%. There are 18M businesses in the USA. The workforce is about 150M people. One business for every ~8 workers. Seems like plenty of private ownership of businesses beyond the Bill Gates type owners (e.g. partial ownership of really big businesses yields great wealth). The median household income in the USA is $52,762, or slightly more than $1,000 per week. Or $144/day. bluefrog's charts and graphs talk about poor people making $2/day or less. We're really poor, eh? In spite of all this, I am actually in favor of income redistribution to a degree. It's good for rich people to not have the masses storm their homes with pitchforks and torches (let them eat cake!). On a grander scale, the constitution originally called for redistribution of wealth among the states. Tax California, build highways in Mississippi. I don't think we want some parts of the nation to be 3rd world in terms of infrastructure.
Everyone's buying cheap Chinese goods, so yeah it does. In a poor country, they can afford 8 pairs of socks a day. In the USA, half the people (median income) can by hundreds or thousands of pairs of socks a day.
