# Income Inequality: revolution, taxes, or war?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-inequality-revolution-taxes-or-war/715573>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 21, 2015, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-inequality-revolution-taxes-or-war/715573 "2015-03-21T05:26:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 157

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**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-inequality-revolution-taxes-or-war/715573/157 "2015-06-08T00:16:07Z")

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> [@Dibbs](#):
>
> I read that Judge Judy is given $900,000.00 per show. I heard that Oprah Winfrey has $2.9-billion to her name. Basketball players are signing $200-million contracts.
> 
> I dunno, somehow it strikes me that our capitalist system could use some tweaking.

These people are the only ones who can do what they do at the level they do it at. I’m less concerned about the reasons these people making a lot of money than I am about the reasons an otherwise intelligent and hard working minimum wage McDonalds worker might be stuck working at McDonalds the rest of their life:

- High education costs
- High health care costs
- “Uberization” of the labor market (long term careers replaced with temps, contractors and freelancers)
- Lack of social safety nets
- Socioeconomic class distinctions

> [@Revenant Threshold](#):
>
> To take the first part; he harms his company so long as there is some benefit that may be attained by their having $500,000 that is not outweighed by his having $500,000, as also judged by the company’s interests. I’m sure there are indeed economic situations in which a company having $500,000 provides no benefit, or no net benefit. But, by the same token, I’m sure there are also situations in which a company having $500,000 does in fact provide such a benefit or net benefit.
> 
> Do you think that the second scenario is impossible, or unlikely?

Depends. Does he run successful chain of frozen yogurt stores or a billion dollar hedge fund?

You can’t examine the issue of income inequality by looking at a single company. Even the largest employer (Walmart at 2 million employees IIRC) employs but a fraction of the 157 million people in the American labor force. You have to take a systematic viewpoint.

I guess I look at the issue from several points of view:

1. What are the barriers that prevent someone who is poor from rising to a higher level (not millionaire per se, but comfortable middle class).

2. What are the forces that are shifting wealth and opportunity away from the middle class?

3. What is the minimum standard of living we will accept for the most incompetent, drug addict asshole? It’s all well and good to talk about education and training, but some people just don’t have the wherewithal to do much more than the most rudimentary jobs. Or any job for that matter. Do we just drive them into shanty towns on the outskirts of civilization like you find in places like Calcutta or Sao Paulo?

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