# per capita income for everyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 20, 2002, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/per-capita-income-for-everyone/137817 "2002-11-20T22:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dekel\_Borak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dekel\_Borak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dekel_Borak)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/per-capita-income-for-everyone/137817/21 "2002-11-22T06:03:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Suspenderzzz \* > \*\*Greater income parity for everyone. God, what a beautiful concept. > > And while we’re at it, throw in some universal (meaning not contingent on income or other factors) safety nets and services. It works in other countries. Who gives a shit if it makes people work less hard? That is quite a sadistic outlook. Is that the most important thing in life – the more you knock yourself out the better a human being you are? Why is it so important to keep them on their toes? Human beings are not machines. > > Overall morality would greatly improve if people had more job security and security in general. A subject I get very passionate about. But I have just discussed this very issue to death on another forum, and redundancy gets boring. It’s one of those things where I have so much to say that I don’t know where to begin… \*\* What if you want to work hard? What if you want to take the big risks necessary to achieve a big goal? What if you believe your security is a direct result of your hard work and productivity? I think if you want to take it easy (whatever that means to each of us), go for it. If you want to live simply and have fewer material goods than most, go for it. If you only want to work 10 or 20 hour a week, go for it. If you want try and live from painting rocks or singing in the park for change, go for it. Just don’t demand that anyone else owes you. Make your choices and live with them. Don’t resent the star that makes millions. Live your life as you want, and make no claims on anyone else’s life. No one is forcing you to work hard, so don’t force those who work hard to subsize you. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/per-capita-income-for-everyone/137817/22 "2002-11-22T07:56:16Z")
If we blew the whistle on Thursday and evened everone out, how long would it take to have income inequity equal to that of today? If we had income equity would that mean I would have to share my property (and my property includes a lot of income-generating stuff)? A usful thought-exercise. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/per-capita-income-for-everyone/137817/23 "2002-11-22T14:21:10Z")
Yes, Paul, that’s the sort of idea I originally was trying to kick around. Not that I have the answer to your question. However, as to the enormous amounts of money spent by consumers, say, on Harry Potter movies, it seems that one key to that is the manipulation of the masses which convinces them (us) that they WANT something. Spending for our needs is one thing, spending for our desires is something much different. And it seems that it’s the desires that are artificially inflated, which leads to the the rise in costs. Somehow, it seems that the externally created demand has great power in our economy. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/per-capita-income-for-everyone/137817/24 "2002-11-22T17:31:48Z")
Ok my knowledge of Economics comes only from a course in college “Politic Economics”, that course as the rest of my classes was in spanish so be patient. Unless you happen to be an “economic taliban” you would never dare to argue that prices in a market economy are set only by the law of supply and demand. There are many other factors that influence both the demand and the supply. I am sure there is an economist in here that can explaint them better than I. In the case of C.E.O. I find that the fundamental law in economy hardly applies, the reason they obtain such inmoral salaries is beacuse they simply controll the market. When you control the market you set your own price. Big corporations manage, because of tha reason to get away with a lot. They have pervaded capitalism and we will all go to hell for that. Cheers [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/per-capita-income-for-everyone/137817.md?page=1)