Because wealth and status come with responsibilities to the society that makes it possible for you to obtain them.
What other inequality is worthy of scrutiny? The problem is not rising inequality, the problem is rising inequality due to unequal privileges. In a world without profit via legal privilege then income inequalities will be far less. In a society that values individualism and personal responsibility and natural law, then there are actually very large social incentives to be a good citizen and the majority of people would naturally view selfishness as bad. Self-interest properly understood has nothing to do with selfishness. The curators of capitalism are actually every person acting within it. That is one of its major strengths. It self-corrects for fallible people. Identify actual or potential problems, innovate, adapt, overcome. It does not require a "higher authority" to manage. Indeed the fallibility of people is what makes "higher authorities" so dangerous.
But even if you keep your money in the bank earning interest, it is used. It is used for business loans, home loans, car loans, etc. Most of which end up providing jobs. What's so bad about using your money to provide jobs for others? OK, so you get something back obviously or you wouldn't do it, but that's the beauty of capitalism. At the end of the day, paraphrasing, you can't eat money. The wealth is all the things we see around us and that are available to us. Not the money. You could be a billionaire on a desert island and you'd be in poverty despite your billions. A healthy market is what's needed for prosperity. I'm not saying investment good, charity bad. I'm saying that they are both fine. There is plenty of philanthropy in society provided people have the means to give up some of their money. I'd like to suggest thought that people become a bit more reluctant to give when their money is being inflated away as it brings about a greater sense of uncertainty about the future. At that point they start stashing away their wealth in things like property, gold, silver, etc rather than either looking to invest so much or to give away money. And society is worse off for it.
I have to disagree with that too! :lol: I'm into universal values. I just don't believe there are that many of them.
Thats the problem shiney nothing is universal theres always something your excluded from ...in any society . One rule for them another for you
Except he doesn't know what he is talking about. There is nothing more damaging to wealth than to tax capital.
I don't see universal values outside mathematics I'm afraid. Makes for a bleak view of the world at large but very helpful for self-knowledge really.
I see a lot of people on this forum who I think would take lunch money off a five year old if they thought they were "entitled to it" or would walk past someone dying on a footpath because "it's not my problem, why should I help them? It's not my responsibility" Just because you do not have to do something it does not mean you should'nt.
I don't think people are arguing you shouldn't help people, but rather that you shouldn't be forced to help people that other's deem worthy of your money or whatever.
Interesting analogy. In what circumstances would a 5-year old have money that someone else thought they were entitled to? Fully agree On the flip side, just because you should do something doesn't mean others have to force you to do so.
Can you point to a particular post which indicates this and explain why it is analogous to stealing from a child?
