Income Inequality

The degree of income inequality is a real problem for me, and others.  That 1% of the US population hold “about 38% of all privately held wealth while the bottom 90% held 73.2% of all debt” and “according to the New York Times, the richest 1 percent in the United States now own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent” (cf. Wikipedia) is unacceptable to me.

At the same time, I am aware that there is no easy method of distributing income fairly and productively.  I know that government programs are not managed well. Waste is often demonstrated. I am aware that people often are irresponsible in their use of money.

Given that the future will make the distribution of wealth even more problematic. Artificial Intelligence will make full employment virtually impossible within 50 years (cf. Yuval Harari). 

However, there has to be a way that some of this income of the 1% can be shared productively.

I have been impressed by Anand Giridharadas (cf. Winners Take All) who focuses on distributions that support people without necessarily putting money into their pockets. 

Our public schools are becoming sources of labor protests because students do not have ready access to books and teachers are paid so poorly that they often need a second job while others are discounting such a career in the first place since pay is so poor.

Higher education is way beyond the means of many to afford. The costs are extraordinarily high. I realize that there are reasons for the high costs of college, but any nation will benefit from their citizenry achieving sufficient education for accessing employment that will support their adult needs. Higher education should be commensurate with the needs of the nation. Not everyone needs a Harvard education, but there should be a means of everyone acquiring the needed knowledge for obtaining employment with reasonable income.

Health care is a problem for so many because the cost of private health care plans are too expensive for their income and the health care industry is skewed towards profits at the expense of the users. The health care industry is too complex for me to suggest a method to control costs, but we should enable every citizen to access needed care.

Housing costs are extraordinarily high. The general rationale for the high costs is the relative lack of available housing. The excess demand raises the cost of housing. Public monies could be used to build more housing, even though it is unclear to me how this would be done.

Spending public money of needed infrastructure would create more jobs with relatively better income. There is little dispute about the need. The public will to spend tax revenue is lacking.

I am bothered by the implications of Amazon’s expansion. Amazon has virtually destroyed traditional methods of buying goods. I surely enjoy the convenience of on-line shopping, but the implications of one company controlling so much of our purchases is not only scary, but ultimately shrinking the workforce. The implications are serious relative to the problem of equitable distribution of wealth.