A hot take on the unequal distribution of wealth

Hot take for a hot day.

America has problems, all kinds of problems.

But I believe in what Bill Clinton said — that there is nothing wrong with America that can’t be fixed by what is right with America.

I believe that because I have seen enormous changes, mostly positive, in my lifetime, which is longer than I ever expected.

Everything from environment protection, to worker protection, to the expansion of voting rights, and civil rights, life expectancy, and the safety of our food and airways.

(And please do not use this as a platform for announcing that President Donald J. Trump is trying to undermine the above. Most of us know that. Some even like that.)

I have been thinking about one of the problems — the unequal distribution of wealth. America is wealthier than it ever has been, but many, many Americans are not.

So wealthy that we didn’t have our first billionaire until 1916, John D. Rockefeller. Now we have 906, 13 of them Black.

New York’s leading mayoral contender, Zohran Mamdani, says, “I don't think that we should have billionaires.”

Firing squad? Get rid of them like Mao got rid of academics and intellectuals during the Cultural Revolution?

While he didn’t say how he would exterminate  get rid of billionaires — to help eliminate the unequal distribution of wealth — we can guess that he would impose confiscatory tax policies. Except he doesn’t have taxing power. 

I am interested in the economic mechanisms of closing the wealth gap, but that is a serious discussion for another day. I will write about that in my next column. 

It’s so hot today, I just want to suggest a simple fact: There is an unequal distribution of wealth.

There is also an unequal distribution of intellect, talent, ambition, determination, skill, and even luck.  We are political equals, not equal in our natural gifts. Total equality is a chimera. We should be guaranteed equal opportunity, not equal outcomes.

There’s a joke about communism that says it brings equality. Everybody gets to be equally poor. Except the Party members, of course.

I can’t imagine a successful system that guarantees equality for all. That would cancel out merit. Why try harder if it won’t get you ahead? (Some altruistic people probably would; most people wouldn’t.) 

Another joke about communism: The state pretends to pay us, and we pretend to work.

The skeletal structure of capitalism is competition, which should be fair competition, although it sometimes isn’t.

Competition makes you better. Ask any athlete if he or she would rather compete against a better player, or an inferior one. The serious athlete will always choose to compete against the better player, because that makes him or her better.

That’s a hot thought for a hot day.

Next time, the dreary economics.