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Income inequality in America has been growing rapidly, and is expected to increase [PDF]. While the widening wealth gap is a hot topic in the media and on the campaign trail, there's quite a disconnect between the perceptions of economists and those of the general public.
For instance, surveys show people tend to underestimate the income disparity between the top and bottom 20% of Americans, and overestimate the opportunity for poor individuals to climb the social ladder. Additionally, a majority of adults believe that corporations conduct business fairly despite evidence to the contrary and that the government should not act to reduce income inequality.
Even though inequality is increasing, Americans seem to believe that our social and economic systems work exactly as they should. This perspective has intrigued social scientists for decades. My colleague Andrei Cimpian and I have demonstrated in our recent research that these beliefs that our society is fair and just may take root in the first years of life, stemming from our fundamental desire to explain the world around us.
http://theconversation.com/lifes-not-fair-so-why-do-we-assume-it-is-45981
(Score: 2) by srobert on Friday September 11 2015, @12:29AM
No. There would still be wealthy people, perhaps even some with billions. And there would be (relatively) poor people. Most people would be in between. But the poor would not be living in the deplorable conditions that we see in this world. Everyone would have homes (whether owned or rented), access to health care, food, sanitary living conditions, safe reasonable working conditions, and education. What we think of as poverty in this world simply wouldn't exist. So, do you want to be average in that world, or a billionaire in this one?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 11 2015, @09:16AM
I believe the reason the sociopaths choose option (1) is because for them the suffering of others is a perfectly fine way of enhancing their own well being. There comes a moment when you're so wealthy that adding any amount of wealth to your current reserves will be practically invisible. (Call it diminishing marginal utility if you will.) The only way is to see your brother suffer, preferably constantly and in most horrible way possible.