Conversation

The kind of economic views that get heavily upvoted on Reddit really terrify me, because I view it as an indication of the future as our generations age. They don't even seem like economic views, but rather moral values wearing the clothes of economic opinions.
17
259
It's basically "rich=bad, poor=victims" and making policy moves based off of this extremely simplistic rule is going to fuck us so hard.
11
170
Replying to
I don't know what you're reading, but I've yet to read a single comment saying being rich is bad. Nothing wrong with being rich, but amount of wealth at the top of the system is literally incomprehensible. Several hundred people should not have as much as half the population.
2
Replying to
I don't necessarily disagree, but I do want to point out a small thing, which the "should." Already we have a moralistic frame about the world. What if all rich people vanished, leaving you at your current state of wealth, unchanged? Would you be happier?
1
3
Replying to
Assuming their wealth was then redistributed more appropriately then yes. We have tons of people who are homeless and yet there are empty houses. Jeff Bezos or someone similar has enough wealth to end world hunger today, or create something sustainable to do so.
2
Replying to
I usually attribute homelessness to poor regulation - like zoning laws that prevent people from building what they need, or employment regulation that limit some people from entering the market. We should fix the shitty causes before expecting wealthy people to be the solution.
2
3
Replying to
That's interesting, and very reasonable reporting. Clearly no easy answer there. Another thing making housing harder is the rise of AirBnB.
1