For better or worse, the U.S. is a meritocracy. Your success depends on your ingenuity, hardwork, genius, and ability. Hard work in and of itself is not a guarantee of success and in fact, there are no guarantees for success here at all.
Is it harder than it used to be? Sure. There will always be external pressures that will change the economies and leave some people in the dust. Is it impossible to succeed? No.
But the problem with the “divide the wealth more equally” argument is that not everyone is equally deserving of that wealth. In fact, it is the opposite, because those who have accumulated that wealth are probably in a better position to make more efficient use of that wealth. I mean, not every rich person in the world is a globe-trotting dilenttante who spends money like water. That’s the illusion. There are a lot of rich people who use their money wisely, donate it, and in fact make good use of their money.
When you want to “divide the wealth more equally”, who decides how the money is to be used? The gov’t? I mean, because clearly they have such a terrific track record of working with money!
Who are you going to give it to? The so-called average American who can’t even save money for themselves?
That’s why the wealthy are wealthy – for the most part, they know how to manage their money.
