My mother grew up in a socialist country (all of my maternal family members still live there), and she was a member of the communist party way back when (lots of political history due to WWII and the Russians who took care of them). I am NOT an advocate of communism at all.
I do not believe all people should be paid the same without any consideration for education, job type, productive capability, etc., but believe the top earner of a company should have his/her income tied to the lowest-paid person of that same company **if they are going to use corporate protections to avoid personal liability/responsibility.**
One of the biggest problems in this country is that risk is NOT tied to rewards, and hard work/high productivity has very little correlation to high pay. The biggest group of highly paid people in this country are tied to the financial industry. They make money buying and selling debt and other paper instruments to one another.
Additionally, what Darwinian capitalists fail to address is what we would do with a nation full of unemployed, unproductive, sick, hungry, desperate people. Do you think this will motivate them to work harder? That is naive. They will become more resentful and more violent, feeling entitled to help themselves to the “rich” man’s possessions.
I’ve asked before, and didn’t get a response (from another poster): if Darwinian capitalism is so successful, please name ONE country that follows this model (little/no govt interference, no/low taxes, no/few regulations, no/low social safety nets, no public healhcare or education or infrastructure, etc.) and out-performs the socialist countries that consistently outperform all other nations in almost every measure of well-being (financial, health, literacy, etc.).
Do you really believe that those in the “Business and Financial Operations” occupations are the most productive people in this country (just under those really “productive” CEOs, etc.)?
Top income earners by occupation (management, in this case, likely means executive managers, IMHO):
