is it theft? if so does it matter that it's theft if the vast majority of society benefits immensely from it?

is it reasonable for someone to acquire immeasurable wealth he's incapable of using up in his lifetime when all the wealth/resources he can't make use of could be put towards sustaining that of those who have little?

what would you say if tomorrow the govt forcefully took 20% of the wealth amassed by those in the top 20% and gave it freely to those on the bottom?

1) withdraw all my money from the banks
2) order a 1 way plane ticket to canada

iirc if you make 80k/year, you're in the top 20 percentile of the US

This post was edited by carteblanche on Oct 10 2014 08:54pm

It is blatant theft, whether good (as you would see it) comes from it or not.
Your right to that in which you have labored for, no matter the amount, should always be recognized. I personally do not agree with mass accumulation of wealth (and no intent to help others), but I'm not going to run to the law when someone keeps everything they've earned in life. You should not have any right, nor should you even want a right, to steal from others for your benefit.

I would be outraged that instead of taking the effort to come up with a real solution, they just used a half-solution and stole even more from those who prosper.
Rethink where our taxes are spent, rethink drug laws, rethink foreign involvement.

Thats just way world works..some ppl are luckier smarter or have better opporrunity than others and if ppl play there cards right they can build an empire. They provide services or products we buy they get rich lol. Tbh ppl like oprah and bill gates built an empire from scratch along with creators of the first mac book. They worked hard for there money they can do what they want with it and they do alot for charities the media just dont advertise it as they only report the bad things that happen. There is money out there just gotta get on your grind

by what moral standard do you judge theft to be wrong?

do you consider it wrong to steal to survive? ~ stealing bread to feed your family?

how about stealing to secure a dignified standard of living?

I find it wrong for us to allow a centralized ruling organization the right to steal.

I find it wrong in the sense that it is utterly lacking in thoughtfulness, especially in America, where there are countless alternatives.

Stealing to secure a dignified standard of living? What does that mean? Give scenarios.

consider the scenario of taking wealth/resources from those who've earned much through their own hard work and using it to provide food/shelter for those who have neither due to a wide range of reasons ranging from medical disabilities to lack of marketable talent/skills

This post was edited by duffman316 on Oct 10 2014 09:44pm

The upper 20% have too much wealth, but as a group not that much more wealth than they should have. Honestly, I see nothing wrong if the top 20% has 80% of the wealth, its the Pareto principle. What is scary however is zooming in on that 20%.

This post was edited by nobrow on Oct 10 2014 09:52pm

Find it wrong to force higher taxes upon them, though I think the rich should wish to help others from their own free will (And many do, and donate multiple life times worth of income repeatedly), and if not, they should keep absolutely all that they've earned (or at least, not have the government taking it from them.)

It's a bad solution.

Lack of marketable talent/skills? So basically "I suck and can't succeed in a system that I crave to succeed in, nor do I wish to change my ways and adapt, give me your money!"?

Personally, I would gladly give my 20% for a cause like that.

The long view makes a lot of sense to me. From a broader perspective of enabling humanity to explore itself and it's role in this universe more freely, I support it. Morally, it seems fair and on a social level it seems like it would create more opportunity for leaps forward in just about every aspect of life for us as a whole.

I know many will disagree vehemently, but I would have no issue with this. In fact, I think it would be worthy of celebration.

This post was edited by HERETICtheory on Oct 10 2014 09:54pm