What do each of US feel about Wealth Inequality.

[BZN]

I reckon there is a movement starting, to highlight the inequality of wealth distribution around the world.
There was a tax extreme wealth rally on 25th March outside HM Treasury just down the road from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
The rally included groups like War on Want, Greenpeace and Oxfam.

New York hosted the Wall St. Journal magazine Innovator Awards 29th Oct. 2025.
Mark Zuckerberg and other billionaires were in attendance.
Billy Eilish was the recipient of the award and included in her acceptance speech was a gentle challenge if you're a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? no hate but give your money away.
Billy Eilish also pledged $11.5 million from her 'hit me hard and soft' tour earnings, which will be directed to food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon pollution as well as other social and environmental causes.

 

[hammertime]

I reckon there is a movement starting, to highlight the inequality of wealth distribution around the world.
There was a tax extreme wealth rally on 25th March outside HM Treasury just down the road from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
The rally included groups like War on Want, Greenpeace and Oxfam.

New York hosted the Wall St. Journal magazine Innovator Awards 29th Oct. 2025.
Mark Zuckerberg and other billionaires were in attendance.
Billy Eilish was the recipient of the award and included in her acceptance speech was a gentle challenge if you're a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? no hate but give your money away.
Billy Eilish also pledged $11.5 million from her 'hit me hard and soft' tour earnings, which will be directed to food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon pollution as well as other social and environmental causes.

It's a good question BNZ.

I'm actually lucky in that I'm probably on the more fortunate side, but I see the massive issues with wealth inequality. The way that the super-rich can stack assets, with smaller fractional outgoings (as they still only support 1 person/family), it means the wealth divide will just grow larger and larger.

There needs to be a more appropriate wealth taxation. One that taxes assets based on asset gains more effectively, not income. Maybe even unrealised gains. GST can also be effective, but consumption again for 1 individual is limited.

But you need to do it in a way that is based on asset location, not the location of the individual. Otherwise, there are loopholes.

Mark Bouris recently talked about a flat 20% tax rate, and we need to be careful about selfish blokes like that. It would just make people like him richer. We're lucky that there are the Bill Gates and buffets of the world at the moment who will give back, but we can't rely on that. As for every Bill Gates, you have a Jeff Bezos.

There is a good ex-trader, Gary Stevenson, who talks about all this.

 

[supercoach]

The trouble today is no political party has the courage to make the really hard calls on wealth inequality. This is for a few reasons, one is they are a sector that benefits heavily from the current system with massive superannuation accounts. They also are sector very active in negative gearing. They are also very reluctant to upset the big end of town as that’s where they get the dollars to run a political party.

The big worry is the growing popularity in far right politics and they are all about power and wealth being in the hands of a few while the rest struggle. The funny thing is, if our politicians had not sold out all our mineral wealth to the multinationals and gone down the path of a few Scandinavian countries by starting up a investment fund with the taxes and royalties they gain through the North Sea oil. I think I read Norway has a trillion dollars in the bank.

Anyway Iam a boomer so Iam on the right side of the inequality but I really worry for my grand kids and people who don’t have the bank of mum and dad behind them

 

[Tom Shines]

Multi nationals should pay more tax ..( a lot of them don’t pay anything) ,,,

Also things like trusts and similar tax avoidance means used by the rich should be less prevalent

Those things are difficult to implement tthough by governments of both persuasions, and can lead to wealthy residents moving overseas and Companies threatening to close down creating less employment

Much easier just to increase other taxes paid mostly by the middle classes … we know that government spending never goes down and they need to get the money somewhere ..( or just print more…)

 

[Tim Sheens]

It is way past time for action @BZN

Basically half a century now since the right really started dismantling relative economic equality at pace. More recently they have been increasingly targeting minorities and immigrants, whilst also using religion to ferment bigotry and hatred. Simply because they are the only things left to blame other than themselves, and continue fooling the gullible despite the horrific disparity in their lives with their lies.

 

[BZN]

What prompted me to ask this is I noticed an MSN item on the comp. this morning titled "Why more millionaires are suffering from 'wealth shame''.
Ok you've got my attention, so I had a look.
Amongst other things it says>>>The wealth gap in the UK has widened by 50% in the past 8 years [the rich are getting richer and everyone else is getting poorer].
The 50 richest families in the UK hold more wealth than the bottom 35 million people.
It then leads onto the Fairness Foundation saying the increasing wealth inequality could be a major driver of societal collapse within the next decade.

The Fairness Foundation UK is an interesting read, but I haven't gone into it deeply yet.
There are also similarly named groups in Germany and the USA.

 

[BZN]

It is way past time for action @BZN

Basically half a century now since the right really started dismantling relative economic equality at pace. More recently they have been increasingly targeting minorities and immigrants, whilst also using religion to ferment bigotry and hatred. Simply because they are the only things left to blame other than themselves, and continue fooling the gullible despite the horrific disparity in their lives with their lies.

I agree 100% TS.
Ever since that moron Trump, who is a convicted Rapist and Felon became President, it's sharpened my focus as to what's going on in our world.
My 88 years old brother has been warning me for years of the graft and corruption that's happening around the world, and I kept on saying "yeh yeh you can believe your conspiracy theories just leave me out of it".
But some of what he has been saying is becoming more obvious every day.

So yes TS, it's way past time for action.