Income Inequality Dismissed in 3 Quotes

"From the point of view of morality, it is not important that everyone should have the same. It's important that everyone has enough."
-Harry G. Frankfurt, On Inequality

This quote sums up this issue nicely. It is best explained by the next quote.

"No matter how unequal the respective members [of society] are in wealth, talents or abilities, it is in the interest of each that the contributions of all the others should be maximized. And each will eventually discover (after perhaps having tried slaughter, robbery, pillage, slavery, coercion, chicanery, or exploitation) that the best way to assure this maximum contribution by others is to provide those others with maximum incentives."
-Henry Hazlitt, Foundations of Morality

Henry Hazlitt best explains the latter portion of Frankfurt’s quote above. Simply put, if we have a society of two, Charles and Cleetus, where Charles is better at everything compared to Cleetus, (a simple yokel), Charles could come to own everything through wit and force. So Charles could have all wealth in society and Cleetus could have nothing.

In this scenario, Cleetus quickly dies out, ending this society, and leaving Charles alone to surely regret his decision. Charles would quickly discover that even a simple yokel like Cleetus could have provided great value to him — work could have been divided, resources increased, and Charles may have simply enjoyed the company of Cleetus. It makes practical sense that Charles allow Cleetus at least enough to help contribute to society.

It is not inherently harmful for Charles to have more than Cleetus. It is harmful for Charles to prevent Cleetus from having enough to contribute.

There are only a few places in the world where this is an issue, as best explained by the quote below.

"Extreme poverty may be eliminated by 2026."
-Steven Pinker, Enlightenment Now

As a disclaimer, this quote is rooted in present poverty trends continuing. The UN is aiming for the eradication of extreme poverty by 2030, an incredible achievement for mankind. It means, despite the lingering problems in the world, we are doing more right things than wrong things.

Extreme poverty, roughly defined, is a state of society where there is not enough wealth generation to allow people to eat past a caloric deficit. Despite the imagery displayed in commercials, the average, daily caloric intake of an African is 2600 calories. In India it is 2300, which may not sound high, but it is an improvement worth celebrating. It is only in a few countries where we see extreme poverty, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, with only 1500 calories a day.

To contrast, America has absolutely no idea what poverty is. America’s impoverished are America’s fattest people! Income inequality is a non-issue in America.

See more of my work at alextheyounger.me