I am a recent college graduate, and I am a big fan. Before reading your books, I couldn't care less less about widening inequality-- I now see this issue as one of the biggest problems facing America.
However, if you look at history, you can see that inequality is a natural result of concentration on abilities (ie, Athens in 594BC and Western Roman Empire AD476). These civilizations have tackled the problem of inequality in their own ways, peaceful or violent. But all in all, inequality has been dealt with. Why? The market forces have had it that if the leaders do not reform, the people would revolt-- deeming redistribution of wealth an inevitable outcome. I think modern society is no different than the ones who came in the past, and if our history serves us correctly, such "natural" market occurrences will be fixed by a subsequent period of redistribution.
My point is, wealth concentration and redistribution are parts of natural economic cycles. Thus, raw market forces are considerably stronger than any political movements. I think the redistribution is due, sooner or later. The bigger question seems to be: when are we going to reach a threshold where people would rise up (and I believe you are playing an essential role in pushing towards this threshold) and how can we make sure that the redistribution would be a peaceful one?
lees282 karma
Professor Reich,
I am a recent college graduate, and I am a big fan. Before reading your books, I couldn't care less less about widening inequality-- I now see this issue as one of the biggest problems facing America.
However, if you look at history, you can see that inequality is a natural result of concentration on abilities (ie, Athens in 594BC and Western Roman Empire AD476). These civilizations have tackled the problem of inequality in their own ways, peaceful or violent. But all in all, inequality has been dealt with. Why? The market forces have had it that if the leaders do not reform, the people would revolt-- deeming redistribution of wealth an inevitable outcome. I think modern society is no different than the ones who came in the past, and if our history serves us correctly, such "natural" market occurrences will be fixed by a subsequent period of redistribution.
My point is, wealth concentration and redistribution are parts of natural economic cycles. Thus, raw market forces are considerably stronger than any political movements. I think the redistribution is due, sooner or later. The bigger question seems to be: when are we going to reach a threshold where people would rise up (and I believe you are playing an essential role in pushing towards this threshold) and how can we make sure that the redistribution would be a peaceful one?
Any thoughts would be highly appreciated!
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