I’ve always thought that wealth inequality should be called “wealth diversity” because then it sounds like a good thing. But seriously, folks, you’ve probably heard of the Pareto Principle, commonly known as the 80-20 rule. Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) noticed that in Italy in the early 20th century, about 20% of the population owned roughly 80% of the land, a skewed distribution that appears to be true for every society ever studied, regardless of governmental form. Pareto distributions arise naturally from systems where positive feedback loops exist—for instance, wealth begets more wealth. Or as Jesus said in Matthew 25:29: “To those who have everything, more will be given; from those who have nothing, everything will be taken.” The Principle of Unequal Distribution also applies, for example, to the population of cities (a very small number have almost all the people), the mass of heavenly bodies (a very small number hoard all… Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Wealth
Thomas Jefferson on Oligarchies
My fellow Americans – It’s the oligarchy guy again (video below). I don’t remember his principled denunciation of George Soros receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Or Mark Zuckerberg serving as Biden’s personal censor. Or Google for rigging search results to the Biden admin narratives. Or Reid Hoffman, Michael Bloomberg, Howard Schultz, Tom Steyer . . . Oh, he means REPUBLICAN oligarchs . . . Oligarchy is the enemy of democracy. As Louis Brandeis said, “America has a choice. We can either have great wealth in the hands of a few, or we can have a democracy. But we cannot have both.”https://t.co/wvSxNhYrKc pic.twitter.com/kYMni0HDZM — Robert Reich (@RBReich) January 18, 2025 Read more →
Thomas Jefferson: Election 2024 TL;DR
We’re tired of being condescended to by the Obamas, by Oprah, by rich celebrities, by corporate media people with multi-million dollar salaries, all with large homes in which they live, paid off along with their summer homes in the Hamptons and Martha’s Vineyard, telling us the economy is doing very, very well. We only think that we’re economically struggling because we don’t understand the data. We’re tired of being insulted. We’re not Nazis. We’re not garbage. We want to be able to buy things. We want to be able to walk around our neighborhoods without being harassed or robbed or killed. We don’t want unchecked immigration. We are trying to improve our lives and our jobs and our communities and no one is listening because they’re too busy posting selfies with Alex Soros. We have a government telling us that they’re defending democracy while simultaneously doing things that we thought… Read more →
Real Wealth is Life Without Assholes
Uh, don’t hate all rich people. They’re not all awful. Believe me, I know some evil poor people, too. We need some rich people: Who else is going to back our movies or buy our art? I’m rich! I don’t mean money-wise. I mean that I have figured out how to never be around assholes at any time in my personal and professional life. That’s rich. And not being around assholes should be the goal of every graduate here today. It’s OK to hate the poor, too, but only the poor of spirit, not wealth. A poor person to me can have a big bank balance but is stupid by choice – uncurious, judgmental, isolated and unavailable to change. I’m also sorry to report there’s no such thing as karma. So many of my talented great friends are dead and so many of the fools I’ve met and loathed are… Read more →