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Comment by empressplay | Hacker News Reader

A rising tide floats all boats.

Unfortunately, the economy does not behave like a fluid, and a rising economy raises the wealthiest boats orders of magnitude higher than middle-class boats, and thousands of times higher than the poorest boats, which rise imperceptibly by comparison.

If something helps everyone, it's a good thing even if it helps rich people more than poor people.

So-called meritocracies don't help everyone

Really? Say you're working for a company that has a great year, profits up 50%. Your boss gets a 20% raise. You and your team get coupons for free fries at McDonald's. As your boss hands out the coupons, he assures you that profit is a good thing, even if it helps management more than workers.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say - that because some "undeserving" people will get more as well, nothing should change?

No, I'm pointing out that the wealthy take a bigger cut of economic growth not because they contributed more, but simply because they are in a position of power to do so. We can't leave capitalism unregulated and expect a meritocracy to emerge spontaneously.

Wealth inequality leads to inequality of dignity as it's directly tied to power balance among those unequal individuals.

Good ole trickle-down theory, eh

Do you think trickle-down maybe works for technology? The iPad I am typing on in New Zealand, communicating with the world. How many people in the world have a smart phone and access to fantastic public information on the internet?

Or is trickle-down working for the majority of people around the world that have moved out of extreme poverty? In 1990 36% of the world lived in extreme poverty. In 2015 that had dropped to 10%. Is that trickle-down?

The ultra-wealthy are obscenely richer, but that doesn’t mean that the poor are not better off too.

I agree with your sentiment: trickle-down doesn’t feel like it is working in New Zealand, but I’m unsure how much of the feeling is based on fact versus envy.

No, I don't think trickle-down theory is working for anyone except the propagandists who propose it as anything less than a plain insult to people with less. Are you actually suggesting that Reagonomics was not an outright fraud?

And drowns those treading water.

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