DISQUS

joet I don't think there is a problem with wealth creation in a fundamental sense. In a community where everyone has access to exactly the same resources and the same training and ability, I guess there would be no opportunities to make money. Given that currency was originally a proxy for bartering work and products, inequalities are inevitable when some are more driven, intelligent, hard-working, creative etc than others.

However, our economy is not based on rewarding the hard-working. Our economy is based on a global system of Apartheid where those who work hardest see least of the benefits and wealth is mostly accumulated in the hands of the few. If our wealth has been accumulated by the exploitation of people (and/or natural resources, which often goes hand-in-hand), it is undoubtedly a bad thing.

Unfortunately, we all unwittingly participate in this evil, and it is hard to see how to break down the system. The millions who barely scrape together a life so that we can retail products to sustain our standard of living are simply disposable parts of the machinery. Those at the bottom (and there is a big bottom with almost 3 billion people below the $2 per day poverty threshold) are often directly or indirectly victims of our own vanity and greed.