Can't say I like any idea where some organisation comes and takes whatever it is I have managed to earn for myself / family, and "re-distributes" it - this is communism and perhaps one of the most evil human inventions. Captialism is paradise, when you compare it to communist standards of living (for the poorest) and the body counts of the politically exterminated. Nonetheless, the other point, about how rich monopolies can grow in wealth and power over generations, until they enslave the rest of us, is also true. Perhaps it pays to consider what money really is, which IMHO, $ represents a stored form of material world power, of varing importance to different people. Power can be used for good or evil, and as someone else pointed out, the much hated Bill Gates, has actually thrown a hell of a lot of his own money towards helping out the really poor and destitute people in other countries. Maybe the cure is oversight - or accountability. I have no problem with someone getting wealthy through hard honest work, and once rich, you have to spend or lend someone else the money - so either way, the $ are still in circulation, being used by everyone. I'm not sure it's a bad thing for a rich person to be able to live off their wealth / interest, after all - how else can you take care of yourself when too old to work? I do have a big problem with super rich banker cartels, run by the old bloodlines, that inheret money, live a life of decadence, but create wars for the rest of us to die in, just so they can further increase their own power base. Doesn't matter what money is replaced by, if we still allow some people to behave this way, then the same problems will continue. Perhaps the problem is the inheretence of great wealth - rather than being able to earn it for yourself? If money was not passed through generations, then each person would have to start off by making their million, which would be rather fair? But who would want to not be able to leave someting to help their kids get a head start in life? While we don't have a very perfect system now, be careful what you wish for, because any society where some mob decides it can help itself to your belongings, is destined for war/anarchy... Not everybody works hard, not everybody is smart, so perhaps it is natures' law that not everybody shares the wealth? Maybe the problem is war allows dumb lazy people to get their hands on the wealth? In the end, if you follow the logic, I believe it will ultimately boil down to power. Whoever has the power has the gold, and visa versa. The solution is for everyone to be able to defend themselves - Hence Wing Chun.....
