Wealth inequality in America: beliefs, perceptions and reality.

[u/ProgressiveSpark]

What do Americans think good wealth distribution looks like; what they think actual American wealth inequality looks like; and what American wealth inequality actually is like.

[u/[deleted]]

1) This was posted yesterday

2) People in these comments don’t understand the difference between wealth and income and the ramifications/challenges of taxing the former.

3) Most people only care about pursuing some form of “punishment” out of some perceived slight vice trying to make any meaningful reform in taxes and force/demand the government be better use of the tax payer dollar

[u/pwsmoketrail → u/[deleted]]

I think Charlie Munger pointed out that the real human problem isn't greed, it's envy

[u/lumberjack_jeff → u/[deleted]]

My state relies almost entirely on taxing the unrealized value of assets for revenue.

...Including hiring an army of people to determine the current value of those assets.

Taxing financial assets would be much easier than taxing real property as would coming up with the cash to pay it.

[u/_MANSAV_ → u/lumberjack_jeff]

I've never looked at taxing unrealized value on financial assets as something we already do, but you are completely right. It's how the majority of states function. There is precedent, and it would be much easier to do than property tax.

[u/tamasan → u/[deleted]]

You don't need a Harvard MBA to understand these things. I'll make some statements, you feel free to correct any misconceptions.

Wealth vs. Income

Income is what you have coming in. It is usually money, but could also include other things of value that you are paid or gifted or given in lieu of money. The US tax code currently treats some types of income differently than others.

Wealth is what you own. It is typically represented as net worth, which is the total value of your assets minus the total value of your liabilities. There can be challenges calculating the value of certain assets, but those challenges are not insurmountable.

Punishment vs. Reform

I think most people are not paying attention to this debate and are just concerned about living their lives. Of the people involved in the discussion, there absolutely are those who want to punish the rich for hoarding wealth and those who want to punish the poor for being lazy. I will speak to my own motivation of reducing inequalities in our society. I see wealth inequality as a root cause of other inequalities. I don't want to "punish" the rich, but I do want to reduce their outsize influence and have a more equitable distribution of political and economic power.

[u/Southern_Scene4495 → u/tamasan]

Wealth inequality is not a cause it's a symptom. A symptom of financial illiteracy to a large degree, as well as, a lack of discipline and/or knowledge. As a good friend who is very wealthy once told me, "getting wealthy is rather rather simple. Simple, but in no way easy".

And so what is the simple part? It starts with making money. 1 job, 2 jobs, 6 jobs, whatever you have to do to earn money. Then you have to live on less than you make and buy assets with what's left over. That money thats left over at the end of the month is your profit. And it's the only money you will ever have to build wealth. So if you don't save and invest you will never become wealthy and if you do save and invest your wealth will grow.

I'm proof that it works and so are millions of others.

[u/platanthera_ciliaris → u/tamasan]

Real Income = Gross Income - Expenditures + Change in the Value of Total Assets (Wealth)

In other words, the distinction between income and wealth is an artificial construct of the government and economists. They are actually interrelated.