Should Government Stay Out of Social Policy Altogether?

[Banefull]

Originally Posted by redpaintednavi

Well, equality does not have to be imposed by force but with democratic and non forceful means and in a gradual way.

I don't see how this is possible. On a mass scale, no one is going to agree to give up their possessions. If it came down a vote, the losing side would be forced to do so (that upper 49% of the population).

I will use the United States as an example. If you took the entire GDP of the United States and distributed it amongst all of its inhabitants equally, then each person would have around $46,000. A typical starting engineer makes around $50,000 his or her first year. If everyone had the exact same amount of capital, then this figure would drop significantly over time. Businesses need hundreds of thousands, millions, or even billions to run. Without concentrated pockets of wealth, investment plummets and everyone finds themselves with less than they had before wealth re-distribution.

Now don't get me wrong we need social programs to provide aid, but wealth redistribution on such a scale goes too far.