to be utterly incensed that the gap between the very richest people and everyone else in society is getting wider and wider?

[Mintyy]

They are rich. Why can't it stop there?

Why do they have to go from being multi millionaires to billionaires to multi billionaires?

I wouldn't find it so hard to swallow if the opportunity to earn more was open to everyone, but it most definitely is not.

The fact that the gap between the richest and the poorest in our country is widening enormously really sickens me to the back teeth.

One of the great socialist misconceptions is that there is a fixed amount of money or wealth in a society; and the only problem is how to redistribute it more "fairly".

I would argue that the amount of money or wealth in society is virtually unlimited; and that the more "aspiration" is encouraged then the more money & wealth will be created.

Super wealthy people have a combination of drive, focus, willingness to work long hard & effectively, intelligence and luck. They are not accumulating wealth that would otherwise go to poorer people; rather they are accumulating wealth that would otherwise not exist. And most super wealthy people will be sitting on top of a pyramid of "underlings"; who will gratefully be taking a greater or smaller slice of the same cake.

Through their taxes & enterprises they are already making a disproportionate contribution to society & the welfare state than you are. Instead of trying to kill the geese that are laying the golden eggs, why not show a bit of gratitude?

No, they most certainly are accumulating wealth that would otherwise not exist. It goes in a "trickle up" pattern, have you not realised?

Why do they have to go from being multi millionaires to billionaires to multi billionaires?

Why does it matter if they do? How does it hurt you? The only harm I can see is that if you're jealous, it makes you unhappy. If that's the case, the problem is you, not them.

Actually Tucsongirl is posting with considerably more insight than you Mintyy - and your 6th form barb was not very edifying

There are some astonishingly ill informed posts on here.
Plainly most people do not know how the financial world works.
And how that affects everyone.

Hopefully this thread will run and run well to help inform a few more.
Please dont run away from this thread some of you.

But your barb is perfectly edifying of course hmc.

It really is just greed.

"Greed" implies there's such a thing as to much money. However I don't think there is really, if you try hard enough, you can find things to do with any amount of money. Just today I was reading of a woman who founded a computer company in 1961, she became rich and has given (if I remember correctly) 68 million pounds to charities, especially autism charities, as she had an autistic son. I'm sure she found putting all that money to good use very rewarding.

Elon Musk who (I think) founded Paypal has used his fortune to build the worlds leading electric car company and started a space exploration company. He's not particularly trying to make more money, he's just trying to make the world a better place.

We all know how cleverly Bill Gates is using his fortune to help the world. So cleverly that other rich people like Warren Buffet are giving him their money to dispose of.

I don't mean to suggest that giving money away is the only legitimate use. If a yacht costing hundreds of millions makes someone happy, good luck to them.

"Greed" implies there's such a thing as to much money. However I don't think there is really..

Says it all.

Philip Green, boss of BHS, worth 3.3 billion. If he gave a billion of that away to his staff, that would be a nice bonus for them wouldn't it?

If he were going to give a billion away, why give it to his staff? He's already paid them adequately for what they do, if he hadn't they would have left and got a job paying more elsewhere.

If anyone wants to give a billion away, purely as a gift to make people happy, surely they would give it to the poorest people in the world, i.e distribute it in Africa or India?

More likely they would spend it on something like combating cancer, or Aids, or (as I think Bill Gates has) Malaria.

Do you love money FraidyCat?

One of the great socialist misconceptions is that there is a fixed amount of money or wealth in a society; and the only problem is how to redistribute it more "fairly".

Yes, I think this underlies every complaint about "the rich", and lies behind the accusation of "greed." People really believe that other people having more causes them to have less.

Yeah, course there is such a thing as too much money. Use your imagination.

I was on holiday recently looking around the amazing beautiful and idyllic but now ruined mansion of a wealthy man who died at the age of 96.

He is bones in the earth now with worms wriggling over him and he couldn't spend all his money in his lifetime. Why didn't he give it away?

Everyone needs a finite amount of air, water, shelter, food. Then there's luxuries. If you have everything that money can buy and more, why would you even want more of it? how could you sleep at night?

Greed revolts me.

Would you still be annoyed at the paygap if you knew that some of these immensely rich people were spending their money improving other people's lives by supporting/creating industries and providing employment?

It's easier to make money when you have money. If they are doing it for 'good' reasons then I don't have a problem with it and I don't begrudge them their fabulous houses or holidays etc. I am grateful to those who put their own money into creating something from nothing for everyone to enjoy/benefit from.

Dozie's "we need more spiritualism" is a nonsense.

What we need is a bit more bloody decency towards people. And you can have that without spiritualism.

That doesnt answer the question.

He is bones in the earth now with worms wriggling over him and he couldn't spend all his money in his lifetime. Why didn't he give it away?

Most people give their surplus money away in their will, maybe he did that?

how could you sleep at night?

This is what you haven't explained. Why shouldn't he sleep? What harm is he doing anyone?

Off to bed now. Suspect I will be back tomorrow.

When we think of distribution of wealth, is it just among people who live in the UK or is it the whole of the world. If the latter we would all be paying so that everybody could have sanitation. If not, are some people more entitled to basic human needs than others?

Mintyy, forgive me, but as someone who lives in (fairly central) London, owning their own home, your family is already vastly removed (wealth-wise) from the life of a single mother of five living in social housing in Blackburn.

What is to be done? (quoth Lenin...)

As one of the top 5% in UK socio-economic scale (possibly top 2%, I'm not privvy to your finances!) surely you're part of the problem?

I say this in navel-gazing debate, not as a personal attack btw! I am part of that 5% too.

Glad that you dont love money FraidyCat. I appreciated the answer you gave, but as I said, it didnt actually answer the question I asked.

People can love money whether they have £5 or £5 million

By the same token, people with £5 are not necessarily bothered by the rich getting too rich. And those with £5 million can be bothered.