To not understand why so many people view the wealth of others as public property

[FrogspawnSmoothie]

I've been noticing a lot of posts lately saying things like 'we need to sort out the wealth divide' etc and calling for the wealthy to pay for xyz 'because they can afford to', and I must say I've never quite shared this mentality.

I can see why people start to think this way when we're constantly told things like '99% of the nation's wealth is owned by 1% of the population', making it sound like they're hoarding resources. But the thing is, it's not a tin of biscuits given to the population which is now being hoarded by a few greedy chubsters. It may well have been foreign investment, for instance, which wasn't otherwise going to be invested in a UK business to then benefit the economy through taxes as it does. I go to work and earn my income, and that money is mine - I imagine most people would consider their paycheck to be their own.

I think of it like two farmers. One innovates in his processes and works out how to grow more apples with the same resources. He then reinvests his extra profit into better equipment and buys more land. Eventually, he owns 75% of the apples in the town, despite being only one of many farmers. I'm not convinced he now needs to start giving his apples to the other disgruntled farmers who envy his wealth, especially as he's now paying much more tax.

I'll admit it's a pretty simplistic way of looking at it (I'm no economist) but I'm not convinced that all the people moaning about the rich have given it a particularly nuanced consideration either. I was listening to some prat of a manbunned barista banging on about socialism and 'redistribution of wealth' in Costa today, and gotta admit I just thought to myself 'sounds like you should've worked harder at school, mate.' 🤷‍♀️

I'm late to the party and haven't RTFT but wanted to weigh in with my personal situation. I don't live in the UK.

I'm not from a particularly privileged background and was the first of my family to go to university. I studied hard and am now a barrister, earning a good salary. Dual income household, no kids.

However, I live somewhere where house prices are London-esque but wages aren't. The housing market has really taken off in the last couple of decades so those who were lucky enough to own houses at the right time are now well-off.

The rental market is also crazy, so all we can really afford (if we want to have any prospect of saving enough for home ownership) is a small, cockroach-infested one bedroom apartment.

With enough hard work and saving, we might be able to own a small house to retire in (or we can leave our hometown for somewhere cheaper).

I'm sure the problem isnt as acute everywhere, but personal success and hard work is really only part of the equation.

Haha.

Some well off people 'deserve' it fully [e.g. Alan Sugar started off selling car aerials out of the back of the van].

Others are less 'deserving' [e.g. William & Harry got where they are by virtue of their 34th great grandfather being extremely handy with a battleaxe].

Social mobility in this country, i.e. 'deservingness' is lower in this country than in most of Europe, but not quite so low as in e.g. the US, so things could be worse.

I'd love to be as niave about the world being a meritocracy as op is. But unfortunately my experiences have taught me otherwise.

It is a mixture. However if you go through your youth thinking you cannot change anything, no poini n trying, the wealthy will always have the money, no one theli kes of me can get As at A level etc then you won't succeed. So by all means go through life in a slough of despond assuming you will achieve nothing and then you won't as that gives the rest of us with a more positive mind set more chances because others have chosen to remove themselves from the race and believe everything is only down to luck and there isn o point in having a go. Loads of things I have tried have failed but I just seem to be eternally optimistic and bounce right back up like a bouncing ball and get on with it.

Obviously I could not magic myself into being a professional footballer or a 6 foot fashion model but more modest aims can be achieved for many with the right mind set.

For those who have "failed" (whatever that is in their own eyes) at least give your daughters chances, help them get the best exam results they can in school etc etc. Eg my parents paid for elocution lessons and then speech and drama exams when i was very small. Not everyone can afford that but learning to speak like those whose job you want you can attempt by watching youtube videos if you are rich enough to have access to the internet.

Not all wealth provides for future generations though. There are plenty of examples of huge wealth being squandered and lost

This is very true. It only takes one gambler or spendthrift or someone who thinks they are good at business but isn’t and 500 years of careful financial management can go down the drain.
Lord Shrewsbury, Lord Lovat, William Stirling are 3 that come to mind but of course there are loads more.

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