Lately I've been thinking about how rich people came to be and what the average Joe or Jane can do to prevent the rich from becoming richer - and even to rebalance the wealth across all work classes. Note that rebalance does not mean everyone has the same percentage of the pie. This would be pure socialism. I am however a fan of aspects of socialism such as the type of socialism that senator Bernie Sander's believes in: democratic socialism. Pure capitalism and pure socialism aren't the answer. You need to find a balance. So what can we (the average person) do to shift the balance?
The first and likely most important thing we can do is VOTE. Vote in every election you are able to vote in. Vote for people who you share the same values with. You can't just vote in the presidential election and expect big changes. Big changes come from the ground up.
What else can we do? Well, you need to think about how these people got rich in the first place. Consider some folks from the 1%. Jeff Bezos (Amazon). Bill Gates (Microsoft). Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway). The Walton family (Owners of Walmart). Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook).
Consider Mark Zuckerberg. He got rich by creating a web-based application called Facebook. The main source of income here is through ads and the millions of people who use the app. What would happen if everyone stopped using the app? Facebook is not a necessary thing. I personally quit the app a while ago because I did not agree with Mark's actions on running political ads.
If everyone in the world decided to quit Facebook, the company would likely go out of business and Mark's wallet would stop growing. People have that power. Some people have decided the quit Facebook, but the majority have not. I find this to be unfortunate and disappointing. The truth is Facebook has a hold on people. Facebook has become one of the main methods for families to keep in touch. This is the main reason people won't leave it behind. Facebook, despite Mark's claims, has a monopoly on social media.
This is an easy solution to eliminating 1 billionaire. But, it won't happen because of the following potential reasons:
- People don't realize their power of choice
- People don't mind or don't care that they've created a billionaire
- People are too attached to the app
I understand that people want to keep in touch with family, so I try my best not to judge those who use Facebook. But, is it really worth it? There are other ways to keep in touch with family. You've created and are maintaining a billionaire class that is hoarding the nation's wealth. Is that worth it to you? For me, it absolutely is not. But, that's for others to decide for themselves.
Getting rid of Facebook and the billionaire Mark Zuckerberg would be very easy. But it won't happen. Now, getting rid of other billionaires such as Bill Gates is extremely hard in comparison. I'm personally required to use Microsoft products every day because my employer chose Microsoft over Apple computers. There's no choice here for people. The only way for Bill's wealth to be distributed downward is a wealth tax. Or, he could give it away, which he currently does. Bill is one of the few Billionaires I respect. I don't agree that he should have had the ability to become a billionaire, but I agree with what he chooses to do with his money.
Okay, what about Amazon and Walmart? Here, we have a choice again. People can choose to not shop at Amazon or Walmart. And if everyone did, they would go out of business pretty fast. But, the reason this won't happen is the same reason people won't leave Facebook. They're hooked. Both Amazon and Walmart offer very cheap items with convenience. But at what cost?
How does Walmart offer such low prices? Partly because they pay their workers poorly. By shopping at Walmart, you are supporting their practice of poor wages for their hardworking employees. Can you live with that on your conscience? I can't. But, perhaps you can. I'll gladly pay a little more for a product somewhere else knowing that the employees of the company are likely getting paid fair wages. Unfortunately, I think many people do realize this, but are so poor, they have no choice but to save 30 cents per purchase by shopping at Walmart. This is why the government needs to step in.
You have the power of choice. The choice to make purchases from companies whose values we agree with. The choice to vote for someone who will help get our capitalist society under control. We have the power to affect the wealth distribution. Maybe people don't realize this. In that case, they need the education. On the other hand, perhaps people just don't care and are okay with this inequality. I highly doubt the latter is correct.
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