Redistribute the Wealth

I believe there should be a more even distribution of wealth in the United States. Few would argue the injustice that:

Teachers are paid less than the police or football players
Doctors are paid more than nurses or clerics
Dentists are paid more than social workers
Men are paid more than men for equal work

Some people own three luxury homes and many Americans are homeless
Some people eat more in a week than most people eat in a year
Bank executives get millions in bonuses when their banks fail

I really wonder if the competitive spirit would dampen if there was a cap on income? Warren Buffet makes billions of dollars in investments and lives modestly. Would he be less competitive if there was a cap on how much money he could spend on himself and his family? Would inventors stop inventing if there was a cap on much they could take home? Would doctors stop healing if they had a cap n their income? Doctors with Kaiser, in Europe and Russia continue to work while their earning capacity is more limited than it is in private practice the United States?

I wonder if Bill Gates would have been less creative if he knew he had a salary cap? Barak Obama as president makes 250,000 a year. He is not working for the money. Would professional athletes stop competing if there was a salary cap? Would actors, novelists, musicians cease working if there was a salary cap?

What would be the results if people were paid well but not excessively for their work, talent and creativity?

More money would go to pay more people a livable wage.
Fewer people would be hungry and homeless.
Life would slow down. 24/7 would be seen as a sin and not a virtue.
More people would spend more time with their families.
The divorce rate would probably go up – for that very reason.
Physical, mental and emotional health would improve as life slowed down and physical needs were met.
Everyone would have adequate medical care.

I suppose the arts would suffer. No more grand homes, castles and palaces. The arts and architecture we take for granted would diminish. Expensive symphonies, operas, museums would diminish. Painters, musicians and artists would still create.

Theological Reflection

Money has become a God. We bow down and worship before it. It is the item that we spend most of our time and energy thinking about. We spend much of our waking time in accumulating it.

We have given up rest, leisure and worship in order to work around the clock for money.

W have trouble honoring our mother and our father. We live so long we often can’t care for the elderly parent especially if they run out of money. A greater distribution of wealth would help us truly care for our parents.

We pay our taxes therefore we kill and murder or at least tacitly approve of your government and military to do that for us. Money spread around might help people not starve and be homeless and in poverty, which often provoke wars. The poor in Palestine, Ireland, India, south Africa etc have caused revolts that were put down to protect capitalism. Taking care of the needy was neglected in order to go to war. The fascism that lead to WW2 came out of the poverty and degradation of Germany after WW1. Revenge and punishment caused poverty and hunger in that land, rather than spreading wealth and care for the poor and homeless. As a result the war came.

(More later)