Income Envy

I've never seen a diamond in the flesh
I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies
And I'm not pround of my address
In the torn up town
No post code envy
--Lorde

Jacob Hornberger reinforces many of the observations made on these pages about income inequality, including the difference between income inequality that occurs naturally and income inequality that occurs by force. Currently, force is distorting income and wealth distribution.

At the end of his piece, JH poses the following hypothetical. Which would you prefer?

a) A society in which the rich earn hundreds of $millions, the middle class earn $200,000, and the bottom ten percent earn $40,000.

b) A society in which everyone receives the same amount, $10,000 per year, by virtue of government tax-and-spend equalization decree.

Those who value liberty will overwhelmingly prefer a) if the distribution of income is driven by natural (i.e., free market forces).

JH proposes leftists will lean toward b) because this group's obsessive concern with income inequality is likely grounded in envy and covetousness. They have trouble coping with the reality that some have more than others.

Indeed, many years ago Mises suggested that a pathology of resentment was central to socialism.