Do you think the current income distribution in the United States should be changed? If so, why and how?

Given the nature of an economic system such as capitalism , it is no wonder we have such a great problem with economic distribution in the United States . The problem lies not in that the system is incapable of reaching its goals it works very well in that regard . Rather , the problem is in the control of the distribution . This will show that the very nature of capitalism is unjust and examine the consequences of capitalism in this country . It will then offer a new method for economic distribution which would allow all people

to benefit more fully than under our current system

We have all heard the phrases , The rich get richer and the poor get poorer ' and , It takes money to make money ' Yet , many people that have heard these statements have not realized that they accurately describe the situation in a capitalistic system . The way a capitalistic system functions allows the accumulation of wealth for those already wealthy . Known as the theory wealth condensation , it explains that newly created wealth usually ends up in the hands of those who are already wealthy . The wealthy , because they have the means and the ability to continually invest in new projects , end up being the beneficiaries of most of the wealth created by that project . This concentration of wealth in the hands of the wealthy leads to the sort of economic inequalities that we see today in our own society . And if this wealth concentration is not curbed , greater inequalities in society will result

A recent article in Z Magazine spotlighted the question of executive pay in the United States . The article cites a report in the Wall Street Journal which states that in 1978 , the typical pay for a CEO was 35 times more than the average worker . It then explains that , according to Reuters , the current rate of pay for CEO 's is an astounding 500 times higher than the average worker . This rate of increase in the pay of CEO 's is all the more exceptional when one considers that over the last 20 years , after adjusting for inflation , the wages of the average worker have only increased by 9 cents an hour

In his article Distributive Justice , John Rawls cites what he calls the Original Position . He makes the point that rational thinking people , if they had to blindly choose how to set up a society in which they were going to live , would , in an enlightened and informed way , choose that society which seems most advantageous to them . Because human beings are self-interested people , they would not want to belong to a group that was discriminated against within the society . For this reason , the principles this self-interested person adopted would be free of discrimination in any form . Surely , a society in which we find ourselves today , a society that allows such an enormous economic gap between individuals , would not be one in which a rational self-interested person would willingly live

Capitalism , as a form of...