Reddit reviews Equal Is Unfair: America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality

Take a break from accounting and finance books. I have a few recommendations from my recent reading:

The Intelligence Paradox

The Evolution of Everything

Delusions of Power

Equal is Unfair

The Feminine Mystique

How an Economy Grows - And Why It Crashes

Floating City: A Rogue Sociologist Lost and Found in New York's Underground Economy

Buddha's Brain

The Red Queen

Obviously there's a political bend in some of those choices, but I can suggest others (it's always important to challenge your beliefs).

I love to read, can provide some other recommendations, but those were just some recent books I just pulled off my Nook. There's some fiction as well.

You should read this book about inequality:

http://www.amazon.com/Equal-Unfair-Americas-Misguided-Inequality/dp/125008444X

I appreciate the effort that has gone into this post. It's always good to have accurate facts, and it's good to see the exaggerations of the Left about CEO pay debunked.

There's a book, recently published, that argues that inequality of income/wealth/opportunity as such is not a problem. It's called Equal is Unfair: America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality. The whole train of thinking that says economic inequality is bad and equates it with poverty, injustice and economic problems is wrongheaded.

I'm currently reading it, and I highly recommend it. It is a devastating case against the whole way of thinking promulgated by the Left. Many on the right have accepted--to some degree--the basic premise that economic inequality (or inequality of opportunity) is bad and that we should care about minimizing it. Equal is Unfair argues powerfully that we shouldn't care about such inequality at all. What we should care about is freedom and justice. The only type of equality that is compatible with freedom and justice is equality of the protection of rights--that is, equality before the law.

Because people start in unequal circumstances, make unequal choices, and exert unequal amounts of effort, economic inequality (and inequality of opportunity) are inevitable results of freedom. This is reality, and it should be serenely accepted. Those who do well under laissez-faire capitalism, (or in today's society, where cronyism isn't involved) should be celebrated. Life under capitalism is not a zero-sum game, where one person's opportunities and successes come at another's expense. Wealth is not a fixed "pie" to be divided up by "society." Individuals earn wealth by creating wealth and thus improving the lives (and opportunities) of any others who exert any effort to produce wealth, (or produce other values, like the care and raising of children in families.)

Don't worry about the size of economic inequality, or push equality of opportunity as a goal. That's what the Left wants you to do. Read Equal is Unfair.

This is a great place to ask. Fortunately a recent book on this topic has been written by a pair of Objectivists. https://www.amazon.com/Equal-Unfair-Americas-Misguided-Inequality/dp/125008444X

You could also pose the opposite question to yourself. What is the downside of some people becoming richer at a faster rate than others? Why would this be a problem? And for whom?

Very interesting. If you have any good books on anarchism I'd love to give them a read.

> perpetuate a system in which wealth inequality is as high as it is

Interesting that wealth inequality is a foundational principle here, but how would you enforce redistribution of wealth without an organized structure with a monopoly on violence? Pragmatically wouldn't those with the most wealth have the most resources to use violence to gain power? Without a structure to limit the use of violence what would stop an organization from exponentially growing using both wealth and force?

Back to inequality though I think you should try giving Equal is Unfair a read. I don't really think its the best book out there but personally, I like reading arguments for and against my foundational principles to better understand where I stand, ya know?

No

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Equal-Unfair-Americas-Misguided-Inequality/dp/125008444X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502722200&sr=8-1&keywords=equality+is+unfair