The Gray Area

It has been proven, throughout the course of history, that enforced economic equality does not work out well. In America, this is well-known and well-taught, as a result of the Red Scare. What is discussed less, however, is that selfishness has also never worked out. Capitalism, much like communism, is a system that has brought suffering upon the majority so that a very small portion of the population gains all of the wealth.

The question at hand is, should every person give up all of their wealth except for the bare minimum required for survival so that others may also survive? If, say every person in America made the same amount of money, each living quite comfortably, then perhaps the answer would be yes. However, this is not the case. Most Americans make enough money to live comfortably, many do not, and a very small amount each make more money than the rest combined. Those in the middle are not villains. Contrary to popular belief, money does correspond to happiness, up to a certain amount. Having more money than is absolutely necessary lets people lead better lives, have better physical and mental health, and contribute to society.

However, the billionaires are the problem. For instance, Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, is the richest person in the world, with a net worth of over 100 billion dollars. He could give away 99.9999% of his money and still meet the maximum income at which happiness increases with money. (That's not an exaggeration, by the way.) And yet, Amazon underpays and overworks their employees, to a point where, at several Amazon warehouses, an ambulance is called at least once a day because someone has passed out from exhaustion.

Wanting to live comfortably while others suffer is not evil. Exploiting others and collecting excessive amounts of money while others suffer is.

Also, please stop using Amazon. They not only treat workers like slaves, they're also killing the book industry by creating a monopoly on distribution and controlling what books people buy.