Surely fairness is that we earn median world wage. My earning north of $60K instead of $10K is simply a matter of where I was born: unearned privilege if there ever was one.
Yes, it is reasonable, although there’s a difference in precarious in “will my child starve”, “will my family be out on the street next week”, and “if I’m outsourced (again), how will we pay rent in two months?”. I’m lucky enough to be in the last category (a typical 1%-er), but yes, I still want more.
Pretty much everyone earning $500/year to $500K/year feels precarious (okay, I don’t really know anyone above $100K, but I’m pretty certain security doesn’t change). The only thing that changes is the definition of difficulty and risk.
Again, I’m not saying one shouldn’t fight for what you believe is best. I simply believe that people as wealthy as we are shouldn’t be throwing stones.
(There also seems to be a misconception that you can get the same lifestyle in low cost countries at a lower price. You can’t (in fact most of the comforts we assume are more expensive). What you can get is some sort of lifestyle at a lower price. But let’s not pretend that life at $10K a year doesn’t involve a great deal of relative privation.
Actually, no, they’re not. They’re basics for you and me, because we’re incredibly wealthy as a product of a materialistic lifestyle. But for the majority of the world, these are luxuries. Let’s not pretend we can get all these luxuries without putting money at the center of our life.
There’s all sorts of things that we need to produce a better, fairer society. But pretending we’re morally different from those earning more than us is not one of them. I’ll happily advocate for a 50% tax rate at $60K. Do I expect lots of people to disagree with me? Sure. Are they greedy because they don’t agree with me? Not any more than I am.
Totally confused. I’ve not been demonized at all. My apologies if I conveyed that impression.
