[Mulpze15]

If you did not need to pay when you need healthcare, if education was free with equal opportunity, and everybody had enough to eat and a half decent place to live, I would entertain discussing this.

You could have this today in the US, it exists elsewhere. Yes, it would probably cost a bit more for the wealthiest people.

Until then, I believe we should not try to justify inequality based on irrealistic theoretical arguments. I see just a ploy to preserve the current situation by people in a good situation.

Because inequality and poverty is all too real. It hurts real people, unfairly. In the US. And it could change.

[arcturus17]

> Yes, it would probably cost a bit more for the wealthiest people.

No, at least in those places you mention, it costs more for the middle class. And I'm not sure it's just "a bit" - the difference in taxes between the US and the multiple European countries I've lived in is quite significant.

It's fine if you believe that's part of a fair social contract. I'm European and I do, mostly - I certainly want everyone to have access to quality education and healthcare. (It's some of the other public expenditure I despise... Public TV in this day and age, seriously?)

At any rate let's not pretend Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Bezos can shoulder everyone's education in the US.

[jiriknesl]

When you are building wealth, you are likely to be young (so often healthy) and there is so much information online, libraries cost nothing. So I don't think this is a valid argument.

[roytries]

Note that when you're poor your surroundings are usually also poor. So even if you are young and not yet burdened by health care costs and maybe even have free/good education you might need to drop out or at least spend a lot of your time and money to take care for your relatives.

Only when everybody you care about has a stable health/housing/food/(work) situation you get a chance to do something for yourself. Only if people around you are privileged enough to they have time to invest in you. You can start to build wealth. I don't mean with investing money. Maybe just by

- Lending you their garage - Allowing you to work without income for a few months - Taking care of your kids while you work a few times a week - etc...

TDLR: if all you and your surrounding is doing is directly aimed at surviving you cannot build wealth.

[haskellandchill]

The majority here don’t understand the downward pull of poverty. Entrepreneurship could work with UBI or a similar solution where those at the bottom are allowed stakes. Currently they are not. They are exhausted working 40 hour weeks on ten dollars with no healthcare.