This week’s readings, especially the New York times article on the Oxfam study, focus on the widening gap in wealth distribution between the rich and the poor. If one percent of the people will control half of the world’s wealth, the question of why capitalism is still seen as the preferred and dominant economic system is brought to light. When the wealthy control this much of the total money on the planet, there exists the need to write articles like the one on the Billionaires’ Park. Philanthropic acts and charity are acts that are done at the mercy of those who have the financial means to do so. Fixing parks and other public functions are no longer done when they need to be, but rather, when the money for doing so becomes available. This is not to say that ideal systems like communism would work, for we do not exist in an entirely capitalistic society either. The issue then becomes a matter of distributing wealth in the fairest way without causing violent protest (ie: if we just created a mandate to ensure that every person in the USA has only 2,000 dollars to spend every month–something radical like that).

Question: In what way can we best resolve this wealth gap (smoothly and peacefully)? Is such a proposal even possible?