Christian Legacies

General Category => Christian Legacies Main Forum => Topic started by: Phidippides on December 18, 2018, 09:25:55 PM

Title: Is there a point of making too much money?
Post by: Phidippides on December 18, 2018, 09:25:55 PM
There's an article that was published today about Jeff Bezos:
 
Jeff Bezos makes more per minute than you do in a year (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/finance-companies/jeff-bezos-makes-more-per-minute-than-you-do-in-a-year/ar-BBR7l8J)

They figured that when you combine Bezos' salary and benefits, along with his monstrous gains made through Amazon stock gains in 2018, his earnings-per-minute ranged from a low of about $68,000 per minute to a high of $160,000 per minute.  Today, his net worth is around $132,000,000,000.

Do you think there is a limit to how much money a person should be allowed to make?  I ask this in two senses: first, should there be a legal cap on how much a person can make?  And second, even if you think nothing legally should prevent him, do you think that morally there should be a limit?
Title: Re: Is there a point of making too much money?
Post by: Donald Baker on December 18, 2018, 10:32:56 PM
Not sure how I feel about this.  The capitalist in me says he should be able to make as much as he wants.  However, he might make so much he could influence world leaders by buying them off without batting an eyelash.  That might be too much power for one person to have.  Tough call.
Title: Re: Is there a point of making too much money?
Post by: Phidippides on December 18, 2018, 10:59:09 PM
It raises a more general problem with capitalism, or maybe with "late-stage capitalism".  Even setting aside Bezos, what happens when wealth gets concentrated into the hands of a few and wealth disparities grow, as we see in America today?  It seems easy for the wealthy few to essentially rule in a kind of oligopoly at the expense of the masses.

I read an article yesterday about the wealthiest zip codes in the United States, and the top 50 or 100 I think were exclusively in two states: New York and California.  If you've ever wondered how liberals have such great influence over American politics, just follow the money.