No one in the world should have a net worth of a billion dollars. No one.

[pogglethrope]

Nowhere even close to that. Just think how much the standard of living for the 99% could be raised if the wealthiest part of the 1% were cut down to size.

Every country in the world -- even Pitcairn Island, population 48 -- should do something along the lines of passing a wealth tax of 90% (85% ? 70% ... whatever will work) over a certain amount and then distribute the proceeds equally to everyone in the country -- even to the wealthiest. Then do the same thing again in, say, one, three, or five years. If it were done every year, it shouldn’t be very long before everyone was nearly equal.

Maybe after intra-country wealth inequalities were mitigated, inter-country inequalities could be tackled as well. By the United Nations?

To me, that’s what’s meant by equality. Anything less than taking steps to achieve economic equality throughout the world is just paying lip service to equality. After all, we’re all human beings living on planet Earth. Aren’t we supposed to love our neighbors? On this tiny planet, everyone is my neighbor. If I had more to share, I would. But I barely get by on my fixed retirement income.

(All right, maybe this particular idea won’t work or isn’t the best one, but surely there’s someone out there smart enough to figure out a scheme that will work better to improve the lot of the poor. We simply can’t continue on the path we’re on. If we do, everyone will eventually be at everyone’s throat, sort of like -- what was it? Lord of the Flies?)