Counter-factual assertions are simply silly. How many Sam Walton's have their been? Of all the millions and millions of White, Black, Yellow, Green, Purple people in the world who were born in 1918, why was there only one Sam Walton / Walmart? Did Jim Crow also keep out the other non-Black millions who also failed to found a multi-billion dollar retail chain?
Sam's actual independent start was the purchase of a Ben Franklin store in Newport, Arkansas with a $20K loan from his father-in-law + another $5K he had saved from his army service. Can we assume that no one else's father-in-law ever loaned their daughter's husband $20K.
As for the 'injustice of a wealth gap'...I'm not sure what that really means. Everyone experiences a wealth gap. Your great-great-great-great-grandparents (and do you even know all 64 of their names? I sure don't!) undoubtedly had more or less 'wealth' back there in the early 1700's than my 64. Did ANY of that wealth somehow trickle down to us (from people whose names none of us recall)? What about the 128 grandparents, five greats ago? Or the 256 another generation back?
The truth is, "70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the next generation, with 90% losing it the generation after that." Is that just? Who's to say? Is it just that your folks had more or less than my folks? In the end, it's a meaningless question...nor is there any reason to believe that the State has or should have any role in rebalancing whatever wealth imbalances which may exist. [Though I'd sure like it if LeBron did some personal rebalancing and sent a chunk of his my way. The inequity between the two of us is chasmic!]
Counter-factual assertions are simply silly. How many Sam Walton's have their been? Of all the millions and millions of White, Black, Yellow, Green, Purple people in the world who were born in 1918, why was there only one Sam Walton / Walmart? Did Jim Crow also keep out the other non-Black millions who also failed to found a multi-billion dollar retail chain?
Sam's actual independent start was the purchase of a Ben Franklin store in Newport, Arkansas with a $20K loan from his father-in-law + another $5K he had saved from his army service. Can we assume that no one else's father-in-law ever loaned their daughter's husband $20K.
As for the 'injustice of a wealth gap'...I'm not sure what that really means. Everyone experiences a wealth gap. Your great-great-great-great-grandparents (and do you even know all 64 of their names? I sure don't!) undoubtedly had more or less 'wealth' back there in the early 1700's than my 64. Did ANY of that wealth somehow trickle down to us (from people whose names none of us recall)? What about the 128 grandparents, five greats ago? Or the 256 another generation back?
The truth is, "70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the next generation, with 90% losing it the generation after that." Is that just? Who's to say? Is it just that your folks had more or less than my folks? In the end, it's a meaningless question...nor is there any reason to believe that the State has or should have any role in rebalancing whatever wealth imbalances which may exist. [Though I'd sure like it if LeBron did some personal rebalancing and sent a chunk of his my way. The inequity between the two of us is chasmic!]