Fnord wrote:
Wealth is the goal of Capitalism. Capitalism exists mostly in societies where there is a disparity in education. This disparity usually begins in primary school, where those students who do well pull ahead of those classmates who do poorly.
Those who do better in school get better jobs than those who do poorly in school -- this is not cast in adamantium, but it is the way to bet. Those with the better jobs earn higher incomes than those with poorer jobs -- again, not cast in adamantium, but the general trend.
The only way (under current conditions) to eliminate the economic disparity is to pay everyone the same low, hourly wage, no matter how valuable their labor actually is -- pay the brain surgeon the same wage as the lawnmower operator, for example.
This is a fantasy. Look up how much wealth is inherited.
Yes, you can pull ahead by studying hard. But please explain why wages have stagnated or declined for those with education.
What has happened is the capital class has used the levers of power to gain more from themselves.
You set up a nice story that confirms your view point - the real problem is not brain surgeons and lawnmower operators, its the rich capital owners who are buying up land as investment vehicles that are driving up the rent and housing costs for the rest of us. Lawnmower operators used to get paid more but because the middle class is getting squeezed by health care and housing costs, they can afford less so their wages aren't as high as they could be.
Ask yourself why Bill Gates is the world's largest landowner. It doesn't create wealth to buy up land from someone else and then rent it back to agribusiness. Its just shuffling assets.