Income inequality and spirituality

The topic here is 'income inequality'. The topic is not 'income equality' ~ nobody significant or serious minded is proposing that "everyone should make the same amount of money" ~ but, instead, we are addressing the problem of 'income inequality'. What bearing does your spiritual mind map have upon your viewpoint on widening and narrowing income gaps in the world today?

Originally posted by FMF
The topic here is 'income inequality'. The topic is not 'income equality' ~ nobody significant or serious minded is proposing that "everyone should make the same amount of money" ~ but, instead, we are addressing the problem of 'income inequality'. What bearing does your spiritual mind map have upon your viewpoint on widening and narrowing income gaps in the world today?

What do you mean by "income inequality", spell it out please.
Do you mean everyone should _____?
Do you mean no one should _____?
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay

What do you mean by "income inequality", spell it out please.

"The unequal distribution of household or individual income across the various participants in an economy." investopedia http://tinyurl.com/k6w9boc

"...the difference between individuals or populations in the distribution of their assets, wealth, or income." wiki http://tinyurl.com/nuyl3me

The term 'income inequality' refers to things like the degree to which income and wealth are concentrated in the hands of a small minority in a country/economy and how the economic power that this gives them helps them to perpetuate or increase the concentration or to widen the income gap.

Do you mean everyone should _____?
Do you mean no one should _____?

I don't know what you mean. The question is: "What bearing does your spiritual mind map have upon your viewpoint on widening and narrowing income gaps in the world today?"

Originally posted by FMF
[b]What do you mean by "income inequality", spell it out please.

"The unequal distribution of household or individual income across the various participants in an economy." investopedia http://tinyurl.com/k6w9boc

"...the difference between individuals or populations in the distribution of their assets, wealth, or income." wiki http://tinyurl.com/nuyl3 ...[text shortened]... ual mind map have upon your viewpoint on widening and narrowing income gaps in the world today?"[/b]

My thought is if you earn it, its yours.
So unless you are telling me that someone is actually distributing money to
everyone and they are giving more to some over others, I'm not sure what
you are saying! If there are people earning more income than others, so
what, good for them. Hopefully that is good for those earning more, and
maybe it will inspire those who are earning less to do better. I do not see
the "gap" as a bad thing or good in and of itself.
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay
My thought is if you earn it, its yours.
So unless you are telling me that someone is actually distributing money to
everyone and they are giving more to some over others, I'm not sure what
you are saying! If there are people earning more income than others, so
what, good for them. Hopefully that is good for those earning more, and
maybe it will inspir ...[text shortened]... rning less to do better. I do not see
the "gap" as a bad thing or good in and of itself.
Kelly

In the 1950's top executives made something like 20 times what the common worker made. Now in the 21st century those same top executives make something like 500 times the common worker's wage. THAT is income inequality.

I forget the name of the dude who was CEO of a company that went bust but he made a half billion in exit bonuses while his company went to pot and literally thousands of people from that same company lost their retirement pension because that company went bankrupt.

Sounds like income inequality to me.

Originally posted by KellyJay
If there are people earning more income than others, so what, good for them. Hopefully that is good for those earning more, and maybe it will inspire those who are earning less to do better.

When you talk about "good" and "doing better" and "inspiration" in this way, is there any kind of spiritual dimension to your views on this matter?

Originally posted by sonhouse
In the 1950's top executives made something like 20 times what the common worker made. Now in the 21st century those same top executives make something like 500 times the common worker's wage. THAT is income inequality.

I forget the name of the dude who was CEO of a company that went bust but he made a half billion in exit bonuses while his company went ...[text shortened]... retirement pension because that company went bankrupt.

Sounds like income inequality to me.

Yep, and the reason the companies fell was because they picked people who
ran the companies into the ground. Put bad people in positions of power things
like that happen. Which has nothing to do with income inequality! The people
under them could have made a ton of money but if the company was going to
die, it was going to die.

Simply because companies today can make more money than they could
have in the 1950's means that those in that company are going to make
more too! If those people do their jobs well and the company provides some
good or services needed so it can stay afloat it will be around longer and
more and more people would make more money. MORE POWER TO THEM!

Poor management or poor leadership can ruin anything, causing something
to go bust doesn't mean that those that are doing it right are not worth
the money the bad ones can get to do it wrong.
Kelly

Originally posted by FMF
The topic here is 'income inequality'. The topic is not 'income equality' ~ nobody significant or serious minded is proposing that "everyone should make the same amount of money" ~ but, instead, we are addressing the problem of 'income inequality'. What bearing does your spiritual mind map have upon your viewpoint on widening and narrowing income gaps in the world today?

If you both have the same exact education the same amount of years and hours of education you should be paid equally!

Originally posted by FMF
When you talk about "good" and "doing better" and "inspiration" in this way, is there any kind of spiritual dimension to your beliefs in this matter?

Those that want to be better can when there is freedom to improve one's
self. The outcome of income isn't static, there will always be people on the
bottom, ALWAYS, because that is where the vast majority start. The good
thing about the gap suggests that there is a very high bar to climb to get
better when looking how far some have gotten with respect to income.

With respect to what I think is important in life, has nothing to do with the
amount of income you make. I think income is poor scale to judge the
important things in life. If you have enough and are content, you have
more than someone who never has enough no matter how much they make.
Kelly

Originally posted by RBHILL
If you both have the same exact education the same amount of years and hours of education you should be paid equally!

Do not agree! I've seen people with less education out preform those with
more, this drive to do well should get you something and should be reflected
in one's pay check in my opinion. If I have two guys working for me and one
simply runs rings around the other, I don't care what education or years on
the job they have, I want to reward the hard worker getting things done!
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay
Those that want to be better can when there is freedom to improve one's
self. The outcome of income isn't static, there will always be people on the
bottom, ALWAYS, because that is where the vast majority start. The good
thing about the gap suggests that there is a very high bar to climb to get
better when looking how far some have gotten with respect t ...[text shortened]... e content, you have
more than someone who never has enough no matter how much they make.
Kelly

I am not really detecting a spiritual dimension underpinning your comments. Am I missing something? You say "...what I think is important in life, has nothing to do with the amount of income you make". But earlier in your post you said "Those that want to be better can when there is freedom to improve one's self". This notion of yours about "being better" seems to be about income.

Originally posted by RBHILL
If you both have the same exact education the same amount of years and hours of education you should be paid equally!

Would this constitute "justice" in your view?

Originally posted by RBHILL
If you both have the same exact education the same amount of years and hours of education you should be paid equally!

Why?

Originally posted by KellyJay
Yep, and the reason the companies fell was because they picked people who
ran the companies into the ground. Put bad people in positions of power things
like that happen. Which has nothing to do with income inequality! The people
under them could have made a ton of money but if the company was going to
die, it was going to die.

Simply because compani ...[text shortened]... ose that are doing it right are not worth
the money the bad ones can get to do it wrong.
Kelly

One company I used to work for, Lucent, was hiring by the thousands in '97.
We were going great guns, they had these catered lunches with lobster and a band playing and such.

Then the train ran into the cliff and in '99 we were all laid off. I was fortunate in that I met the wife of Alex Paunescu, whom I worked with in Israel at Intel.

It turned out his wife was working at Lucent at the same plant as I was and I met her by accident one night while I was on night shift.

She mentioned going to Israel in '96. I said I was there in 96 also! She said I went to visit my husband who was at Intel.

I said I was at Intel also, who is your husband?

Alex Paunescu. My jaw dropped about 2 feet! Alex and I were good buddies in Jerusalem and he attended several parties we gave there. We could discuss anything that came up, science, religion, politics, ethics.

So she told Alex I was at Lucent, he calls me the very next day, saying we have this startup company dealing with waveguide laser amplifiers and know what you did in Israel and would you like to be the maintenance chief?

I knew layoffs were coming so I said, does a frog poop in the woods🙂

So I had a bit of a parachute when the bottom dropped out of Lucent.

The CEO at that time, I think his name was McDonal, something like that, made over 10 million in Lucent stock that he sold for something like 85 dollars a share knowing full well it was going to go bust.

We have a friend here in town who was talked into buying Lucent shares for 85, just before they went bust. She lost about 20,000 dollars when it went to about 1 dollar a share.

I think that also qualifies as income inequality.

Originally posted by FMF
I am not really detecting a spiritual dimension underpinning your comments. Am I missing something? You say "...what I think is important in life, has nothing to do with the amount of income you make". But earlier in your post you said "Those that want to be better can when there is freedom to improve one's self". This notion of yours about "being better" seems to be about income.

Income is income, if you love money and want to make that the measure of
yourself, than earning more is the way to do it.

If you have some other measuring stick, than your bank account will not be
the place to go for that.

As far as what is fair about making money goes, and worrying about the
gap between the richest and poorest goes. I submit taking from one to
give to another serves no one well. Better is to have everyone make it on
their own allowing all to keep what they get, and if they want to give away
what they make to the poorer, than that is freedom of choice.
Kelly