RE: What Would Happen If We Redistributed The Wealth
It seems to me the problem is the capitalist system and as mentioned in the post, redistributing wealth while within that system is a temporary fix at best.
One needs only look at how FDR's socialist policies were rolled baxk over decades in the USA by the singlemindedness of the capitalist elite.
Ironically greater abundance in capitalism creates poverty.
There is a cute story explaining this which is heard in leftist circles. It goes something like this....
Capitalism's Poverty from Abundance
The scene is in a mining town. It is approaching Christmas with snow outside and a chill in the house.
A child asks their father, "Why is the house so cold?".
The father replies, "Because we have no coal".
"Why do we have no coal?", the child asks.
"Because I have been laid off from the coal mine", replies their father.
"Why have you been laid off from the coal mine?", asks the child.
" Because there's too much coal", is his father's reply.
I don't think their can be true free-market capitalism in a fiat currency system because you have a single point of distribution and failure, which is the government and the banking system. People can print money, allocate loans, choke out other businesses, buy out people, inflate prices or decrease prices to their benefit so they can always centralise the wealth
In a hard money system, it would be a bit different and I think the more fragmented control of capital becomes since there is only a finite amount.A fiat system is built on debt, borrowing from the future, living beyond our means and that doesn't help when you combine that with consumerism and greed.
Hard money can at least curb it better than infinite printing can. In today's markets, there is no healthy equilibrium its all profit at all costs