Is it a problem? Yes it is - the rich have the money but the poor have the votes. And the numbers.
There will come a point when the imbalance becomes unacceptable. Who knows when that will be but it will happen. The risk is that then we end up with some sort of socialism
The "Marie Antoinettes" are what brough the French revolution.
I agree. The rich will be the authors of their own downfall, which is especially sad when you think of the consequences, and how it could so easily be averted. All the rich have to do is to stop exploiting off-shore tax-avoidance measures, and to spend their money in their home economies.
There are a fair few rich folks living in my part of Gloucestershire. Of the two who live closest to me, one flies in and out of his property by helicopter, keeps his money in his wallet, and interacts hardly at all with the local economy.
The other whizzes up and down to London by train (First Class, natch) and employs a seemingly endless chain of local businesses doing all sorts of work - he employed a mate of mine to spend 3 months moving a stone wall 2 metres over to makes his driveway wider.
No prizes for guessing which of these is seen as a popular and integral part of the community.
"'Tis the duty of the wealthy man / to give employment to the artisan"
It's really important to have plenty of rich people in an economy. They can use their money to do things that would never get approval under a socialist state - sponsoring the arts is a perfect example, but they have to realise their duty and place, otherwise, as Howard points out, they run the risk of having it taken away.
