At one point during the 2008 presidential debates, John McCain responded to an Obama comment by saying, essentially, “Aha! You support redistribution!” He acted like a guy who had just scored a touchdown and was spiking the football. It was self-evident, to him, that the American public hated any notion of redistribution.
Today, things are very different; a substantial degree of redistribution is supported by the mainstream of the Democratic Party. Here are the principal justifications for it; an analysis of the objections will follow during the rest of the week:
- SIMPLE HUMAN COMPASSION: No elaboration is necessary.
- IT’S NECESSARY FOR THE PROPER WORKINGS OF OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM: If inequality becomes too great, the system inevitably is “rigged” in favor of the wealthy. Sanders and Warren would say we’re already there today.
- IT’S A MATTER OF MARGINAL UTILITY AND POSITIVE FREEDOM: A dollar in the hands of a plutocrat doesn’t really enable him to do anything he can’t already do, whereas an extra dollar in the hands of a poor person can make a very real difference in his life.
- A HOLLOWED-OUT MIDDLE CLASS IS BAD NEWS FOR THE ECONOMY: A substantial measure of redistribution has the potential to revive the American middle class, and thereby increase consumption and economic growth over the long run.