What's frustrating to me is that seemingly no one who complains about billionaires actually understands why they are billionaires and what the difference between a checking account and a 20% equity stake are.
I've spent a lot of time trying to think of ways to remedy wealth inequality, and the best I can come up with is "If you hate Bezos so much, you should probably quit your addiction to Amazon Prime."
Yes, there is probably no way to remedy wealth inequality that is easy or even that doesn't have serious downsides and an enormously volatile period of acclimatization. But that doesn't mean there is definitely no realistic way to accomplish it in the long run. Of course we should try to get consumers to stop participating, but making it 100% their responsibility is highly unrealistic/reductionist. Consequences are incredibly abstracted away from consumer behavior, and the good to the consumer's life is so immediately felt, and consumers are understandably desperate for good in life (even something as simple as convenience has a big impact). It is not entirely, or even mostly, their fault.
I've spent a lot of time trying to think of ways to remedy wealth inequality, and the best I can come up with is "If you hate Bezos so much, you should probably quit your addiction to Amazon Prime."