Minimum wage shouldn't be set at the federal level in the US but at the state level, to account for disparity in cost of living between states. Or, the minimum wage should be based on the state's average income for the same reason. Of course there are ways to address wealth inequality, just look at northern Europe's countries like Danemark, Sweden or Norway which are the world's most equalitarian without being dictatorships. If there's a will, there's a way, but there is no will in the US, where we are taught individualism from the cradle.
Lots of valid points here. Most intelligent non politicians understand the real reasons behind wealth gaps. Politicians understand it as well, but what they are selling back to the public is a platform narrative and not reality. My question is... who cares? Why exactly do we need to make everyone equal? I'm all for safety nets for those that are at the very bottom with legitimate issues, but why are we targeting those at the top? It would be one thing if people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet spent their money dipping their balls in gold every other week, but that's not what happens. Bill Gates pretty much single handedly eradicated polio in Africa. He has a team of people that literally spend their entire days and weeks and months sitting around trying to find the best way to spend billions every year to make the world a better place - and they do! Tell me why we want to take Bill Gates' money and give it to our gov't so they can spend it on what... have you guys seen what's in the 1.9T bill working it's way through Congress? I'm not talking about the part that gets talked about in sound bites that's actually worthwhile and useful - I mean the other 1.4B that has nothing to do with Covid or helping anyone that is truly in need.
The wealth gap is like all these other spurious indices - relative poverty, gender pay disparity, income inequality etc. The main effect of the campaigns to resolve these "issues" is to provide eternal employment for otherwise useless and work-shy sociology-qualified graduates.