You cannot have a talk about wealth inequality without having a talk about
:
1. Globalization
2. Technology
3. Taxes
Everyone is so fixated on taxes and how the game is "rigged." I don't think the game is rigged. There are those who are in position to exploit #1 and #2, and those that aren't. Taxes are the smallest part of the problem / solution.
You can raise taxes, it won't do a damn thing to improve the lives on the poor who have lost their jobs and leverage in a world of globalization and technology. All you'd have is a bigger and more incompetent government, that spies on you more, wastes more $, fucks more things up. Everything the government touches goes to shit, thats the general rule.
Maybe we could force all companies not to use technology or globalize. That would certainly flatten the income gap. It would also flatten everyone's quality of life, including the poor although they'd have more "income." Everything they'd be buying would also be way more expensive.