Beverly Hills As The USA

Imagine that you lived in Beverly Hills, among the richest people in the United States. Some of your friends were the kids of executives at Fortune 500 companies. Others were the kids of famous Doctors, Lawyers, and some were the kids of hedge fund managers. While all relatively rich, assume there was quite a range of wealth from really rich, to filthy rich.

Further assume, that one day, a bleeding heart liberal starts feeling bad for the really rich. Her complaints are along the lines of: "The really rich can't eat out at the $500/plate restaurants, they have to settle for the $100/plate restaurants, or, god forbid, make sandwiches at home". Her complaints continue: "The really rich can't afford the Lamborghini's or Ferrari's, they have to get by with the - GASP! - BMW's and Mercedes Benz's". Worst yet, "the really rich actually have to live in mansions with no ocean view, or golf courses". Most heartbreaking of all, "the really rich have to actually prioritize their lifestyle and set a budget. They can't go to Europe on a moments notice, they can't eat out everyday".

Now further assume that said bleeding heart liberal decided to set up an "alleviate suffering" fund that took away from the filthy rich to give to the really rich. Such a fund would help equalize Beverly Hills and "bring people together". But instead of making this fund voluntary, the bleeding heart liberal wanted to enforce this through the city. She wanted to make it a city tax that merely takes from the filthy rich and gives to the really rich. Her arguments, again, are to "alleviate suffering".
What would your reaction be if you were suddenly transplanted to that society and debate? Would you support the "Beverly Hills tax"? I am not one of those that believes there are absolutely no circumstances that justify forcibly taking the wages of one to give to another. But such circumstances have to be met with atleast reasonable justification. Yet simply moving money around amongst the worlds richest people does not seem to me like an acceptable justification.


Such is the image that comes to mind whenever I have a discussion with a liberal about increasing redistribution via taxes to help the USA "poor".  It's the image my dad and uncles, who immigrated to the United States in their twenties from ranch life in the poorest parts of Mexico, gave me. It is certainly how they viewed me and my cousins growing up - no matter what our circumstances, be it growing up in Compton (as I did), living off of the income of mechanics, gardeners, or window tinters - we were all blessed beyond their wildest dreams. Where they had to eat tortillas off the dirt floor, work in fields in the scorching heat where there were no "sick days" or "vacation time", even the McDonalds cashier can seem privileged. And this view isn't far from reality. Even the "poor" in the United States are among the richest in the world (see here and here). (Originally published 7/26/2012)