How much money should any one person have?
asserted
person → have → money
When Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire, people got mad.
asserted
people → become → ?
"He will own everything!" claims a popular YouTuber.
uncertain
YouTuber → own → everything
"He will own your house…your country…your government."
asserted
He → own → house
Comedian Bill Maher, lately a voice of reason, asked, "Would it be crazy to have a law that said, 'You can't go above 1 percent of gross domestic product?!'"
Actually, yes. My new video explains why it would be crazy.
asserted
it → ask → product
People who hate the very rich tend to assume that there's a finite amount of wealth.
asserted
who → hate → wealth
So if Musk has a trillion dollars, everyone else must have less.
asserted
everyone → have → less
"That's simply not true," explains business ethics professor Chris Freiman.
asserted
Freiman → explain → ?
In a free market, businesses create new wealth, because consumers give up dollars only "because they got stuff that they valued more in return.
asserted
they → create → return
"
Car buyers voluntarily give Musk money because he created a car they value more than other cars.
asserted
they → give → cars
Likewise, "Steve Jobs became a billionaire, but the rest of the world got a billion iPhones," says Freiman.
asserted
Freiman → become → iPhones
Since the exchange was voluntary, "that seems like something to celebrate, not resent."
asserted
that → seem → something
Even Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) understands that.
asserted
Sanders → understand → that
Years ago, he said, "Nobody should earn more than one million dollars!"
asserted
Nobody → say → dollars
But then he became a millionaire.
asserted
he → become → ?
Asked about that, he replied: "Write a bestselling book, you can be a millionaire, too!"
asserted
you → ask → book
"If we had capped success in the past," notes Freiman, "We probably wouldn't have the iPhone, Netflix, DoorDash, Amazon, Spotify."
Or robot vacuums, air fryers, Uber, Waze, etc.
asserted
We → cap → iPhone
No one forces us to give them money.
asserted
one → force → money
We give it to them because they created things that we value what more than the dollars we give up.
asserted
we → give → dollars
Yet when Musk became a trillionaire, a YouTube channel with more than 2 million subscribers proposed that America "tax every penny in net worth of somebody who has over $999 million."
asserted
who → become → million
That would deter people from becoming billionaires.
asserted
That → deter → people
Consumers are better off when Musk makes money.
asserted
Musk → make → money
No one is forced to buy his cars or satellite internet.
asserted
one → force → cars
We pay because his products are better than what we had before.
asserted
we → pay → what
OK, it's true that sometimes we are forced to give Musk money.
asserted
we → force → money
But that's because our government forces us to pay for NASA, and NASA discovered that Musk sends things into space much more efficiently than NASA ever could.
uncertain
NASA → force → space
Musk saves taxpayer money.
asserted
Musk → save → money
When government spends money, by contrast, I cringe.
asserted
I → spend → contrast
Congress took billions of your dollars to build electric vehicle chargers.
asserted
Congress → take → chargers
In that same time period, Tesla built more than 35,000.
asserted
Tesla → build → 35,000
"Who is a better steward of resources?" asks Freiman.
asserted
Freiman → ask → resources
"Entrepreneurs or government officials?"
Entrepreneurs, without question, because they put their own money on the line.
asserted
they → put → line
People spend their own money more carefully than governments spend other people's money.
asserted
governments → spend → money
Even the greediest business faces a test government doesn't: Consumers can say no.
asserted
Consumers → face → test
I won't defend all billionaires.
asserted
I → defend → billionaires
Some get rich by cheating.
asserted
Some → get → ?
Bernie Madoff stole billions by lying to investors.
asserted
Madoff → steal → investors
Sam Bankman-Fried, running the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, defrauded customers and investors.
asserted
Fried → run → customers
Others, like Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Cuban President Fidel Castro, get rich through political power.
asserted
Others → get → power
They force people to give them money.
asserted
They → force → money
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
