Re: wealth and property rights

[Jim Wise <jim@santafe.arch.columbia.edu>]

On Fri, 22 Nov 1996, `Jon Galt' wrote:

> What an interesting topic for this list.  I really must point out that most
> wealth in this country is first generation wealth - in other words, most
> wealth is EARNED, not "handed down".
 
Please back this statement up.  The fact is, contrary to our grand self-image,
America has one of the lowest rates of class mobility in the world.  Just shy
of forty percent of the wealth (in land and capital) in the U.S. is possessed
by one percent of the  population.  This far outstrips, for example, 
Great Britain, where the top one percent of society holds 18% of the nation's
wealth.  Continuing down the line, the top 20% of the us population hold more
than 80% of the nation's wealth.  [Source New York Times, April 17. 1995, p.1]

_However_, that's not what I came here to talk to you about tonight:

> too much wealth in relation to those around them.  Adam Back (and
> the cypherpunks?) is (are) against people being prevented from
> accumulating "too much" wealth in relation to those around them.

An oversimplification.  Cypherpunks are in favor of people using technology
to take their own privacy into their own hands.  Anything outside the scope
of this issue is an aside.  Cypherpunks tend toward anarchism / libertarianism
as a result of their strong bent toward personal freedom, but this generalization
obscures the fact that cypherpunks is a _pragmatic_ group, addressing issues
of importance to both left-leaning and right-leaning anarchist / libertarian
types.  To split the group on lines of economic principle is to undermine the
value of this shared ground.  Let's face it -- when it comes to privacy, the
US and the world are in a state of crisis right now.  It would be a serious
mistake to let our disagreements on economic policy drive us from the fight
for liberty.

--
				Jim Wise
				System Administrator
				GSAPP, Columbia University
				jim@santafe.arch.columbia.edu
				http://www.arch.columbia.edu/~jim
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