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leeuhhhh's review against another edition
4.0
3.75. this was comprehensive, information packed, and an overall necessary book. i can’t say i learned a ton of new information but it did offer some unique new perspectives that i found useful. the audiobook was fairly engaging so i recommend listening if you’re gonna pick this up!
alfboyreads's review against another edition
5.0
oh my god.. outstanding!!!! this has now replaced my favourite book of all time; completely soul crushing but so so well written in a way that encapsulates everything that is wrong with extreme wealth. the book talks in practical terms about how much money is too money and really is the closest i think anything comes to allowing people to grasp the concept of a billion of something. this book is gonna stick with me for a very long time and i cant wait to badger everyone who cares for me into reading. phenomenal.
nemvagyokitt's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
2.0
I was so excited to read this book, completely sold by the introduction, but then let down by the actual contents of it. If you regularly read the news and you’re somewhat politically active then you probably wont learn much. It’s all very surface level, which is really disappointing, as I was expecting a more in-depth look into possible policies and business models (like cooperatives) that could be introduced. At times I was even confused about who this book was written for - is it an ethics lesson for the ultra rich maybe??
Another reviewer described this as naive, and I totally agree. I was looking forward to chapters like ‘The rich will benefit too’, but how is the idea that ‘pitchforks won’t come out’ a genuine benefit of Limitarianism for the rich? I almost laughed, it was so ridiculous
Another reviewer described this as naive, and I totally agree. I was looking forward to chapters like ‘The rich will benefit too’, but how is the idea that ‘pitchforks won’t come out’ a genuine benefit of Limitarianism for the rich? I almost laughed, it was so ridiculous
rujein's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.5
Key points
- Wealth is the key to inequality, not income.
- In recent years, while the gains for the bottom 90 percent in the world were negative or meager, we were witnessing sky-high wealth increases for the 1 percent
- Due to neoliberalism, we tend to give extreme wealth a free pass: government is corrupt, private enterprise creates more wealth and public good, people succeed by their own merit. We live by the principles of economic efficiency, and of to each according to what they can extract from others
- There should be a limit to wealth.
- The limit would depend on the context in which one lives (e.g. is there universal provision of certain services), but about 10 million should be enough for a family for four in a developed economy
- The riches line is the level at which additional money cannot increase your standard of living. Most people are able to discern rich vs super-rich based on this.
- The ethical limit is the maximum level of money one can own on moral grounds.
- The political limit is the ultimate limit on a person's wealth that the state should use as a goal when setting up its social and fiscal systems.
- There is the upper limit above which a fortune starts to become utterly wasteful, since it could be better used to rectify climate-related injustice and to meet urgent human needs. There is the upper limit that political equality demands. The upper limit that reflects what we know about the incentives that inspire very productive people to keep contributing to the economy. The upper limit that would protect the well-being of the super-rich themselves”to help them overcome their damaging addiction to capital accumulation, and give their children a chance of growing up without the harms caused by their parents excessive fortunes.
- Ethical reasons
- Inequality and poverty are related. Poverty is consolidated by government policies that give various subsidies and tax breaks to the rich and super-rich, while policies aimed at the poor are much less generous. Further policy choices that governments make which worsen inequality while making it harder to alleviate poverty, such as not taxing increases in a person's wealth assets (their capital gains); or lowering the top rate on income tax; or tolerating massive tax evasion.
- How super-rich accumulate their money
- Some people simply should not have their money: criminal gains or accumulated criminal gains (e.g. german industry, slavery), daily violation of workers' rights/unfair division of profits, tax evasion
- If they inherit it, do they deserve it?
- Why should financial reward track performance/effort?
- Does anyone really deserve to earn that much more than others, even if their job is more difficult? A lot due to luck as well.
- What super-rich do with their money: environmental degradation through copious consumption
- Money's influence on politics = commodification of democracy at a price only rich can afford (e.g. through lobbying, research)
- Markets and property are social institutions which cannot exist without a shared system of rules and norms in which a coordinating party, typically the government, plays a crucial role. Yet for the government to exist and to exercise these functions, it must have resources - it must collect tax. The claim that we have an individual moral right to the income and profits that we can earn on the market is a mistake.
- They are building their wealth on the collective bequest of past generations - collective institutions, public goods, basic infrastructure, and collaboration with other people.
- Much good can be done with the excess wealth that some has (and philanthropy will not cut it because super-rich should not be able to decide how that money is spent, and it is subsidised by tax reduction)
- Psychologically corrosive effect of extreme wealth on the children of the super-rich. The extravagance around them does not bring them any joy: they are habituated to it.
- Pragmatic reasons
- Inequality is bad for innovation and the economy as poor children are unable to maximise their potential; passing on wealth through inheritance might not be the most efficient
- Decreasing consumer demand
- People wouldn't be so envious if inequality was limited
- Some inequality is justifiable (some people take more responsibility/risks) but limitless inequality is not
- Action to be taken is structural, not individual
- Not just a 100% tax rate beyond a certain wealth, prevent people from amassing so much wealth in the first place
- Dismantle neoliberal ideology, because it is at the heart of the problems we are facing. This ideology has changed the way we look at ourselves, how we regard society, which norms and values we take to be important. Introduce new forms of credit and recognition that do bestow honor and gratitude on a person without making them excessively rich.
- Better tax enforcement (would bring in more money than what it would cost) and inheritance tax (max inheritance over lifetime), restore the government's fiscal agency, international tax cooperation (no tax havens)
- Confiscation of dirty money and the payment of reparations for past harms
- Reduce class segregation
- Protect and strengthen unions, and criminalize union-busting activities. Another is to educate workers about the importance of collective organizing
- Focusing on super-rich does not mean that everyone else, or other dimensions can be ignored
- Difficult to take action given that wealthy elites disproportionately influence politics
- Limiting the opportunity of a small handful of individuals to become excessively rich would enhance the opportunities available to most other people in the world.
dawnie777's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
Very informative, if naive when examining the motivations of the rich. Like have you considered they don't /care/ about democracy or the social fabric or whatever? Overall a good intro to the arguments for limitarianism. Wish they would have explored other societies economic models (for example, Islam and the wealth tax Zakat) but I guess that's as scary as communism to rich white men.
chelseadarling's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0