Unlike those essential workers, pfft. I think this juxtaposition highlights a problem with our current economies. He built a business he didn't like and made bank on it and now he can extract wealth from the economy indefinitely, meanwhile people are essentially forced into subjecting themselves to potential death for "peanuts" and no real financial security. How "essential" was his business, and how "essential" are the current grunts on the front line? Why the disparity in compensation? The economy has a weird way of justifying who is worthy of rewards.

I agree entirely. The system stinks to high hell, and I’d much rather see wealth more evenly distributed - it would make a better world for all. What we have now is little better than indentured servitude - actually, it’s worse, as it’s dressed up as “freedom”.

My business started out as trying to solve precisely this - we wanted to democratise ecommerce, and make it accessible for anyone, even with no capital, to become bourgeoisie.

Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that the lure of lucre is too strong for most to resist, and my partner, and our investors, dragged me kicking and screaming down the road of helping the rich get richer. There’s a reason (well, among many) that I cashed in my chips and left.

This way, I’m at least not actively making the world worse, and don’t feel the crushing guilt that came to characterise my existence.

Thanks for the agreement, and obviously the problem isn't directly your fault, or one person's job to tackle alone. Also a tinkerers paradise is probably what I'd also do if I had the capital to cash out.

What would you think happens in a system where capital is evenly distributed? Think of it from a game perspective, how would that play out if you search for an equilibrium?

I don't think he means exactly even, but ideally there is less reliance on desperation being the motivating factor for people working.

Well people paid him to do it, so it seemed essential to someone.

And it's not like the right will continue indefinitely - if they fail in their skill they will start losing returns and losing that right (capital).

People pay for junk all the time. Capital being spent is not an endorsement of the quality of the item it was spent on, nor evidence that it was "essential", especially given the definition of "essential" in the era of Covid-19.

There are plenty of examples of highly paid execs making poor choices, and getting rewarded well for it. Even more reason spent capital is poor evidence of quality.