> It's an unpopular opinion, but I don't think that everyone should have a roughly equal say in how things go.

So something that comes up in any discussion like this (economics, politics, global climate change) is that there are several layers of questions to the debate. Some of the questions are matters of preference, some are matters of fact or science. For instance, on the topic of inequality & a wealth tax, we could have these questions:

  * Is a democratic society desirable? (a matter of preference)
  * Does inequality (in wealth) distort the democratic process? (a matter of fact)
  * Does a wealth tax correct the inequality in a way which solves the problem? (a
    matter of fact)
  * Is the wealth tax the best way to solve the problem? (a matter of preference)

For more fun, different people could have different questions, but it still makes for plenty of hilarity when one person is arguing whether a wealth tax is effective and another is arguing whether it is desirable and another is arguing whether it is necessary, and no one understands why they aren't making any headway.

Now, to tie this around to your comment, I would clarify that what I mean by "a democratic society" is one where every person has an equal say in matters of preference. In a rational society, these are the only disagreements. I am happy to debate whether, if climate change is happening, we should do something about it. I have neither the desire nor the time to argue whether it is happening or whether it is man-made; these are matters of science and my preference matters not one bit.

The problem we have now is that both matters of fact and matters of preference are up for debate, and the extremely wealthy have a disproportionate say in both.