What Level of Wealth Do You Consider Evil?

[PETRUS]

140. Thanks for the reply.

There's so much to be said on this topic, but I'll start by trying to give you something like a direct reply to your comments and we can take it from there if you want.

Legal force is physical violence. The law carries weight because it is backed by people with the tools to commit violence and permission to use them. If you don't follow the law you are subject to physical force - i.e., arrest and jail (or worse). Also, the law doesn't provide its own justification. What do you think German Jews thought of the law in the 30s and 40s? Black people in much of the US for much of its history? The American tradition is consent of the governed, but the popularity of increasing taxes on "the rich" (majority support in most polls for years) suggests that when it comes to our economic arrangements, consent is lacking. (Even majority rule is morally problematic, as anything short of universal agreement implies that at least some people are having things forced on them.) If there were something resembling a consensus then we wouldn't have nearly constant (and bitter) disputes over fiscal policy, trade policy, business regulation, minimum wages, etc.