Quote Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh View Post
Wealth need not be acquired "at the expense" of others.
That belief can be traced back to the early, trade-centered economic theories from the early free market thinkers(especially Ricardo).

This belief assumes that economic wealth is finite. Contrary to that, wealth is dynamic and expansive. One man accumulating wealth will enable others to accumulate wealth as well.

But the inverse is true as well. Raising the wealth of the poor is not done at the expense of the wealthy. On the contrary, raising the level of the poor also raises the rich. We re of course talking about absolute levels of wealth here, ie. your actual number of stuff, not relative levels, ie. how much stuff you have in comparison to that other guy.

Henry Ford knew this well. It's a sad thing he also believed jews hoarded gold to to finance world wars...