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MM, I accept that there are widening disparities in income. Empirically I don't think it's an open issue: it definitely is happening. Historically, when there has been massive technological-innovation-driven dislocation in the economy, there has been widening income disparity, because those who are able to harness the power of the new technology gain more from its benefits, and it takes some time for the benefits to disperse generally through the economy. That's why we had robber barons at the end of 19th and beginning of the 20th century, as the country was installing electricity, roads, cars, railroads, mass production factories, etc etc etc. And it's why Michael Dell, Bill Gates, and their ilk are billionaires today.
What I want to know is why you think the mere fact of unequal incomes at any particular point in time is a problem. Unless you begrudge other people their success - and I can't imagine you're that kind of person - why does it hurt anyone if someone else does well? I could understand it if this was ancien regime France, or Tsarist Russia, where you had miserable serfs in barely subsistence-level lives, with small pockets of hereditary idle nobles who lived lavishly and contributed nothing. But that's not the US by a long shot.
I want everybody in this country to be rich. I want everyone to have the opportunity to chase their dreams and realize them. And for those who manage to succeed, I don't want to punish them for their success.
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