This does seem very true, almost without exception, the loudest voices calling for greater income equality are the wealthy and the middle classes.
Socialism was a very middle class phenomenon initially and had to be sold to the working classes. This supports my view that socialism is a form of ‘Tory radicalism’ transplanted to the middle classes.
This article talks about this in the light of the recent falls in the stock market, which have increased equality more than any tax system will ever do. Are the poor celebrating their newfound equality? No. They’re more worried about their jobs. They don’t want equality of wealth, they want equality of opportunity - something which does not come from equality of wealth.
To quote the author of that article, Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar:
I am outraged that 300 million Indians remain poor. I am outraged, not that a few Indians have become billionaires but that many more have not, for want of equality of opportunity. Like people all over the world, my countrymen and I don’t want to see the wealthy wiped out. We just want to get a little wealthier ourselves.
