#1764 Wealth Inequality is Bad for Society and There's No Good Counterargument
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.6 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 15 January 2026
⏱️ 160 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date: 1/14/2026
Being a bad person who doesn't care about others is helpful in one's pursuit of becoming wealthy. However, becoming wealthy is also helpful in becoming a bad person who doesn't care about others, not that anyone sets out with this as a goal but it is a natural byproduct of wealth and the normal functioning of our market economy. What this means is that the nature of money, market dynamics, and wealth to corrode morality is a systemic problem, not a collection of individual failings, and should be addressed as such.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: The Truth About Income Inequality No One Told You - UNFTR Media - Air Date 7-21-25
KP 4: The Capitalist Mindset - The Market Exit - Air Date 12-9-25
KP 5: How Power Corrupts Part 1 - The Art of Manliness - Air Date 4-6-22
KP 6: Where Are Americas Leaders? - Robert Reich and Inequality Media Civic Action - Air Date 1-6-26
KP 7: Why WORKERS Should OWN Companies - The Market Exit - Air Date 4-30-25
(00:48:50) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On all the reasons we need to squash wealth inequality
DEEPER DIVES
(01:02:59) SECTION A: THE EFFECTS OF WEALTH INEQUALITY
A2: The Shocking Truth About Wealth Inequality in America - Established Context - Air Date 2-22-2025
A3: How Wealth Corrupts Democracy with Christy McGillivray - Head in the Office - Air Date 10-24-25
A4: How Power Corrupts Part 2 - The Art of Manliness - Air Date 4-6-22
A5: UK Budget - The End of Democracy? Part 1 - Garys Economics - Air Date 11-23-25
(01:42:01) SECTION B: THE MINDSET OF THE RICH & POWERFUL
B1: RESOURCE WARS and the Economics of Scarcity with Richard D Wolff - Jacobin - Air Date 9-4-24
B2: Tax Is Not Theft: Why the "It's My Money" Argument Is Wrong - Richard J Murphy - Air Date 12-18-25
B4: The Fraud Behind Our 'Thought Leaders' - The Chris Hedges YouTube Channel - Air Date 1-5-26
(02:18:09) SECTION C: TAX THE RICH
C2: UK Budget - The End of Democracy? Part 2 - Garys Economics - Air Date 11-23-25
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: A horizontally split image of two photos: on top, an extravagant yacht sailing at sunset. On bottom, an open wallet with some $1 bills inside and some coins spilling out.
Credit: Internal composite design. Images: "Wallet" and "yacht" via Pixabay | Pixabay license
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Left podcast. Being a bad person who |
| 0:08.4 | doesn't care about others is helpful in one's pursuit of becoming wealthy. However, |
| 0:14.3 | becoming wealthy is also helpful in becoming a bad person who doesn't care about others. |
| 0:19.4 | Not that anyone sets out with this as a goal, |
| 0:21.6 | but it is a natural byproduct of wealth and the normal functioning of our market economy. |
| 0:27.7 | What this means is that the nature of money, market dynamics, and wealth to corrode morality |
| 0:34.2 | is a systemic problem, not a collection of individual failings, and should be addressed |
| 0:40.8 | as such. For those looking for a quick overview, the sources providing our top takes in about |
| 0:45.1 | 45 minutes today includes uneffing the Republic, the PBS News Hour, Chris Hedges, the |
| 0:51.3 | market exit, the art of manliness, and Robert Reich. |
| 0:55.4 | Then in the additional deeper dives half of the show, there will be more in three sections. |
| 0:59.5 | Section A, the effects of wealth inequality, followed by Section B, the mindset of the rich and powerful, |
| 1:05.7 | and Section C tax the rich. |
| 1:08.3 | But first, a reminder to check out our new show solved on the Best of the Left YouTube channel. We're really proud of the show we're making and you're going to get real value out of it and you checking it out actually helps us find new viewers on YouTube. So thanks in advance for all of your views, likes, subscribes, and comments. That's all on the Best of the YouTube channel, which is linked in the show notes. |
| 1:28.7 | And now, on to the show. |
| 1:34.2 | There comes a point when money doesn't do anything more for someone than cover the basics. |
| 1:43.3 | And you can think about your own life and budget. |
| 1:46.1 | Let's say the cost of running your household, you have a middle class or an upper middle class |
| 1:51.7 | existence, and it's $8,000 a month to run your house, to pay your rent or your mortgage, your |
| 1:57.1 | car payment, health insurance, education, food, entertainment, utilities, you name it, all in |
| 2:02.8 | 8K. Now, let's say you bring in 10K after taxes. You might decide to use that extra $2,000 to |
| 2:11.0 | buy stuff outside of the essentials. You might be saving for a big purchase down the road and be |
... |
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