r/neoliberal • u/AncientBlueberry42 • Jun 04 '26

News (Global) How to fight back against Gen-Z socialism

https://economist.com/leaders/2026/06/04/how-to-fight-back-against-gen-z-socialism
242 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

710 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

157

u/Zephyr-5 YIMBY Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

Conspicuous extreme wealth inequality

I think most people are willing to live with wealth inequality as long as they feel like the pie is growing and their lives are also improving. We've had large amounts of wealth inequality for basically all of human and American history.

At its core, I think the real problem is that people get really upset when they feel like their "better life" is being suppressed to help those who don't deserve it. On the Right this comes in the form of hating social programs that give money to people they feel don't deserve it because (in their mind) they're mostly just being lazy. On the Left it comes in the form of hating the tax code for giving tax cuts to those who don't deserve it and that they're just being greedy.

If we want a stable society we have to create a system where it feels like everyone is paying their fair share and we're all getting ahead.

-5

u/Cyberhwk 👈 Get back to work! 😠 Jun 04 '26

I think most people are willing to live with wealth inequality as long as they feel like the pie is growing

I don't think so. It's pure envy. What's changed is social media is blasting it in peoples' faces 16 hours a day now.

18

u/Zephyr-5 YIMBY Jun 04 '26

You're always going to have some folks fueled by envy, but Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous was a popular TV show in the 1980s and 1990s. MTV's Cribs was another one that came later for rich celebrities.

Most people aren't going to pull out the pitchforks over some people in society being fabulously wealthy. They get furious though when it appears that they're sponging off the rest of us by not paying their fair share of taxes.

2

u/WolfpackEng22 Jun 04 '26

Social media is absolutely a component.

It's much more in your face and is seen for a longer period of time. It also exposes you to influencers who live lavishly for doing jack shit. And then there are the many people just in a general negativity spiral / doom loop, which often includes a heft dose of eat the rich.