Setting boundaries on the wealth of individuals is one of humanity’s oldest and most socially-useful practices. When we revive it, we’ll all benefit.
Wealth sharing fosters group cohesion.
Group cohesion is a priority for the hunter-gatherer bands that we humans evolved in. Only by being tight-knit can such bands survive under tough conditions.
Wealth sharing is the main means by which they stay cohesive. Within them, food is wealth, and it’s always shared. For example, the Lakota medicine man Black Elk described how a tribal elder encouraged hunters to give away their buffalo kills:
“‘Good young warriors…you shall feed the helpless. Perhaps there are some old and feeble people without sons, or some who have little children and no man. You shall help these, and whatever you kill shall be theirs.’ This was a great honor for young men.”
Wealth boundaries strengthen societies.
As hunter-gatherer bands got larger, wealth sharing became more difficult, so formal mechanisms were developed. Among the Pacific Coast tribes, for example, the custom of the potlatch arose. In this gift-giving festival, a wealthy man gained prestige by giving most of his wealth away to the people of his village.
The first civilizations did something similar, with debt jubilees. In Sumer, for example, each new king wiped out all debts when he assumed the throne. In this way, the Sumerians ensured that wealth remained distributed, so that every man remained prosperous and healthy enough to serve in the army.
Wealth boundaries also preserve societies.
As the historian Plutarch noted in the first century AD, “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” For a civilized society to function well, its rich can’t be too rich, nor its poor too poor. That’s why floor-and-ceiling boundaries on personal wealth is a good idea.
For responsible people who work for a living, a floor on personal wealth keeps their families healthy and independent. For successful people with lots of investment income, a ceiling on personal wealth prevents them from forming a plutocratic ruling class.
