The Dummies Guide to Wealth Redistribution

Great Observation Happy Hour. But I don't think it would take 5 years in either direction. I've seen people with no money, career or desire to achieve get a large court settlement and in 8 or nine months be dead broke. Actually knew a couple that blew $380,000.00 in under a year and actually ended up in debt by that year end. Re didtribution of wealth is about control! It's about keeping people dependent. It's the modern day version of slavery.

Nicely put.
People act in self-interest. Some act in short-term self interest, others in their long-term self interest. Some look for the quickest buck and most immediate gratification. Others are willing to delay gratification--yet they are motivated by long range self interests.
Because of this fact, socialism (redistribution of wealth) leads to economic decline, and capitalism maximizes overall wealth creation. Those who act wisely for the long term get punished, those who seek immediate gratification are rewarded. When you punish behavior, you get less of it, when you reward behavior you get more of it.
Why is this not obvious to everyone?

Someone told me about a study of people who win the lottery and how it changed their lives for the worst and most of them ended up broke in the long run.
I still wouldnt mind winning the Powerball, but wont count on it.

It's true about punishing behavior. In the field that I studied and worked in, it was called "extinction".
We all do it when we train a puppy. You reward the desirable behavior and "punish" the undesirable behavioral traits. You do it till the point where the behavior is so minimal or does exist anymore. Then after months and months of hard work, people say to you "You have such a good dog"...like it happened overnight!

Behavioral Modification 101: Behavior that gets rewarded...gets repeated.

Somebody should write a book for government officials "Everything I need to know about leadership, I learned in puppy training"

You are absolutely correct. No amount of redistribution will solve the fact that their are heirarchies in this country and in all countries.

Here is a prime example:
I work in wealth management. Most people I work under at the bank are attorneys and they serve as corporate fiduciaries and trustees over accounts. On a weekly basis, I see clients that are requesting withdrawals from their trust funds to pay bills from principal. A lot of these people have jobs and receive income from the account each month upwards of $1000-2000 a month. Now I can think of PLENTY to do with that much extra a month on top of my income from work. And the answer is that it would go toward paying off debts faster (aka car note, student loans), go into savings, or be invested. So I see people completely BLOWING their money and running down their trust funds like nobody's business.

So what happens when people like that are given "tax credits?" Do you think that people whom are fiscally irresponsible already are going to have an enlightened moment when they receive their check? Absolutely NOT. They are going to be the same people I see walking out of the welfare office down the block from my office wearing designer clothing, hair done, nails done. But they need food stamps.

You want to motivate people to get up and do something? Take the welfare away! This isn't how EVERYONE is, but there is no gain in rewarding poor behavior.