Six Ways to Fix Income and Wealth Distribution Inequality

Growing the number of social service programs has not eliminated poverty in California. The problem has only grown. Wealth inequality is remedied by widespread ownership of economic assets. Wealth reduces income dependency.

The Problem

For more than 50 years, the government has pushed the "War on Poverty" agenda, believing more government intervention and mandates are required to rectify the income and wealth distribution inequality.

These programs have failed to rectify the problem, but they have created great wealth for government program service providers (i.e., political patrons) and grown the number of government agencies and employees to an unsustainable level.

Six Ways to Eliminating Income and Wealth Inequality

We need counter-initiatives that reverse the government sponsored income and wealth inequality:

1. Reduce government barriers to wealth creation. Government safety net programs have enslaved multiple generations of recipients -- work on enabling citizens to become independent. Improve wealth creation by reducing taxation and government regulations. Support the growth of small businesses and eliminate much of the professional licensing (i.e., support the gig economy). 

2. Stop growing universal basic income (UBI) programs. Reduce welfare by focus on growing the number of people owning wealth creating personal property (economic assets). Communities must explore novel means of providing access to these economic assets such as incentivizing cooperative ownership of economic resources (e.g., homes, small businesses, and shared capital equipment).

3. Increasing the number of nongovernment offerings. Local social entrepreneurialism is desirable. Encourage nonprofit organizations and social enterprises providing localized solutions with products and services such as food security, cultural education and enrichment, and community healthcare solutions. 

4. Provide career technical education. First ensure our children are literate, then, provide access to job training programs. Improve individuals ability to participate in the economy. Many technical careers provide higher incomes than many professional positions requiring college degrees.

5. Eliminate employment discrimination. Laws exist that prohibit labor market discrimination -- laws that prohibit bias based on age, gender, race, and other protected statuses. Simple enforcement of these laws would equalize employment opportunities -- the mantra should be "if you have game, you can play." 

6. Reduce the incarceration rate. Criminal reform is more than reclassifying crimes as lesser offenses and lightening fines and confinement. High crime rates are directly linked to low literacy rates and lack of economic opportunity. Once an individual has been indoctrinated into the criminal justice system, it is virtual impossible to escape. Focusing on prevention and early intervention reduces the size of the criminal justice system and the tax burden --  makes more private funds available for community development and quality of life programs.   

Summary

Growing the number of social service programs has not eliminated poverty in California. The problem has only grown. Wealth inequality is remedied by widespread ownership of economic assets, not promote universal income initiatives. Wealth reduces income dependency.