> A recurring observation about wealth distribution is that if everyone's income & wealth were equalized, we'd soon return to the economic disparity & distribution we see now. Poverty/wealth is, on the whole, a consequence of chosen behavior.
That's not an "observation", its a claim. Actually, its two separate claims: one a claimed effect of a hypothetical action, and one a claimed mechanism of the claimed effect.
And while I see plenty of reason to suspect that the claimed effect would be true if a point-in-time redistribution occurred, the evidence from, oh, looking around at places that have different observed distributions of wealth and what factors correlate with them is that its not because degree of poverty and wealth are consequences of chosen behavior of individuals, but because the distribution of wealth toward which a society tends are determined largely by the policies (tax, social support, etc.) present in the society on an ongoing basis, such that a point in time redistribution will, over time, be eroded back to the distribution favored by policy (it might, actually, remix who is where on the distribution, but not what the actual distribution looks like over the long term.)
the distribution of wealth toward which a society tends are determined largely by the policies (tax, social support, etc.) present in the society on an ongoing basis, such that a point in time redistribution will, over time, be eroded back to the distribution favored by policy
To put a bit of a finer point on it, it has to do with the things that would not be affected by a point-in-time redistribution of currency: access to education and social connections that affect policy. This returns us to a huge component that GP ignores in attributing poverty to choices: luck. As far as choices go, there is also a huge amount of effort spent in ensuring that the unlucky stay that way.
That's not an "observation", its a claim. Actually, its two separate claims: one a claimed effect of a hypothetical action, and one a claimed mechanism of the claimed effect.
And while I see plenty of reason to suspect that the claimed effect would be true if a point-in-time redistribution occurred, the evidence from, oh, looking around at places that have different observed distributions of wealth and what factors correlate with them is that its not because degree of poverty and wealth are consequences of chosen behavior of individuals, but because the distribution of wealth toward which a society tends are determined largely by the policies (tax, social support, etc.) present in the society on an ongoing basis, such that a point in time redistribution will, over time, be eroded back to the distribution favored by policy (it might, actually, remix who is where on the distribution, but not what the actual distribution looks like over the long term.)