Tom Malleson

In an era of remarkable wealth idolatry, Tom Malleson investigates the ethical justifications of wealth inequality, taking the radical position that we should abolish the billionaires. Stark inequality is a problem the world over, but it has been worsening over the past thirty years, particularly in rich, economically developed countries. To acquire the same amount of wealth as Elon Musk, the average American worker would have to work for more than four and a half million years. Is this inequality morally acceptable and is it feasible to actually reduce inequality in the real world? In Against Inequality, Tom Malleson makes the case for rejecting meritocracy, presenting a strong defense against the claim that individuals "deserve" their wealth. Malleson argues that people, especially rich people, do not morally deserve the bulk of their income because it does not, by and large, come from anything the specific individual does, but is largely due to the vast understructure of other people's labor, in addition to their lucky possession of bodily talents and efforts. Furthermore, the book brings to light extensive historical and comparative evidence to show that raising taxes on both income and wealth is practically feasible and that the costs of doing so are far outweighed by the truly enormous benefits that such taxes could bring in terms of environmental sustainability, democratic equality, equal opportunity, and reduced racism and xenophobia. Unlike previous books on inequality, Against Inequality focuses on the superrich, arguing that they have far too much: a world with billionaires alonside severe deprivation is a world without justice. Malleson's argument is not that billionaires are individually evil, but that a society that allows the existence of the superrich is structurally immoral. In an era of remarkable wealth idolatry, Against Inequality takes the radical position that we should abolish the billionaires.

Against Inequality: The Practical and Ethical Case for Abolishing the Superrich

Fired up about Capitalism

Jennifer Nedelsky

"Part Time for All offers solutions to 4 pressing problems: inequality for care-givers; family stress from demands of work and care; chronic time scarcity; policy makers who are ignorant of care and care-givers with little access to policy making--the care/policy divide. Only a radical restructuring of both work and care can redress all these problems. We propose new norms: no one does paid work for more than 30 hours a week, and everyone contributes roughly 22 hours of unpaid care to family, friends, or their chosen community of care. Other approaches provide only partial solutions. For example, wages for housework, or excellent daycare, or flexible work hours would not overcome the care/policy divide. We explain why everyone needs to acquire the knowledge and dispositions that come from the sustained experience of providing care throughout one's life. We show how work can be transformed to allow time for care giving, and how these new norms will generate a cultural shift in the value accorded care. While we focus primarily on human-to-human care, we include care for the earth. The final two chapters describe how these processes of transformation could be feasibly accomplished and why these changes are possible in high income countries within our current global economy. Every one of our proposals already exists in at least one country; the task is to integrate the key reforms and scale them up. Given the magnitude of the current problems, deep changes are needed. Part-Time for All offers a feasible path forward"--

A Care Manifesto

Part-Time for All

Fired Up about Capitalism

The Practical and Ethical Case for Abolishing the Superrich

Against Inequality

After Occupy scrutinizes power structures in workplaces, markets and investment institutions to boldly argue that democracy shouldn't just be a feature of political institutions but of economic institutions as well.

Tom Malleson

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