Exploring An Extreme Wealth Line
20th May 2025
New Economics, a Voice of the Crust.
It has long been accepted that there is a line beneath which people have too little to thrive or survive. In a period defined by rapidly growing wealth inequities, there is increasing discussion about whether we should also be asking how much is too much. At what point does wealth accumulation become excessive, unjust, or harmful?
Excessive – in whose opinion? Unjust – in whose opinion? Harmful – in whose opinion? The envious levelers who permeate proglodyte space?
The concepts of a poverty line and an extreme wealth line (EWL) are not the same. One focuses on the minimum income, or the level of resources, required to access life’s essentials such as food, shelter, and clothing. The other considers whether there is a point beyond which the concentration of global wealth, such as income-generating land, properties, and financial assets, in the hands of relatively few people, is harmful – to individuals, to society, and to the environment. Drawing a line in either case has the potential to be highly contested, but also hugely impactful: it enables us as a society to discuss and reassess our tolerance for inequities and ultimately design better policies to tackle them.
Socialism red in tooth and claw.