I have a theory (one of many) on poverty and wealth. I believe that if all the money in the world could be collected from all those who own it and it was then distributed equally among all the world’s adults each would receive about $50,000 (about £35,000) although the actual figures do not matter too much).
My theory is that in a very short space of time large numbers of people would be absolutely potless, quite a few in the middle would have retained most of their share plus or minus a few quid and a very few would have multiplied their share many times over. Of course those in less developed countries would have less opportunity to spend their wisely and would probably spend their windfall simply to survive. However, I believe that if the experiment was to be conducted in a single developed county (say the UK) the same results would ensue. Some people can run faster than others, a few very much faster than others, but some cannot run at all. So it is with money making. Some have a huge talent for it, most get by and manage to keep a few bob in the bank, some have no idea how to get it or how to handle it sensibly if they do.
Short of confiscating all wealth no amount of meddling by governments (of any persuasion) will alter this – regardless of who leads the Labour Party. The rich will always get richer because of their talent for selling their labour and/or acquiring money. The poor will always get poorer (in relative but not necessarily absolute terms) and those in the middle will probably remain more or less where they are. Life ain’t fair. But nobody said it was or would be.