From "The Conversation"—The moral paradox of extreme wealth: Why people oppose it yet are reluctant to take steps to reduce it
Extreme wealth can concentrate power in the hands of a few. Flavio Coelho/Getty Images Jen Cole Wright , College of Charleston In 2026 – up until July – Elon Musk’s estimated wealth was growing by somewhere between US$30 million and $100 million an hour, making him, at least briefly, the worlds’ first trillionaire. By comparison, the typical American worker earns between $23 and $56 an hour. While Musk’s wealth, even in the face of recent losses, is extreme, dramatic disparities have become commonplace. As of 2026, America had nearly 1,000 billionaires , whereas, according to the most recent federal data available, in 2024 roughly 10.6% of the population – or 35.9 million people – lived below the poverty line. The poverty line is the minimum level of income a person or family needs to be able to cover basic living needs, such as food, clothing and shelter. Given the prevalence of such stark inequality, it would be easy to assume that most people accept it as fair – but they ...
