The total distribution of wealth makes for nice discussion, but in reality it will never happen. People would be better served spending less effort trying to come up with ways to take away from the rich and spend more effort bringing up the standard of living for the poor. Do you actually think the rich are going to volunteer to part with their wealth ?? Me either. This discussion is starting to wander into never-never land, just when some interesting points and sensible solutions were being presented. Without philanthropy you will never get a nickel out of the rich, at least not in the USA. Again, it's back to education, social assistance where required, and more social awareness to the needs of the poor people amongst us.