Letter 4

There are few more damaging, obvious lies than the idea that someone who has money has the absolute right to use it any way they want.

Money isn't exclusively the property of the person who happens to have it. It is worthless outside of the society that produces it and agrees to value it. It is society that protects it from theft, counterfeiting and fraud. Without society, money, be it paper, digital, blockchains or wampum, is worthless.

It follows, then, that there is no inherent right to use your money in such a way as to damage society. If you use your money to immiserate others, pollute the environment, cause distress and damage to the social fabric, we have the right to take your money away. Money, like the Constitution, is not a suicide pact.

Money is power. To allow people to accumulate unlimited money is to allow them to accumulate unlimited power.