Politicians, the rich and the poor

The most dangerous people politically are the very rich and the very poor, so says Henry George in his book, Progress and Poverty. He says the very rich are always manipulating politicians so as to protect their wealth while the very poor with their strong vote pressurise the politicians to equitably distribute the wealth.

Politicians in most cases unwittingly or by their own making end up becoming very rich and thus find themselves too busy trying to protect their own interests and siding with the rich rather the poor.

As an example, says Ariston Chambati, newly independent African countries, opted for centrally planned economies because leaders thought wealth would be equitably distributed. Instead the idea backfired with leaders amassing wealth while production was suffering and the countries’ economies slipped into crises.- From the first issue of The Insider, December 1990

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