> Instead, it seems to be a consequence of political choices and governance structures.
These are all human constructs and the missing variable is greed, so likely inequality is inevitable once the human condition variables are accounted for
In some isolated and probably anomalous societies sure, but greed-fueled expansion and growth is a hallmark of humanity across every single continent and at every stratum of civilizational development stretching back 10,000s of years
I think greed just expands with the capacity to profit from it. It’s not that it didn’t exist in past and cause problems, it’s that our current systems reward it so heavily. I’m sure something as simple as our fiat currency, having most wealth as an intangible digit in a database, is a huge enabler itself. In past, if you acquired wealth you also had to protect it from theft and that was a significant burden itself.
We do still have the concept of people taking to much while people also greatly admire the vampires. It seems pretty obvious a culture could develop all over the spectrum.
Greed isn't the product. Greed is an inherent human characteristic (we'd all like a bigger house, more luxurious holidays, nicer car etc). The genius of Capitalism is that it channels greed to foster innovation, resulting in better and/or cheaper products, raising living standards.
Greed is an inherent evolutionary characteristic (non-greedy species had an unexpected appointment with extinction).
Social species may have charity within the in-group, but are still fundamentally greedy against the out-group.
Collaborative communities can only exist so long as all its members abide by the social agreement, and there's a scaling limit on how far you can maintain a consistent social agreement.
These are all human constructs and the missing variable is greed, so likely inequality is inevitable once the human condition variables are accounted for