Really well done book!

Detailed and logical. I really enjoyed it. recommend for anyone curious about how inequality works.

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Know your enemy!

Interesting look at how those who champion equality are the real enemies of freedom for the individual.

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Truly Motivational!!!

The 'pie' is not of a fixed size and does not have to be divided. Every one of us can create more. None of the wonderful inventions that make our world possible (whether the indoor plumbing we take for granted and rocket launches that still woo us) arrived by default. They were created by men and women like you and I...

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Such an important book

What made the experience of listening to Equal Is Unfair the most enjoyable?

The narration is excellent.

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A

Which scene did you most enjoy?

N/A

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

NO

Any additional comments?

This is an important book and demonstrated unequivocally that the pursuit of equality damages the poor as much as the wealthy.
If you've read the Spirit Level you really should read this.

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1 person found this helpful

Enjoyable book but narrow view

Whilst I agreed with very many of the author's points in this book I do believe the book trivialises reality - espousing that if only people work hard then they will succeed. We know in truth this is not always the case. I am a Capitalist, but my viewpoint is somewhat softer than the author's, I believe in FAIR Capitalism, which I do not believe this book entirely encompasses. It steadfastly hashes out the line that equality is unfair, and to that end I agree that:
- income equality is UNFAIR
- equality of outcome is UNFAIR
- political equality is FAIR
- taxing hardworking individuals in order to provide for those who won't work is UNFAIR
Small gov't low tax regimes are fairer than marxist or socialist regimes because the former does not stifle innovation, ambition and desire to get ahead.

What I do not agree with is the author's stance on the acquisition of wealth (which is not the same as income). Whilst the author is disparaging of the large (ever growing) welfare state and the transfer of payments, redistribution of wealth from those who earned it to those who didn't (a point with which I totally agree) what the author appears to gloss over, is the transfer of wealth from generation to generation: i.e.: inheritance. The author argues that if a person earns his wealth he should be free to do with it what he pleases. But I believe this is true only to a point. When that person dies, the wealth he has accumulated, in my view, ceases to be his because he no longer exists. To simply enable the adult children of these wealthy individuals to benefit from someone else's hard work is absolutely obscene, particularly nowadays given the potential for innovators to amass enormous estates due to Globalisation and the opportunities to sell their ideas worldwide. The children of these people are lucky - no doubt - they will have had no expense spared on their education, housing, every need met. What I do not see as fair is that they then go on to inherit massive fortunes in adulthood. They haven't earned these fortunes any more than the welfare recipients that the author disparages so much.
A second issue I have with this book is the author's insistence that, well, if only a person just works hard they will be successful. The fact of the matter is money talks. Wealthier people have far more access to opportunities and are able to take many more risks than others, inevitably resulting in an ever smaller circle of very wealthy families monopolising the best opportunities available. This is not touched on at all in the book. The way I would tackle this is by going back to the issue of inheritance (discussed above). I would tax inheritance to the friggen HILT. No offspring - NOBODY - should benefit from the hard work of others to the extent that they never have to work a day in their lives because they have been "set up" in the lap of luxury thanks to their father or grandfather's hard work. The tax taken from these large estates, instead of benefitting undeserving offspring, could be used to pay for the communal services we all use (police services, infrastructure maintenance, etc), thus reducing the tax burden on those who are working and in turn providing these people with much more disposal cash to take the risks, innovate and be creative, which is what is now needed to get ahead. Once this inconsistency in society is rectified only then can we say that Capitalism genuinely works.

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Nutty

This has actually convinced me of the merit of the oposing ideas. The arguments here are all on a foundation of silt, highly idological silt.

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