Regarding Joseph Jaworski's Oct. 4 letter, "Laws of economics and physics": He asserts quite correctly that wealth has already been distributed. What he fails to appreciate is the reality of how that has been achieved and how it continues to be achieved.
The first landlords appropriated land from peasants by force. Later on, states were formed whereby the ruling classes could defend themselves from the people they exploited. Laws, armies and police forces were created for this purpose, and loyalty to the state was inculcated in the population by means of indoctrination.
Fast-forward to the present day, and we have huge corporations occupying the role of medieval landlords. Their representatives — from Milton Friedman to Margaret Thatcher to Mitt Romney — extoll the virtues of "small government" while favoring massive handouts to the rich from public money. They also do their best to break organized labor, which is the only line of defense that working people have. Ultimately, though, it's largely the working class who are to blame for the situation. John Lennon was right to describe the working class as "doped with religion, sex and TV."
Especially after World War II, working people in Western countries accepted the "postwar dream" with its promise of a fairer society — more crumbs from the table — and gave up on revolution and the abolition of the institution of private property. If Jaworski wants to understand the issue better, he should read "What Is Property?" by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.