This, from TSO, seems right on target:
I'm often puzzled by those who are resentful of the rich and who are bothered by disparities of income. Disparity is minutiae, what counts is how much the poor have, whether their needs are met, and that the "floor" be as high as possible.
This is the roadmap for the end of envy (at least in matters material). The focus should not be on taking away from someone in order to even out the playing field, but rather on supplying those who are in want with the things they need in order to live a decent life. Now, some systems are better at this than others and the difficulty often seems to be how to make the desirable result come about without undesirable consequences for everyone else.
