I'm here!!! (This post got so out of control, I literally was getting 50 notifications every 5 minutes lol). Anyways in the above example you give a situation in which an individual spends 98% of their income on living expenses. You also provide ONE path that gives that individual any sort of upward mobility, already your analogy is 100 times more ridiculous than mine. This belief that the country and economy are in the control of billionaires is a conspiracy theory, no other way to put it. Social mobility is completely attainable, and would be even more attainable if we had a system that was pure capitalism. Upward mobility requires hard work and smart budgeting. Average low wage in CA (where I'm from) is about $10 an hour, rent for an apartment is about $1000 a month (you can rent a room for cheaper). That leaves an individual $600 left over, after food and public transportation expenses, $400 left over. That individual can save around $4800 a year with smart budgeting, they can then start looking for a better job while still working at the low wage job. If need be they can buy a car cash and commute elsewhere if jobs are in a neighboring city. However, what that individual really needs to do is focus on near term income improvement and savings, all while having a long term idea to work towards. Then they must take a risk and invest their savings towards their long term idea, for the low wage worker let's use a food truck as an example. They then work hard on their food truck and become profitable, eventually saving enough money to open a brick and mortar restaurant, then eventually expanding to two even three restaurants. They now are wealthy and know the value of hard work. This narrative I laid out is the life story of a good friend of mine, he had bad grades in high school, never went to college, worked as a line cook at Disneyland, saved money, partnered with another line cook he worked with and bought a food truck. They now have two restaurant locations and a crew working their food truck. The point here is that they didn't sit at their minimum wage job and complain, they had a plan, took a risk, and succeeded. They worked hard the whole way, now they employ people and give their employees the opportunity to do the same. Now only one thing is in their way, taxes and regulatory hurdles. Taxes and Regulations hold them back from hiring more people and providing more opportunity. In a free market system you would see the entrepreneurship and private sector growth that really make an economy grow. For you to insult people for being wealthy and insinuating that they didn't work hard for it is ridiculous. Every great company requires hard work to build, employers don't put a gun to anyone's head, an employee can quit anytime. Yes, some people inherit wealth, but guess what it's part of the plan. That person's parents intended for that to happen and worked hard to assure it. If the recipient blows the wealth on drugs and partying screw them, if they grow the company and work hard themselves, kudos to them. Bottom line, supply and demand determine value. The policies Bernie advocates for ignore supply and demand. A $15 minimum wage will create more unemployment and make businesses harder to operate. This will cause businesses to mechanize more or move elsewhere. Work, save, put your capital on the line. Innovate and try to create something, that is how capitalism works. Socialism punishes ingenuity and achievement by taking what others have earned and redistributing it.