You're trying to justify extreme inequality with an emotional moral argument over hard work. The fallacies you're making are:
1. Assuming wealth is earned (counter-example: inheritances, rent-seeking)
2. Assuming wealth is compensation for contributing to society (counter-example: rent-seeking)
Even if those two bullet points were true as you've assumed, I'd still argue that capitalism in its current form of extreme wealth inequality is NOT leading to a socially, economically, and technologically optimal society.
For one, poverty is a very real man-made problem. When all your energy is dedicated solely to surviving and you live paycheck to paycheck, of course you won't be able to do things like contemplate and pursue business opportunities (and then people like you call them lazy).
.01% of the population having more wealth than the other 90% is akin to being on an island of 100,000 people where 10 people own more land, bananas, etc. than 90,000 people.
Even if these 10 people were all Einsteins and Elon Musks like you'd probably claim, it's clear that this most likely isn't an optimum allocation of resources. Land that could be put to better use for the community (eg. farming, manufacturing) is hoarded for the pleasure of a few people. Resources are allocated for the pleasure and whims of 10 people (eg. luxury goods). Money sits vacant in bank accounts while business opportunities and opportunities to otherwise help the community go unrealized. Capital and power is so concentrated that it's effectively a monopoly, leading to a totally lopsided system that places the interests of these 10 people above the other 99,990. Want to start a business requiring a large investment? Not happening unless the "owners" approve, and probably not on favorable terms to you. You start to see things like debt slavery being required simply to partake in society (eg. education). The list goes on.
Also, you need to recognize that making a profit does not necessarily correlate to contributing to society (eg. renting out land you own, jacking up an HIV drug's price 5,000%, high-frequency trading, planned obsolescence), and contributing to society does not necessarily correlate to making a profit (eg. open source software, scientific research, taking care of a kid, teaching and having an educated populace). I'm not saying we need to abolish capitalism. Just that we need to recognize the imperfect nature of it, and seek to alleviate those problems.
You can always find extreme cases to support any conclusion. There are bad players at every level, rich and poor.
I do not appreciate victim mentality because i am the grandson of genocide survivors who made it despite having not a dime to their name, no education, no language and the most tragic experience one could possibly imagine. I have zero sympathy for victim mentality.
That does not mean I am not sensitive to the plight of those trapped by circumstances almost impossible to escape. We, as a society, must help them. I do what I can as often as possible.
I see lots of people complaining about the poor while sipping their $5 latte from Starbucks and typing their comments from a $2,000 Apple laptop. Very few of them will stop drinking their lattes and buy a $400 computer so they can donate money and time to help others. As they finish their latte they blame the rich and capitalism for all of the worlds problems. A mirror is a powerful device.
1. Assuming wealth is earned (counter-example: inheritances, rent-seeking)
2. Assuming wealth is compensation for contributing to society (counter-example: rent-seeking)
Even if those two bullet points were true as you've assumed, I'd still argue that capitalism in its current form of extreme wealth inequality is NOT leading to a socially, economically, and technologically optimal society.
For one, poverty is a very real man-made problem. When all your energy is dedicated solely to surviving and you live paycheck to paycheck, of course you won't be able to do things like contemplate and pursue business opportunities (and then people like you call them lazy).
.01% of the population having more wealth than the other 90% is akin to being on an island of 100,000 people where 10 people own more land, bananas, etc. than 90,000 people.
Even if these 10 people were all Einsteins and Elon Musks like you'd probably claim, it's clear that this most likely isn't an optimum allocation of resources. Land that could be put to better use for the community (eg. farming, manufacturing) is hoarded for the pleasure of a few people. Resources are allocated for the pleasure and whims of 10 people (eg. luxury goods). Money sits vacant in bank accounts while business opportunities and opportunities to otherwise help the community go unrealized. Capital and power is so concentrated that it's effectively a monopoly, leading to a totally lopsided system that places the interests of these 10 people above the other 99,990. Want to start a business requiring a large investment? Not happening unless the "owners" approve, and probably not on favorable terms to you. You start to see things like debt slavery being required simply to partake in society (eg. education). The list goes on.
Also, you need to recognize that making a profit does not necessarily correlate to contributing to society (eg. renting out land you own, jacking up an HIV drug's price 5,000%, high-frequency trading, planned obsolescence), and contributing to society does not necessarily correlate to making a profit (eg. open source software, scientific research, taking care of a kid, teaching and having an educated populace). I'm not saying we need to abolish capitalism. Just that we need to recognize the imperfect nature of it, and seek to alleviate those problems.