I think you're conflating wants and needs. All you "need" is nutrition (food and water), air, and temperature regulation. It's reasonable to expand on that to include physiological needs like companionship, shelter and clothing. Sex can also be reasonably included as it is required for the propagation of the species. Everything else is a want. Who are we to dictate what people want to live a better life? What you want to live a better life is quite possibly different from what I want to lead a better life. Wouldn't you agree?
Ha ha ha. If you taxed 100% of the wealth of the wealthiest (Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Zuckerberg, John Kerry, et al - everyone worth say over $100 million) amongst us, you wouldn't even make a dent in the national debt. And I mean take every nickel they have, the national debt will still be out of control. The old saw that tax cuts for the wealthiest increases the national debt is an argument that simply cannot stand up to scrutiny.
SalmoShalazar, please explain to the group how Walter Bright's posts are "incredibly juvenile and disingenuous". Is it simply because you disagree with his assessment?
How you present yourself to others will always matter. Others may not say something to you directly about it if you dress poorly, or have bad grammar, or cannot do basic math, but the skilled WILL laugh at you quietly. It's human nature to mock incompetence. You cannot legislate or morality police it away. And in corporate America, you will be passed over for promotions and plum assignments. The only "professional" career where obvious ineptitude is publicly rewarded is politics.