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Wednesday, 24 June 2026

It's not rich vs poor, it's makers vs takers | David Friedberg

David Friedberg: It's not rich vs poor, it's makers vs takers.

@friedberg:

The great lie is that there are two sides to society, that is the rich and the poor.

And the great truth is that there are two sides that are the makers and the takers.

The lie is that the rich are unfairly rich and the poor are unfairly poor, and therefore, the poor must take from the rich.

But the truth is that it's the takers that tell you that lie, that the real truth is that artists, plumbers, electricians, woodworkers, computer scientists, people that build, people that make from all walks of life, all income levels, all wealth brackets, are the makers.

And the takers are what Sacks calls this intelligentsia, the analysts, the espousers, the armchair mechanics, the critics, the commentators, the politicians. They are the takers.

They are the people that watch the rest of society make stuff, build stuff, specifically doing things that create value for other people in society. That's what a maker is.

Who allocates capital better? Makers or Takers? Success-motivated individuals or power-obsessed governments? Case in point:


A socialist may object: “private companies also fail”. Indeed they do. And when they do, they forfeit their money. Theirs and their backers’ money. When governments fail, they waste your money. Our money.