Wealth Distribution

Students can read about any of the 40 people or topics below and afterwards write a 1-page essay and email it to HumanistMutualAid@gmail.com. You can write about as many of these as you wish. In the essay, indicate the three most important suggestions the author made, and explain your own feelings and thoughts after absorbing the information.

Do you agree? Disagree? We’re looking for honesty and deep thinking.

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 Julius Nyerere – Tanzania's first president; promoted African socialism and equitable rural development.

Kwame Nkrumah — First president of independent Ghana; a strong proponent of African socialism, state ownership of resources, and Pan-African unity as a means to redistribute colonial wealth and empower the masses.

Patrice Lumumba (Congo) — Anti-colonial leader who sought to reclaim national wealth from Belgian control and redistribute it for the benefit of Congolese people before his assassination.

Frantz Fanon (Martinique/Algeria)— Though not born in Africa, he deeply influenced African anti-colonial thought. In The Wretched of the Earth, he called for redistribution of land and wealth seized during colonization.

Amílcar Cabral (Guinea-Bissau/Cape Verde) — Revolutionary and agronomist who advocated land reform, anti-imperialism, and wealth redistribution through community-based economies.

Wangari Maathai (Kenya) — Environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner; linked economic inequality, environmental justice, and the need to empower women through access to resources and land.

The GINI Index – A measure of income or wealth inequality within a nation, with 0 being perfect equality and 1 being extreme inequality.

Global Egalitarianism – A movement and philosophy that promotes fair distribution of wealth, power, and opportunities across all nations and peoples.

Distributism – An economic theory rooted in Catholic social teaching advocating for widespread ownership of productive property instead of concentration under the state or capitalists.

Progressive Taxation – A tax system where the rate increases with income, designed to reduce inequality by having the wealthy pay a larger share.

Land Reform (India, Mexico, etc.) – Redistribution of land from large landowners to peasants or the landless, aimed at correcting historic injustices and reducing rural poverty.

Nationalizing Natural Resources & Industry – The state takes ownership of key industries and natural assets to ensure profits benefit the public rather than private elites.

Billionaire Wealth – Ethical Concerns – Questions whether extreme wealth accumulation is just, and whether hoarding wealth harms social cohesion and democracy.

Tax Havens – Countries or jurisdictions with low or no taxes that enable the wealthy and corporations to hide money and avoid contributing to public revenue.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) – A guaranteed, unconditional income for all people, proposed as a response to job loss from automation and AI.

Thomas Piketty – French economist known for Capital in the Twenty-First Century; advocates global progressive wealth taxes.

Ingrid Robeyns – Dutch philosopher and proponent of Limitarianism, the idea that no one should be excessively rich.

Henry George – 19th-century American economist; proposed the Land Value Tax as a single, fair way to redistribute wealth.

Amartya Sen – Indian economist and Nobel laureate; supports equitable development and capabilities-based justice.

Karl Marx – Philosopher and economist; advocated for abolition of private property and redistribution through socialism.

Peter Kropotkin – Russian anarchist and geographer; championed mutual aid and communal wealth sharing.

Huey Long – American populist; proposed the Share Our Wealth program to cap personal fortunes and guarantee basic income.

Evo Morales – Bolivian president who nationalized industries and redistributed revenues to the poor.

B.R. Ambedkar – Indian reformer who advocated for land redistribution and economic justice for Dalits.

Hare Krishna Konar - spearheaded India’s earliest and most extensive agrarian reforms—radically redistributing land to the tiller.

M. P. T. Acharya - Indian revolutionary that advocated systemic redistribution of power and resources.

Ram Manohar Lohia - A prominent leader during the post-independence era, Lohia fought against inequality and systemic injustice, refusing personal wealth and advocating for the rights of the marginalized.

Arundhati Roy - An author and activist, Roy has openly called for a redistributive approach that goes beyond taxation—saying we should “take their money and redistribute it,” and even advocate for land reform and direct action.

Nitin Kumar Bharti - Produced highly influential research urging radical redistribution—such as implementing wealth taxes and a “super tax” on the ultra-rich to fund social investments.

Thomas Sankara – Burkina Faso's revolutionary leader; redistributed land to peasants and rejected foreign aid.

Fidel Castro – Cuban leader who redistributed wealth and property post-revolution.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – Former president of Brazil; lifted millions out of poverty through Bolsa Família.

Dorothy Day – Co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement; supported personalism and voluntary poverty.

Oscar Romero – Archbishop of El Salvador; criticized economic injustice and oligarchy.

Leo Tolstoy – Russian novelist and Christian anarchist; rejected private property as immoral.

Murray Bookchin – Social ecologist; argued for municipal wealth redistribution and direct democracy.

Rutger Bregman – Dutch historian; author of Utopia for Realists; defends UBI and higher taxes on the rich.

Emiliano Zapata – Mexican revolutionary; fought for land redistribution to peasants under Tierra y Libertad.

Ricardo Flores Magón – Mexican anarchist; inspired redistribution ideals in the Mexican Revolution.

Subcomandante Marcos (EZLN) – Zapatista leader in Mexico; fights for land and wealth redistribution for Indigenous communities.