A remark by Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress Sam Pitroda on implementing an inheritance tax as a tool of wealth redistribution has sparked massive debates. In this article, we present rationale on why high inequality is harmful, and advocate for progressive taxes as a mechanism to reduce inequality.
Primarily, we underscore the need to take a view of citizenship where the poor and the rich can participate equally in democratic decision-making. However, in an unequal society, a handful of dominant individuals can wield a disproportionate amount of power through control of resources. This will likely lead to a few wealthy elites dictating the socioeconomic and political decisions aimed to benefit them at the cost of the majority. The recent electoral bonds scam bears witness to this. The citizenship of wealthy elites would then carry more weight than the majority of the country. This is ethically hazardous.
