Rich people are necessary

One of the most important points made by the brilliant economist Friedrich Hayek was the necessity of rich people in society. Rich people are necessary for society's techonological, cultural and philosophical development.

Technology

New products are expensive when they are introduced on the market. Just think of cars, radios, TV sets, personal computers, cell phones, etc. Only rich people could afford to buy them when they were new. This is not a bad thing. On the contrary, by buying these products when they were expensive, rich people have been paying the development costs for them, and thus made it possible for the producers to sell them cheaper.

Culture and philosophy

Within a class of rich, or financially independent, people, there will be persons who does not have to, and indeed does not, work for their living, because they earn their living from trust funds or inheritances. Most of these individuals will probably not do many useful things (except buying expensive products, as stated above), but among this class, there will also be outstanding individuals with the time and money to explore and support new cultural and philosophical ideas. I do not think that culture and philosophy cannot be explored and spread by people who are not rich, but it can hardly be doubted that rich people contribute to society's cultural and philosophical development.