> why should an extremely wealthy person have to contribute to society?
If influence, specifically political influence, and wealth could be perfectly decoupled, no reason. That nexus, however, means an oligarchical class of rich idiots have the capability to project their stupidity onto national policy.
Even if they aren't projecting their stupidity, they're certainly projecting their interests. There's nothing preventing their interests from being at odds with society's interests.
Poor idiots collectively have the capability to project their stupidity onto national policy as well. Maybe we should reduce the size and scope of national policy to minimize the impact of idiots, rich or poor.
If influence, specifically political influence, and wealth could be perfectly decoupled, no reason. That nexus, however, means an oligarchical class of rich idiots have the capability to project their stupidity onto national policy.