When a few hold most of the wealth and the majority have none, societies are left with only a handful of options—most of them undesirable. That’s the warning Zoho Corporation CEO Sridhar Vembu issued in a recent post on X, where he laid out what he called the five societal paths in the face of wealth inequality.
“When a few people have a lot of wealth and lots of people have nothing, these are the 5 choices societies make, and we see examples of these around the world,” Vembu wrote.
The first, and in his view most ideal, is that “the people with wealth create employment and develop skills in the broader population.” The second is when “the people with wealth donate to causes that indirectly create employment.”
These two, Vembu said, align with the principles of Dharma, adding: “Dharma dictates 1 and 2, with 1 preferable to 2. This is also the Biblical injunction to teach a man how to fish.”
The third path involves governments stepping in to tax the rich and redistribute to the poor—an approach he views with skepticism. “Many western societies have picked 3 (tax and redistribute that over time leads to corruption). I suspect 3 leads to 4 and 5 over time, so 3 is an unstable equilibrium.”
That fourth option, he said, is when “extortion networks arise that extort from the wealthy,” often with backing from disillusioned populations. It then leads to the fifth and final option: “The wealthy employ vast security forces to resist being extorted.”
One commenter echoed this concern, pointing to countries like South Africa and regions in Latin America, where the cycle of extortion and private security has led to widespread fear, division, and the decay of public trust. “Trust disappears, and society starts to fall apart,” the response noted. “Over time, violence becomes normal, and rebuilding trust takes generations.”
Vembu tied the issue to financialism—a system he argues decouples wealth from work. “What financialism does is to separate wealth from employment, through various schemes of monetary alchemy,” he wrote. “Our ancients understood this intuitively and that is why they disapproved of usury and other ‘making money on money’ schemes.”
“The nature and character of wealth determine and in turn, are determined by the nature of society—yes, it is a self-reinforcing feedback loop.”
Several responses to his post stressed the need for a value-driven approach to wealth. “It’s very important to teach our youngsters about Artha (rightful pursuit of wealth) alongside Dharma (moral duty)… Purpose over profit—important lessons for the young and old,” one user wrote.
Another asked: “How do we nudge & form society towards more 1 & 2? By aping the west we become more like them over time.”
