WRIT Capstone: Analysis of Meghan Bell's Wealth Tax Argument

This essay provides a critical analysis of Meghan Bell's article, "I'm Part of the 0.1 Percent and I Want a Wealth Tax." The essay examines Bell's argument for a wealth tax in Canada, focusing on her use of rhetoric, evidence, and language to persuade readers. The analysis includes an examination of the author's personal experiences, the use of statistics, and the author's proposed solutions to reduce wealth inequality. The essay also delves into the conflict between the author and her family regarding wealth distribution. The author advocates for a wealth tax to address the gap between the rich and poor. The essay concludes by summarizing the author's recommendations and their potential impact on society, emphasizing the importance of equality and collective action to create a better world. The essay adheres to APA formatting guidelines, including a cover page, citations, and a reference list.

Running head: I AM A PART OF 0.1 PERCENT AND I WANT A WEALTH TAX 1
I am a part of 0.1 Percent and I want a wealth tax
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I AM A PART OF 0.1 PERCENT AND I WANT A WEALTH TAX 2
Introduction
This paper critically analysis an article by the title I'm part of the 0.1 Percent, and I want
a wealth Tax. In this article, the author advocates that his family should donate some part of their
wealth to the less fortunate in society (Bell, 2019). By doing so, he gives his father a book, by
the title Winners Take All, by the author Giridharadas. The richness of the family is well
illustrated by the quote “My family is rich; we were ranked among top ten percent wealthiest
families in the country”. However, the parents are not for the concept, the mother suggests
accumulating wealth, which they will then donate its capital returns annually where else the
other family members want yearly vacations, sports cars, and other laxly. Due to the wealth
inherited by their maternal grandfather, their family joined the elite ranks in Canada. The author
advocates for the introduction of a wealth tax will ensure the balance between the rich and the
poor in Canada (Bell, 2019). The writer further goes on to argue that there should be a balance in
wealth distribution as well as access to services in Canada. I find the argument of this article
useful because the adoption of the writer’s recommendations will help close the gap between the
wealthy individuals and the poor. The writer is undergoing conflict with his family due to his
idea of close gape advocate between the rich and poor. This is well supported by the quote “I see
conflict going on between me and my family...”
Rhetoric
They used rhetoric strategy is this article is to convey a message as well to persuade
different individuals in clouding the author’s father to donate part of his wealth to charitable
organizations (Bell, 2019). In this strategy, the author gave his father a book by the title Winners
Take All by Girigharadas. After reading this book, the author expected his father to start a
charitable organization on his own. The author also talks of how kinds from the affluent families

I AM A PART OF 0.1 PERCENT AND I WANT A WEALTH TAX 3
apply for scholarships despite having the capacity to finance their education. “I am told to apply
for the scholarship I refused”, But going back to my school “I hear rich kids even richer than us
bragging how they received their scholarship awards”, these quotes make the use unique and
caring for the poor. He uses this strategy to speak on how the rick practices unjust practices
without directly stating that these opportunities are meant to be for the poor people in society. He
goes ahead and talks about people inheriting and referring to themselves as new money where
else they are old money. By saying, so the author discourages on inheritance as well as on people
boasting on inheritance acquired resources.
Evidence
In this article, the author uses previous statistics to show the difference in the poverty
levels between the rich and the poor Canadians. The author state that wealthy people increased
their wealth by more than $20 billion in the year 2018, while the poor holds only 4.5 billion of
the country's wealth (Bell, 2019). The evidence provided by the author was as per reports
supplied by Oxfam. The author also advocates that the elites who comprise 0.1 % of the
country's population to be remitting a tax based on their wealth. He supports this idea by saying
it has been proposed by different economists in various countries, including Thomas Piketty of
France, in his book Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Bell, 2019).
Language
In this article, the writer best uses figurative language to try to draw a picture of the rich
people's style of living. The author talks of a mansion on a private island, sports cars, and speed
boats to bring out the image of the luxurious life his family wants to live (Bell, 2019). He creates
the images in the mind of the reader to show how well up are the rich people. This is better
supported by the quote of Meghan “Do I have a mansion?” This is really one prove that rich

I AM A PART OF 0.1 PERCENT AND I WANT A WEALTH TAX 4
people live a high-class life. Thinking about how Meghan is just enjoying counting his richness,
it is very true that the image of the rich people is well represented by the materials they ow. By
mentioning the sports cars and such expensive things, the person reading will get the image of
how rich the addressed people are. Besides this, he uses a low tone to show how helpless he is in
persuading his family members and other wealthy people on the society to embrace strategies
that will, in turn, help the less fortunate in the community (Bell, 2019). Lastly, the author uses
the local color to show the gap in lively hood between rich people and the poor in Canada. The
author describes private schools, luxury swimming pools, and other amenities in describing this
group of wealthy individuals.
Conclusion
In this article, the author talks about minimizing the gap between the rich and the poor
people in Canada through the implementation of different author's recommendations. “I do not
think it is the right thing to give people money who does not have to” This is quote clearly shows
that the scholarship should be well balanced to focus on poor children. Although everyone is
entitled to acquire the scholarship, the equality should be checked on to make sure that as the
rich children get that opportunity to get a scholarship, the poor gotten in the first place. This is
how the poor and rich would be on the same level or close because, at the end of the day, the rich
and poor will be studying in the same class. The author recommends the practice of equality
among all people, especially in access to public resources such as educational facilities. He says
that specific rules and regulations need to be adopted, which will, in turn, ensure fair practices to
the less privileged groups in the society, such as access to education and the provision of clean
water. From this article, I can conclude that for equality to prevail in a society; individuals need

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to put aside their achievements and work together collectively in ensuring that everyone lives in
a better world.

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Reference
Bell, M. (2019). I’m Part of the 0.1 Percent and I Want a Wealth Tax. In the face of rising
inequality, we need to elect politicians who will tax the rich. The walrus. Retrived from
https://thewalrus.ca/im-part-of-the-0-1-percent-and-i-want-a-wealth-tax/