"I can do whatever I want with my money; it's mine." Well, that's not exactly true. It's yours, yes. But you can't do whatever you want. The more you have, the clearer it becomes that you've accumulated it thanks to the collective work of many other people, thanks to the existence of infrastructure and public services, thanks to a legal system that ensures the proper functioning of the economy. Therefore, you have to pay taxes; you have an obligation to contribute to maintaining all of this. You can't just go about your business, without taking into account the environment that has favored you. Economist Thomas Piketty states: "You are not alone in the world, and you can't simply say, 'This money is mine.'"

The blackout has brought us face to face with the fragility of everything we have and take for granted. The standard of living achieved in the West (the East is getting its act together) is, in historical terms, spectacular. Of course, this doesn't negate the evidence of the inequalities and vulnerability of so many people, nor the fact that this wealth has been the fruit of brutal processes of colonization or exploitation. That said, and lest I be misunderstood, a poor person today in a democratic Western country is not the same as a poor person a century ago. Just look at general life expectancy or public health, education, and social welfare services, even if they remain limited.