It's staggering that it's not only the monetary volume, but the sheer magnitude of its consequences. Wage theft is one head—the thing itself is part of a hydra. Whenever there's a cash fine in reaction to a civil violation (for example), that ranges from 200% of a person's monthly income to 0.0002%.

Although the punishment is the same, the outcome is vastly different. When you're backed into a corner, what do you do? (If you're not wealthy enough to practically walk through walls, that is.)

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ― JFK

We know this from the Katipunan in the Philippines, the French Revolution, and even Vietnam. And we know it from nature itself.

As much as that dilemma applies to people, it also very much applies to the biosphere. I'm tempted to believe that if we don't go egalitarian, we'll go extinct.