Agreed. I use and like the browser and would rather just pay for it so they can afford to keep producing it. Not interested in the various other funding schemes theyâ(TM)ve tried over the years.

If the question of income inequality interests you, I suggest you read

Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson

The authors analyze historical data to reveal factors that lead societies into democracy or dictatorship. Income inequality is one of the factors.

From the book's summary at http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?i sbn=9780521855266:

"Democracy consolidates when elites do not have strong incentives to overthrow it. These processes depend on the strength of civil society, the structure of political institutions, the nature of political and economic crises, the level of economic inequality, the structure of the economy, and the form and extent of globalization."