Inequality is not such a bad thing. In fact, it is an inevitable feature of life. People have different talents, capabilities and appetites for work. Why do we celebrate differential outcomes in some domains while lamenting it in others?

Last Sunday, I completed my first Comrades marathon, competing against 20 349 runners (15 951 men and 4 398 women). Only 18 273 of those who started completed the race (a finish rate of about 89.8%). This should give you an idea of how tough Comrades is.

This was the 99th edition of this historic event, which alternates direction every year. Last week’s race was an “up-run”, traversing 85.777km from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.

It lived up to its name. At times it felt as if I was forever running uphill (the total accumulative ascent is about 1 900 meters). The infamous hill, Polly Shorts, is 2km long and comes after about 80km of running. It will humble even the most accomplished runners.

David Ansara at the finish of the 2026 Comrades Marathon in Pietermaritzburg.

I finished the race in 10:50:49. This was a good result for me but quite slow when you consider how quickly the winners finished the race.

The first male, George Kusche, came in at 5:15:56, a whole five hours and 35 minutes ahead of me. The first lady home was Gerda Steyn, who clocked 5:44:53 to win her fifth consecutive Comrades.

As Professor Tim Noakes observed, women tend to be on average 10-12% slower than men. Steyn’s time was only 9.1% slower than Kusche’s, who himself ran the fastest ever up-run, making her accomplishment ever more special.

While I was still slogging through Inchanga, Kusche and Steyn were already kicking their feet up in Pietermaritzburg and savouring their respective victories. The results were decidedly unequal.

Objective test

At the same time, running is also the ultimate leveller.

No matter your age, race, or wealth, you simply have to run from here to there in the fastest time possible. It is an objective test of human performance.

Some people are prepared to work harder for their goals. Kusche ran up to 260km per week at the peak of his training in the build-up to Comrades. Even if I could train that much (I “only” managed 90km at my peak), I would never win a gold medal in the Comrades. It’s so unfair!

Athletes also have different physical aptitudes for various forms of running.

I’m sure Kusche is an adequate sprinter, but he could never beat Akani Simbine, the current South African national record holder in the 100m sprint. Consider that when Simbine set his South African record of 9.82 seconds at the 2024 Paris Olympics, he didn’t even podium, missing out on third place by 0.01 seconds.

The difference between success and failure at the top level is wafer thin.

Trillionaire club

In sport, we take it for granted that some people are just special. Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Michael Jordan, and Lionel Messi are the “GOATS” of their respective disciplines and deservedly receive lavish praise for their accomplishments.

Yet when it comes to debates about income inequality, the discussion turns negative.

On 12 June, Elon Musk became the world’s first dollar trillionaire after the successful listing of SpaceX, of which he owns roughly 42%. Musk also holds significant stakes in Tesla, xAI, and X (formerly Twitter).

Many commentators were quick to deride Musk’s achievement as reflective of the unfairness of the economic system, renewing calls for redistributionist policies and higher taxation on the rich. Oxfam called Musk’s trillionaire status a "new pinnacle of oligarchy and a dark day for democracy."

Misunderstanding wealth

The criticism of Musk is based on resentment and envy, rather than a genuine compassion for the poor. It also rests on the flawed assumption that wealth is finite: when somebody gets rich it must be at the expense of somebody else.

Not so.

In a free-market system based on voluntary exchange, entrepreneurs are rewarded for generating value for others. Musk can deliver value at scale like nobody else.

Tesla has pioneered consumer electric vehicles and battery storage technology.

SpaceX is looking to colonise the moon and mine it for minerals.

xAI is leading the artificial intelligence revolution and has built the largest datacentres on earth, Colossus I and Colossus II.

Starlink satellites have brought high-speed internet connectivity to the remotest parts of the world (could there be anything more hypocritical than the South African government’s willingness to block Starlink for not complying with black economic empowerment ownership requirements all in the name of “redress”?).

Musk’s extraordinary wealth is a consequence of his high intelligence, his relentless desire to innovate, and his willingness to take big bets on the future when nobody else dares. He is also prepared to fail publicly, like when his rockets explode mid-launch. Musk takes these failures as an opportunity to learn and iterate, not as an excuse to give up.

Human progress

Income inequality is nothing new. In 18th Century France, Marie Antoinette enjoyed wealth beyond the wildest imaginings of the average French peasant. Yet, the palace of Versailles, where Antoinette lived lacked the basic plumbing that we take for granted today.

By contrast, in 2026, Musk might be a trillionaire, but he still owns an Apple iPhone just like 1.5 billion other people worldwide. Technology developed by entrepreneurs like him has made this level of access possible.

What is often overlooked in debates about wealth inequality is the fact that the number of poor people has plummeted over time. According to HumanProgress.org, a mere 200 years ago, more than 80% of the world lived in extreme poverty (defined as $1.90 per day). Today, that figure is under 9%, driven largely by economic liberalisation and free trade.

What really matters is whether people have a reasonable chance of improving their own circumstances.

Your relative wealth compared to where you have come from is more important than where you stand in relation to the creamy layer at the top. It is the equivalent of improving your time at next year’s Comrades as opposed to winning the race.

We should celebrate Elon Musk’s extraordinary achievement, rather than deride it. He deserves every one of his trillion dollars just as George Kusche and Gerda Steyn deserve their gold medals.

Ansara is CEO of the Free Market Foundation.