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The Federalist Papers Hollywood elites never seem to run out of lectures about redistribution.From red carpets, luxury homes, private jets, and multimillion-dollar contracts, wealthy celebrities regularly tell the rest of America that the answer to inequality is taking more money from those who have earned it and handing it to someone else.Fine, then perhaps the experiment should begin in Hollywood.The actors union would be the perfect place to test the principle. When one star earns $20 million for a movie while hundreds of working actors struggle to pay rent, buy groceries, or keep their health insurance, why not redistribute the star’s paycheck?That is what they demand from everyone else.Let the highest-paid actors surrender most of their salaries. Let celebrity producers share their profits. Let wealthy directors, studio executives, and television personalities pool their fortunes and guarantee every struggling performer a living wage.Lead by example.Of course, that is rarely what these people actually mean when they praise socialism or demand redistribution. They do not usually volunteer their own mansions, investment accounts, royalties, and production deals.They want politicians to redistribute someone else’s money.That is the hypocrisy at the center of elite socialism. The people preaching sacrifice are often the least willing to sacrifice. They demand higher taxes, more government control, and compulsory generosity, while their accountants, lawyers, and financial advisers work to protect every dollar they have accumulated.Real generosity is voluntary. It comes from the individual who earned the money deciding to help another person. Redistribution is different. It uses government power to take from one person and transfer the proceeds according to political priorities.Hollywood celebrities are free to give away as much of their wealth as they choose. Nothing is stopping them.Until they begin applying their own principles to their own fortunes, Americans should treat their lectures about economic fairness for exactly what they are, moral posturing financed by other people’s money.Should Hollywood’s highest-paid stars redistribute their salaries before demanding that the government redistribute yours?