Poverty And Equality - Good morning everyone! - This gradual downward- spiral shift from poor to poorer in this country has become of great concern to many folks here over the last few decades.
The middle class which used to be doing well on average is becoming the new poor class, and the actual poor have been drastically pushed towards the edge of the cliff. Sadly it's only a matter of time until they'll be literally wiped off the charts as not even a magnifying glass will be able to reveal much more of its statistic existence than a sole flat line in the graphs. At the end of the diagram you find the rich and super rich which together make 20%, but let's talk about the infamous 1% in this country.
They own 40% of all this country's wealth and 24% of the entire national income! It's getting worse. The super rich, although marginal in comparison to the rest, are sky- rocketing so dramatically that they busts the chart! Something is definitely not right here. While the middle class is rapidly thinning out and gradually merging with the poor, the rich, especially the super rich are clearly and unstoppably multiplying their wealth. If only 1% of America's population, roughly 31 million, is in possession of 40% of the entire national wealth which was $54 trillion in 2009, then 99% or 280 million people have to come to terms with the remaining 60% of all the wealth. In other words, if 1% possesses about $21.6 trillion, 99% should end up with $32.4 trillion, but this couldn't be any farther from the truth because in reality 80% or 248.8 million folks have to share 7% between them!
That's only $3.78 trillion! What is going on here? Transfer of wealth this is as my husband keeps saying. Sure it is as it has always been and always will be - one way or another. However, why is the majority eventually and inevitably approaching the brink of total economic disaster?
This nation was founded on the constitutional principal that all men be equal. This amendment is seemingly not worth the paper it was written on as we all know that some ethnic groups are just not as equal as others when it comes to education, job opportunities, promotions, credit worthiness, etc. What's interesting though, exactly this lack of equality has somehow been replaced and compensated for as far as purely materialistically consumer- oriented productivity. In times of highly advanced electronics, we are all given equal choices in terms of whatever purchases we set our minds to.
Since the choice is vast and apparently endless, why go with a cell- phone provided to the neediest if one can have a much better, fancier and more elaborate toy instead? This is just one example.
If the national hourly minimum wage is only $7.25, how can the poorest 30 to 40% hold up to juggling expenses such as monthly rent ($200 upwards), car insurance (at least $100), phone and TV ($50 and more), groceries ($... ?) on a meagre income of $58 a day, $290 a week, $1160 a month?
Of course, this calculation is not complete yet. For one, the taxes have not been taken out of this equation yet, nor have the taxes on every single purchase been subtracted as of yet either.
This leaves us with a total of one grand give or take. No, we are still not there yet. Everybody loves a little fun in their free time, so paupers also want electronic gadgets, jewelry, garden tools, car accessories, etc. Why not? After all, this is a free market economy in which everyone can sell and purchase whatever they want. In many ways the poor man tries to walk in the rich man's shoes, but unlike the rich man, the pauper quickly gets into debts up his neck and has no chance whatsoever to ever pay these off. This in the end leads to even greater impoverishment as those collecting the debts are eventually shifting all wealth to the opposite side, the end of the spectrum. Sad? Yes indeed, because even $9.00 an hour will unfortunately not change much. - Just rambling ...
The middle class which used to be doing well on average is becoming the new poor class, and the actual poor have been drastically pushed towards the edge of the cliff. Sadly it's only a matter of time until they'll be literally wiped off the charts as not even a magnifying glass will be able to reveal much more of its statistic existence than a sole flat line in the graphs. At the end of the diagram you find the rich and super rich which together make 20%, but let's talk about the infamous 1% in this country.
They own 40% of all this country's wealth and 24% of the entire national income! It's getting worse. The super rich, although marginal in comparison to the rest, are sky- rocketing so dramatically that they busts the chart! Something is definitely not right here. While the middle class is rapidly thinning out and gradually merging with the poor, the rich, especially the super rich are clearly and unstoppably multiplying their wealth. If only 1% of America's population, roughly 31 million, is in possession of 40% of the entire national wealth which was $54 trillion in 2009, then 99% or 280 million people have to come to terms with the remaining 60% of all the wealth. In other words, if 1% possesses about $21.6 trillion, 99% should end up with $32.4 trillion, but this couldn't be any farther from the truth because in reality 80% or 248.8 million folks have to share 7% between them!
That's only $3.78 trillion! What is going on here? Transfer of wealth this is as my husband keeps saying. Sure it is as it has always been and always will be - one way or another. However, why is the majority eventually and inevitably approaching the brink of total economic disaster?
This nation was founded on the constitutional principal that all men be equal. This amendment is seemingly not worth the paper it was written on as we all know that some ethnic groups are just not as equal as others when it comes to education, job opportunities, promotions, credit worthiness, etc. What's interesting though, exactly this lack of equality has somehow been replaced and compensated for as far as purely materialistically consumer- oriented productivity. In times of highly advanced electronics, we are all given equal choices in terms of whatever purchases we set our minds to.
Since the choice is vast and apparently endless, why go with a cell- phone provided to the neediest if one can have a much better, fancier and more elaborate toy instead? This is just one example.
If the national hourly minimum wage is only $7.25, how can the poorest 30 to 40% hold up to juggling expenses such as monthly rent ($200 upwards), car insurance (at least $100), phone and TV ($50 and more), groceries ($... ?) on a meagre income of $58 a day, $290 a week, $1160 a month?
Of course, this calculation is not complete yet. For one, the taxes have not been taken out of this equation yet, nor have the taxes on every single purchase been subtracted as of yet either.
This leaves us with a total of one grand give or take. No, we are still not there yet. Everybody loves a little fun in their free time, so paupers also want electronic gadgets, jewelry, garden tools, car accessories, etc. Why not? After all, this is a free market economy in which everyone can sell and purchase whatever they want. In many ways the poor man tries to walk in the rich man's shoes, but unlike the rich man, the pauper quickly gets into debts up his neck and has no chance whatsoever to ever pay these off. This in the end leads to even greater impoverishment as those collecting the debts are eventually shifting all wealth to the opposite side, the end of the spectrum. Sad? Yes indeed, because even $9.00 an hour will unfortunately not change much. - Just rambling ...
I agree with this and it will take a lot of time before we can figure out what to do . The children are the future ........ Good Luck ... you are going to need it .
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