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The total financial wealth in the United States was about $54 trillion in 2010. The average/per capita financial wealth of the bottom 80% of American households was about $27,000 in 2010.
How long could you or your family survive on that? What if you were laid off from your job? What if you had a medical emergency or other catastrophe that cost you a lot? What if you got hit by a high interest rate, whether it be a credit card company or mortgage?
About 80-85% of the American population is almost or totally dependent on their household income-their work/labor, or in the case of the poor (and/or the retired), government assistance. About 10-15% of the American population is financially stable, but still mostly dependent on the income from their work/labor.
That leaves 1% of the population owning more than 40% of all financial (non-home) wealth. And there's even more inequality within that 1%.....
With stats like these, is it really a surprise that more and more people are depending on government assistance? America has a wholly inadequate public "safety net" on an international scale, and an almost non-existent private one...
So? Look at the cost of living in America..especially the cities...
Indeed, DO look at the COL. Americans have less wealth than Canadians, Germans, or Australians despite have lower taxes, lower COL, and a higher adjusted income.
Would you rather be poor in America or Darfur? Campuchea? The Sudan?
So the American poor-who, I should add, are mostly working poor-and all the middle-income households should "suck it up" and let the super-rich-many of whom live off off investment (non-labor) income, many of whom inherit wealth, many of whom take advantage of others, many of whom are just plain lucky, (but it doesn't matter, they still owe a debt to American society, like we all do)-take more and more of the wealth of our beloved America?
When does it end? When does a rich individual have enough? When do the majority of Americans, who have seen their benefits slashed, their homes foreclosed or lose value, their wages repressed, and their hours cut even as they attempt to work more hours..oh, and all this is in the context of a rising cost of living, particularly in the cities and suburbs, where most of the jobs are, while so many rural areas decline...
I don't begrudge rich people who work hard, play by the same rules as others, and have a generous (read: not entitled) spirit. What I do take issue with is rich people continuing to make more money-more money than EVER, in fact-while the vast majority of people either make the same amount of money, or less.
And this state of affairs is not, btw, because the few super-rich are smarter or more clever than the rest of us. Government policies-especially tax policies-along with the restructuring and consolidation of Corporate America have made the rich richer, and the poor poorer.
Now, I'm no genius, but I tend to think that looking like a banana republic in terms of inequality is a bad thing. Just as a general rule...
Go find a better job then. Oops Obama and the democrats have detroyed the economy and now whine how folks can't find a good job............and to top it off scream that burger flippers should get fifteen bucks an hour. Pure inanity at play here.
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