Very disturbing charts on the wealth imbalance in USA

[Legend of Josh]

The problem isn't with the top 10%... The problem is with the middle... Or a lack of a middle in our current system.

Exactly. The lower to middle class is continuously growing (middle down to lower borderline), all the while many more Americans are becoming millionaires. The middle class is definitely shrinking and has been for a little while now. Without a stable middle class, the economy will eventually fold and everyone loses (except for the ones that purposely set all this up to begin with).

[bladefd]

I just realized that I posted a couple of the graphs twice. editing...

[RedBlackAttack]

wouldn't it be around $80k...

you can't tell me this country doesn't have a middle class...the entire nation is a giant strip mall...our middle class is enormous

it is just that the rich are just VERY VERY RICH

That wealth came from somewhere... It didn't just magically appear in a rich person's wallet. For as much as Republicans talked about 'class warfare' in the last election, there is real class welfare in this country, but it isn't coming from the bottom or the middle...

In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to 1.

How in the hell can that be defended?

The bottom 50% of earners in the US now collectively own less than 1% of the nation’s wealth.

THE BOTTOM 50 PERCENT! That large of a segment isn't 'the poor.' That is the middle class.

There has been a massive shift of wealth in this country over the last few decades to the very, very rich and it has come from the middle class. You don't need many statistics to literally SEE it.

The question is, how do we fix it? This isn't about communism or any other 'ism' that alarmists want to throw at me to make it seem as though I'm an extremist. The reality is, we need a strong middle class for the economy to be healthy.

[-playmaker-]

How is it good that less than 1% of the country controls more wealth than nearly the entire population?

well, I am not saying that is a good thing, but that chart shows that the rest of us are well off...we are far from a poor country

10% of us are borderline "rich"

it is just that top 1% that is REALLY REALLY REALLY RICH...Bill Gates and company



IDK, that is the "American Dream" right?...are we supposed to force the success stories to give their money to all the losers?

[-playmaker-]

[QUOTE=RedBlackAttack]That wealth came from somewhere... It didn't just magically appear in a rich person's wallet. For as much as Republicans talked about 'class warfare' in the last election, there is real class welfare in this country, but it isn't coming from the bottom or the middle...

In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to 1.

How in the hell can that be defended?

The bottom 50% of earners in the US now collectively own less than 1% of the nation

[STATUTORY]

people are so clueless without any semblance of perspective. the american middle class came about with the destruction of international production following something called world war II. Only due to the utter lack of foreign production was american companies able to sustain the high salaries that were payed to americans for rather menial jobs from 1944 to 1975. As soon as capital mobility reemerged, the american "middle class" was doomed.

[Jasper]

I've been on this planet longer than most of you.
Voted and supported the poor and middle class , and wish a balance would be struck for the betterment of human life in America for all.

Not to bash the OP - fact is that those elite wealthy are in fact all Republicans.

After this last election I will never vote again.
This is sad , because I was quite proud of our country , where my grandfather came from , where my father and step father fought in WWII for our freedom and was lucky enought when the first 18 year olds were able to vote , I did and voted for a president.

Now I succumb to the realization that it is not only our goverment that is fcuked up , but the people that vote for the people that represent them.
remember the majority vote is the ruling body.
---------
Look at my state , those same voters that wanted change are now in Madison by the thousands protesting their rights... WHAT A FCUKING JOKE.

[RedBlackAttack]

our middle class is f*cking enormous...just cause the top 1% are billionares doesn't mean we don't have a middle class...


F*CK we are the only country on the planet where the poor people are fat asses and the rich people are skinny...everywhere else it is the opposite

our country is loaded...and our citzens are spoiled

don't let the charts fool you into thinking you are getting ripped off...

I don't need the charts to 'fool' me. I'm living it, man. Yeah, our country is 'loaded,' but that money is going straight to the top.

Seriously... Get the f#ck out of here with this 'spoiled' sh!t. I better leave this thread now before things get ugly.

[Jasper]

our middle class is f*cking enormous...just cause the top 1% are billionares doesn't mean we don't have a middle class...


F*CK we are the only country on the planet where the poor people are fat asses and the rich people are skinny...everywhere else it is the opposite

our country is loaded...and our citzens are spoiled

don't let the charts fool you into thinking you are getting ripped off...

If you are right , then I am clueless why the country went into the toilet , and it takes now two full time incomes in a household to keep a household afloat.
I struggled as a single home owner for 6+ years and realized the issues and if it was not for my recent refiniancing - I would of lost my home.
Unlike most , all of my equity has gone into my properties..
Many without jobs as well as lost their homes and many were MIDDLE CLASS.

[Jasper]

I don't need the charts to 'fool' me. I'm living it, man. Yeah, our country is 'loaded,' but that money is going straight to the top.

Seriously... Get the f#ck out of here with this 'spoiled' sh!t. I better leave this thread now before things get ugly.

thank you.

[RidonKs]

I better leave this thread now before things get ugly.

no, don't. stay a while.


the American Dream is rigged. tax loopholes, inheritance, opportunity imbalance, regional discrepancies, corporate collusion with gov't, the whole schpeel.

[-playmaker-]

I don't need the charts to 'fool' me. I'm living it, man. Yeah, our country is 'loaded,' but that money is going straight to the top.

Seriously... Get the f#ck out of here with this 'spoiled' sh!t. I better leave this thread now before things get ugly.

hmm...well I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, not sure why it would really, but this country is spoiled...no question about it...

everyone is at the mall with an iphone shoved up thier ass facebooking each other while in line at Starbucks...yet I am supposed to beleive we have no middle class?....naw, we are fine.....for now anyway

[RedBlackAttack]

hmm...well I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, not sure why it would really, but this country is spoiled...no question about it...

everyone is at the mall with an iphone shoved up thier ass facebooking each other while in line at Starbucks...yet I am supposed to beleive we have no middle class?....naw, we are fine.....for now anyway

In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to 1.



The bottom 50% of earners in the US now collectively own less than 1% of the nation

[crosso√er]

people are so clueless without any semblance of perspective. the american middle class came about with the destruction of international production following something called world war II. Only due to the utter lack of foreign production was american companies able to sustain the high salaries that were payed to americans for rather menial jobs from 1944 to 1975. As soon as capital mobility reemerged, the american "middle class" was doomed.

The same people that love the free-market are the same people who hate it; when they fail to make money.

The idea sounds intriguing, primarily to people with aspirations, but to the lazy people, they'll blame the system. The wealth distribution is a problem sure, but that's the structure we live in; that's our "American Dream."

It's the same dream that turns into a nightmare for so many Americans.

[Jasper]

[QUOTE=RedBlackAttack]That wealth came from somewhere... It didn't just magically appear in a rich person's wallet. For as much as Republicans talked about 'class warfare' in the last election, there is real class welfare in this country, but it isn't coming from the bottom or the middle...

In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to 1.

How in the hell can that be defended?

The bottom 50% of earners in the US now collectively own less than 1% of the nation