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There is something out of whack in America. Instead of promoting equality, public policy has left millions locked into lives of restricted opportunity while bestowing the benefits of growth on the very few.
We know this and yet we let it continue. On Sept. 18, the Federal Reserve announced (http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf) what sounded like good news: in the United States,
<blockquote>“the net worth of households and nonprofits rose by $1.4 trillion to $81.5
trillion during the second quarter of 2014. The value of directly and indirectly
held corporate equities increased $1.0 trillion and the value of real estate
expanded $230 billion.â€</blockquote>
Taking a somewhat longer view, the Fed reported (http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?id=HNONWRQ027S) that since 2000, household wealth in the United States has grown by $37 trillion
â€" from $44.45 trillion to $81.49 trillion at the end of the second quarter of this year, but these spectacular gains in wealth are mostly benefiting upper-income (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-18/household-wealth-increases-in-u-s-as-stock-prices-advance.html) Americans.
The September Federal Reserve Bulletin (http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/2014/pdf/scf14.pdf) graphically demonstrates how wealth gains since 1989 have gone to the top 3 percent of the income distribution. The next 7 percent has stayed even, while the bottom 90 percent has experienced a steady decline in its share.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/opinion/america-out-of-whack.html?rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=context®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&pgtype=article (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/opinion/america-out-of-whack.html?rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=context®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&pgtype=article)
The wealthy control the power. They control the government. Things work out in their favor for a reason.
Control the government? Sure. Most people exercise at least some amount of control over the things they own. Why should the rich be any different?
Quote from: PopeyesPappy on September 24, 2014, 10:19:39 PM
Control the government? Sure. Most people exercise at least some amount of control over the things they own. Why should the rich be any different?
The rich are different in that they also exercise control over things they don't own.
Mostly through control of that which they do own. Politicians.