A Look at the INCOME GAP!

... part of a long email discussion that started about big bank bonuses...   eventually worked it's way around to greed and income disparities in the US..  this is what I found.. . .

 

 

 

Take a look at these snippets from http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/03/29/163:

"... in 2005...  the top 1 percent, .... incomes rose to an average of more than $1.1 million each, an increase of ... about 14 percent."

 

"the top 300,000 Americans collectively enjoyed almost as much income as the bottom 150 million Americans. Per person, the top group received 440 times as much as the average person in the bottom half earned, nearly doubling the gap from 1980."

 

"the top 10 percent of Americans collected 48.5 percent of all reported income in 2005... up from roughly 33 percent in the late 1970s. The peak for this group was 49.3 percent in 1928. 

 

The top 1 percent received 21.8 percent of all reported income in 2005, up significantly from 19.8 percent the year before and more than double their share of income in 1980. The peak was in 1928, when the top 1 percent reported 23.9 percent of all income" (greatest income disparity since the Great Depression - coincidence? I think not - especially in a time when we're in the midst of the worst economic crisis since!)

 

 

'That such a large share of the income gains are going to the very top, at a minimum, raises serious questions about continuing to provide tax cuts averaging over $150,000 a year to people making more than a million dollars a year, while saying we do not have enough money" to provide health insurance to 47 million Americans and cutting education benefits.'  --  Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

or from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/03/earlyshow/living/money/main4068795.shtml:

"According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, income for the bottom half of American households rose six percent since 1979 but, through 2005, the income of the top one percent skyrocketed - by 228 percent."

or even from http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/09/news/economy/incomegap/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories:

"Incomes, on average, have declined by 2.5% among the bottom fifth of families since the late 1990s, while inching up by just 1.3% for those in the middle fifth of households, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute"

 

"The wealthiest slice of Americans... saw their incomes rise by 9%."

 

"Wages have not kept up with inflation, families have loaded up on debt"

 

I think it's time for some change.  A step away from a mindset that seeks wealth, fame, and power and towards a new outlook that is far more selfless than the aforementioned goals.  A new direction towards cooperation, sustainability, and greater empowerment for all would be nice.