Explaining wealth inequality

I've been on this topic a long time. I still think it is the largest problem we face in the U.S. - far greater than the debt/deficit problem. Watch and learn.

Even our forefathers understood...

The rich

Wealthy people don't want to hear from you - you're poor and they're not.

Snicker

Remember - the following is a statistic - it is "on" average and doesn't mean everyone...

ABC News reports:

Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley analyzed a person’s rank in society (measured by wealth, occupational prestige and education) and found that those who were richer were more likely to cheat, lie and break the law than those who were poorer.

“We found that it is much more prevalent for people in the higher ranks of society to see greed and self-interest … as good pursuits,” said Paul Piff, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate at Berkeley. “This resonates with a lot of current events these days.”

We are under control

The one-percent has a plan

This is an interesting take on things....

Why poor people support tax breaks for the rich?

from Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker

Why do lower middle-class and working class Americans support tax breaks for the rich? New research suggests it might not be about aspirations—i.e., "Maybe I could be rich someday." Instead, says the Economist, people are more concerned with how social programs and wealth distribution might help people worse off than them become better off than them.

In other words: Nobody wants to be on the bottom and national economics looks a lot like a junior high locker room.

Read the whole article by clicking HERE.
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Rich vs. poor

The rich are suffering

The Rich May Pay A Lower Tax Rate Than You Do

From Acerbic Politics

The Rich Are Getting Richer

The richest one percent of Americans earned a postwar record of 21.2 percent of all income in 2005, up from 19 percent a year earlier, reflecting a widening income disparity among different classes in the nation, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing new Internal Revenue Service data.

The data showed that the fortunes of the bottom 50 percent of Americans are worsening, with that group earning 12.8 percent of all income in 2005, down from 13.4 percent the year before, the paper said. Read more…

From Reuters via Yahoo via Crooks and Liars

Whither Goest God?

The interesting thing about the Christian Bible is that you can read almost anything into it that you want. Just as there is likely no one true religion in this world, there is probably no one true interpretation of the Bible. Does God love the poor or does he hate losers? Your call.

I link here to an interesting article entitled "Bush Stole My Jesus." A short quote...

The hallmarks of the early Christians were meeting fear with courage, hatred and violence with love. They did not accumulate wealth. They gave their wealth to the poor and to each other. Bush has taught us fear, not courage. He has taught us hatred and violence rather than love. He has sanctified greed and made the rich much more rich and the poor much more poor.

Read more at Pulse of the Twin Cities