And Now the Richest .01 Percent

[ksen]

http://robertreich.org/post/102926070780

Why should we care?

Because this explosion of wealth at the top has been accompanied by an erosion of the wealth of the middle class and the poor. In the mid-1980s, the bottom 90 percent of Americans together held 36 percent of the nation’s wealth. Now, they hold less than 23 percent.

Despite larger pensions and homes, the debts of the bottom 90 percent – mortgage, consumer credit, and student loan – have grown even faster.

Some might think the bottom 90 percent should pull in their belts and stop living beyond their means. After all, capitalism is a tough sport. If those at the top are winning big while the bottom 90 percent is losing, too bad. That’s the way the game is played.

But the top .01 percent have also been investing their money in politics. And these investments have been changing the game.

Money equaling speech was one of the worst doctrines the Supreme Court ever came up with.

 

[untermensche]

Money equaling speech was one of the worst doctrines the Supreme Court ever came up with.

It comes right after granting person-hood to corporations.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Quit criticizing your betters. Maybe if you worked hard instead of playing on the internet YOU could buy fealty from a major party.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I've bought fealty from the Greens. Come the 2654 elections, I'll be the most powerful man in the country.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

I've bought fealty from the Greens. Come the 2654 elections, I'll be the most powerful man in the country.

Pffft, in Canadia beaver is the most powerful man in the country.

 

[dismal]

If the richest .01% piss you off you don't even want to think about the richest .001%.

 

[Jayjay]

It's just typical, the bottom 99.99% ruining everything for the rest of us...

 

[barbos]

Another example of ridiculously erroneous metric.
Most people do not nor supposed to care for "wealth". They have car, home and and stuff in it.
If you want to have proper accounting then you should include potential earnings over lifetime including pensions and other benefits.
Also the fact that top-percenters seems to be more wealthy than before only means that company's capitalization have grown much faster than inflation which is what you would expect with technological growth.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Like I said, worship your better!

 

[untermensche]

And more and more of this .01% inherited their wealth.

They didn't make it themselves.

A lovely blooming plutocracy.

The vast majority are nothing but powerless plebeians in this lovely system.

Whether they have the where-with-all to understand that or not.

When wealth is distributed like this, and the political system mainly responds to the cries of the wealthy, democracy becomes a joke.

 

[coloradoatheist]

I did like the example of the private plane across Europe because people are so poor they have to take a 10 hour flight to Europe instead, the horror.

Barbos pointed out some things. By the wealth definition, a person living in a hut in Africa that makes $1 a day but has no debt is wealthier on paper than an American who owns a home but has other debt that actually puts him in the negative. What needs to also be measured is a wealth use measure.

 

[untermensche]

I did like the example of the private plane across Europe because people are so poor they have to take a 10 hour flight to Europe instead, the horror.

Barbos pointed out some things. By the wealth definition, a person living in a hut in Africa that makes $1 a day but has no debt is wealthier on paper than an American who owns a home but has other debt that actually puts him in the negative. What needs to also be measured is a wealth use measure.

Let us use any means possible to put up a smoke screen and blind us from the real problems of so few controlling so much.

 

[ksen]

unter, any sane society will find nothing wrong with 16,000 people controlling more wealth then tens of millions of people put together.

 

[Underseer]

And more and more of this .01% inherited their wealth.

They didn't make it themselves.

A lovely blooming plutocracy.

The vast majority are nothing but powerless plebeians in this lovely system.

Whether they have the where-with-all to understand that or not.

When wealth is distributed like this, and the political system mainly responds to the cries of the wealthy, democracy becomes a joke.

You're just saying that because you're jealous!

Paris Hilton pulled herself up by her own bootstraps and earned every dollar she has through hard work and brilliance! You're just making excuses because you foolishly didn't decide to be rich like she did!

 

[coloradoatheist]

unter, any sane society will find nothing wrong with 16,000 people controlling more wealth then tens of millions of people put together.

the reason people don't have an issue with it is that the controlling of wealth isn't the extreme that you want to portray.

 

[ksen]

unter, any sane society will find nothing wrong with 16,000 people controlling more wealth then tens of millions of people put together.

the reason people don't have an issue with it is that the controlling of wealth isn't the extreme that you want to portray.

Pretty sure it is.

Did you think wealth disparity wasn't that big a deal back in the 1920s? That it didn't exacerbate the whole Great Depression thing?

 

[untermensche]

You're just saying that because you're jealous!

Paris Hilton pulled herself up by her own bootstraps and earned every dollar she has through hard work and brilliance! You're just making excuses because you foolishly didn't decide to be rich like she did!

Within the plutocracy there are some you do quite well by keeping dimwits like Paris Hilton from losing all her money.

When there is so much wealth the system becomes self perpetuating. The best financial planners with the greatest access to information work exclusively for the most wealthy.

 

[ksen]

You're just saying that because you're jealous!

Paris Hilton pulled herself up by her own bootstraps and earned every dollar she has through hard work and brilliance! You're just making excuses because you foolishly didn't decide to be rich like she did!

Within the plutocracy there are some you do quite well by keeping dimwits like Paris Hilton from losing all her money.

When there is so much wealth the system becomes self perpetuating. The best financial planners with the greatest access to information work exclusively for the most wealthy.

Maybe we should change CFP licensing requirement to certify X number of hours a year spent doing pro-bono work for the less wealthy and you are scored based on how well you do for your pro-bono clients compared to how well you do for your paying, wealthy clients.

 

[coloradoatheist]

the reason people don't have an issue with it is that the controlling of wealth isn't the extreme that you want to portray.

Pretty sure it is.

Did you think wealth disparity wasn't that big a deal back in the 1920s? That it didn't exacerbate the whole Great Depression thing?

No it didn't exacerbate the thing.

- - - Updated - - -

You're just saying that because you're jealous!

Paris Hilton pulled herself up by her own bootstraps and earned every dollar she has through hard work and brilliance! You're just making excuses because you foolishly didn't decide to be rich like she did!

Within the plutocracy there are some you do quite well by keeping dimwits like Paris Hilton from losing all her money.

When there is so much wealth the system becomes self perpetuating. The best financial planners with the greatest access to information work exclusively for the most wealthy.

You mean like Bernie Madoff?

 

[untermensche]

unter, any sane society will find nothing wrong with 16,000 people controlling more wealth then tens of millions of people put together.

the reason people don't have an issue with it is that the controlling of wealth isn't the extreme that you want to portray.

2/3 of the people don't even show up to vote.

They know the game is rigged.

But they see what happens when you peacefully protest in the streets.

You are attacked by the police as we saw all over the country during the occupy movements.

What is needed is violent revolution to overturn a thoroughly corrupt system.

But that is just insanity in these days. Nobody can advocate that anymore.

All that can be done is massive peaceful resistance.

But the system keeps so many living paycheck to paycheck long term resistance is logistically very difficult, and it doesn't occur without charismatic leadership, which these days would probably be quickly murdered.

We are fucked and overcoming this corrupt system will not be easy. And some of us know it.