Friday, September 13, 2013

Is it okay for the rich to get richer?


I don't have any intrinsic problem with people getting wealthy. For many, this is part of the American dream. Come up with a better idea, a better mouse trap, or a new technology and bring in the millions. We can all do it with a little ambition and lots of work. At least, that's the theory.

But we now have a situation, a return to the 1900's, where the income gap is growing at an alarming rate. The accumulation of wealth is increasingly being concentrated at the expense of a once thriving middle-class. Of course the Catch-22 should be that the wealthy need a strong middle-class with enough disposable income to keep them wealthy. But, wherever you turn, folks seem to be tightening their belts, foregoing new purchases, putting off that new car, latest gadget, and even buying less food and sadly, medicine.

To me, this implies that there is no longer a symbiotic relationship between the haves and those that could have. For some reason, the wealthy have become parasitic, feeding off their host; destroying their host. There is a growing disdain for the average person. Benefits are being cut and even eliminated. No one seems to want to pay a descent living wage. Profits are sitting idle on banks and hard to find accounts and gathering dust, rather than stimulating. Sounds and looks a lot like the aristocracy of old; a return to feudal ideas of serfdom.

Cannot help but wonder if things will ever come to a head. It usually does. Guess we never thought it might happen here.

For a current article on this issue see:

The Totally Unfair And Bitterly Uneven 'Recovery,' In 12 Charts

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/13/uneven-financial-crisis-recovery-charts_n_3913882.html


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