TAKE ACTION: Crazy Income Inequality facts...what do you think?

TAKE ACTION: Crazy Income Inequality facts…what do you think?

October 24, 2013 0 Comments

Here is a video about a survey conducted on 5000 Americans of all political affiliations and income statuses asking them about income inequality in the U.S. They were asked where they think the stats are and where they think the stats should be. They were also asked what they think the ideal numbers would be. The stats, laid out plainly by the video, show a staggering difference from where Americans THINK we are, where Americans say they want to go and where we ACTUALLY are. Take a look at the video and decide for yourself. What is the call to action? Again, that is for you to decide. I would propose a statement and a question; Before I go on I want to add that my intention is not to demonize the rich. I simply believe that the scales are tipped in their direction. Taxes, incentives and the way our politicians work all seem to benefit the super wealthy leading to the widest income and inequality gap that the country has ever had. Take this fact: before the 1980s, the average CEO of a company made 10-30 times what their average employee made. Today, that CEO makes 100-1000 times what their average employee makes. Is it because CEOs today work so much harder than average employees work today? You can decide but I don’t think so. What has happened is changes in the tax codes that allow the wealthy to become ‘super’ wealthy at the expense of stagnated wages for the rest of the country. (source: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/06/ceos-now-earn-273-times-the-average-workers-pay-should-you-be-mad/277284/).

The Statement: The rich have no incentive to change the economic ways of our country. They get rich during good economic times (claiming about 90% of the income gains) and they get rich during bad economic times (claiming about 90% of the economic gains in this recent recession). So the rich continue to get rich at the same pace while the income growth of the ‘middle class’ and ‘working poor’ continue to decline in both economic situations. The Question: What can you and I do to change the situation? I feel the answer lies in people power and the ballot box. If we can get enough folks on the same page, that page being who you vote for, then we can begin to change the rules which are skewed to benefit those who already have money and wealth. We must follow the money; research your candidates to see who gives them money, who they meet with and study their statements and previous actions very closely. Don’t elect a candidate that bows to special interests are receives much of their campaign donations from the super wealthy and/or a specific business or type of business interest. Again, you must decide for yourself…take special note of the graph at the end of the video. After watching this simple, straightforward video, I would find it hard to believe that you wouldn’t welcome any change…