The current trajectory of wealth distribution in America must certainly be making this man proud. For the rest of us, The Nation has devoted its June 30 issue to the growing problem of profound inequality.
The handy “guide” to extreme inequality is filled with useful links.
And the piece titled “The Rich and the Rest of Us,” by John Cavanagh and Chuck Collins, is on the money (bad pun intended):
Over the past three decades, market-worshiping politicians and their corporate backers have engineered the most colossal redistribution of wealth in modern world history, a redistribution from the bottom up, from working people to a tiny global elite.
Indeed. And part of the problem is about changing the discourse:
To reverse this reckless course, we need to change our nation’s dominant political narrative and restore faith in the critical role that government must play to protect the common good. But we can’t stop there. We need to confront directly the threat posed by this inequality.
That won’t be easy. Too many Americans see the enormous concentration of our nation’s wealth as a symptom of a sick society, not a cause. Indeed, most of our politicians and pundits refuse to treat it as any sort of problem at all. They may sometimes bewail particularly unseemly CEO paychecks. They may twitter occasionally about the latest bilious billionaire extravagance. But that’s it. The Senate couldn’t even manage to eliminate a tax loophole for gazillionaire hedge-fund managers last year. And even progressive wish lists tend to call only for a return to pre-George W. Bush tax rates, a step that would undo a mere one-sixth of the rise in income inequality we have experienced since the late 1970s, according to the Brookings Institution.
(I seem to recall some other dude striking similar notes recently).
In any event, we best address our nation’s economic woes quickly. That way, we can get back to tackling the really serious issues, like the War. On Christmas.
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Excellent.