-
An Entire Generation is Likely to See Its Standard of Living Regress
It is modern feudalism, happening in a slow motion crash as we watch, aware of what is coming down, but at first unwilling and likely now unable to stop it.
Welcome to the Third WorldWe are living in so-called first world societies where economic disparity is trending toward developing world levels. Some numbers you can argue about individually if you like (and how does your head feel buried in the sand?), but the aggregate situation is beyond debate:
— The one percent holds 35.6 percent of all private wealth, more than the bottom 95 percent combined.
— The 400 wealthiest individuals globally have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans.
— Between 1983 and 2009, over 40 percent of all wealth gains flowed to the one percent and 82 percent of wealth gains went to the top five percent. The bottom 60 percent lost wealth over this same period.
— A significant amount of the redistribution of wealth, redistributed upward, took place following the 2008 market collapses in the United States as bailouts, shorts, repossession of home and land, and new laws helped the top end of the economy at cost to the bottom. More and more of government is controlled directly by corporations.
— The world’s one percent own $42.7 trillion dollars, more than the bottom three billion residents of earth.
— A rising tide lifts all yachts, as historian Morris Berman observed. Less than half of Americans do not own any stock at all. The wealthiest of Americans own over 80 percent of all stock, and 40 percent of America’s land.
It’s Getting Worse
Now add to that grim tally new information that shows the problem of gross income and wealth inequality is getting worse.
A report from McKinsey finds that in developed economies such as the United States two-thirds of all households experienced “flat or falling” incomes over the past decade, from 2005-2014. In the U.S., the portion was even worse: 81 percent.
“While the recession and slow recovery after the 2008 global financial crisis were a significant contributor to this lack of income advancement, other long-run factors played a role — and will continue to do so,” McKinsey notes. “They include demographic trends of aging and shrinking household sizes as well as labor-market shifts such as the falling wage share of GDP.”
Capital Beats Labor Every TimeAs predicted by economists from Karl Marx to Thomas Piketty, this is the natural progression of capital (making money by owning things) over labor (making money by working.) It represents the same basic economic world of the Middle Ages, land-owning kings and serfs who have no option but to work the fields.
It is statistically likely that you won’t live a better life than your parents did. The economic world of your parents and grandparents was an aberration, a one time exception that was called the American Dream. And even that was largely limited the white people.
Do enjoy that gig economy youngsters, and hope Uber doesn’t put you out of an income by flooding the market with more drivers.
Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. The views expressed here are solely those of the author(s) in their private capacity.
Recent Comments
Leave A Comment
Buy Peter’s Books on Amazon!
RICH BAUER said...
1Jean-Jacques Rousseau: When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich.
04/14/17 7:09 AM | Comment Link
chuck said...
2Taste like chicken.
04/14/17 9:05 AM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
3The system is rigged…. Learn that simple fact early…. And capitalize on it.
No one will do it for you…. You will have to bust your ass…. Scrimp and save….
Change your perceptions……. Learn patience….
Play long ball…..rather than instant gratification.
Give generously to those in need….
Remember…. Those who succeeded are not going to give it up easily.
Stop hating people who succeded….
Learn from them.
M
04/14/17 10:33 AM | Comment Link
Bruce said...
4Lying,Cheating and $tealing is N0T “Succeeding”. US Eternal Flamers’ (aka too old to be called, “baby” ‘boomers’) productivity has sustained 5 generations (2 each, before and after US); retiring early to pass-on jobs and dying to provide homes (the jobs teh 1% outsource beyond borders, homes devalued to imported ILLEGAL immigrants, and any social commonweal – single-payer, free college, living minimum wage – ABJECTLY REJECTED) ! The answer? :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSIUf2hD6Io
04/14/17 12:39 PM | Comment Link
RICH BAUER said...
5Comrade Mitch is the one in the middle. The one on the right is Paul Ryan and the one on the left is just a pig who is insulted to be associated with real pigs.
04/14/17 12:53 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
6Ahhhh…. Stereotypes…..are rarely correct…..
I never lied, cheated or stole…..
And I succeeded…
I learned how the system works….and learned it well.
M
04/14/17 1:12 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
7Rich.
I see that new therapist is not working out to well.
Don’t be discouraged….. In a case such as yours…. It will take Many Years to see positive results.
M
04/14/17 1:16 PM | Comment Link
RICH BAUER said...
8This is a stock photo of visitors at the Trump White House.
Trump: Why is @BarackObama spending millions to try and hide his records? He is the least transparent President–ever–and he ran on transparency.
Trump will be transparent when his pig friends fly.
04/14/17 4:19 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
9Rich…
Thank you for making my point so clearly.
M
04/14/17 4:54 PM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
10Rich.
This just has to piss you off…….. You’ve been profiled….
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-39592010
M
04/14/17 8:38 PM | Comment Link
everything’s end - Occurrences said...
11[…] “An Entire Generation is Likely to See Its Standard of Living Regress”. […]
04/15/17 3:15 AM | Comment Link
RICH BAUER said...
12Trump: The generals just told me 3,000,000 terrorists were killed by the mother of all bombs. It was huuuuuuge. Watch out North Korea.
04/15/17 7:53 AM | Comment Link
RICH BAUER said...
13Intercept: Piggy PAUL RYAN snubbed his Wisconsin constituents during the President’s Day congressional recess, refusing to hold even a single town hall. Local activists appeared at his office in Racine to demand a meeting. Others placed a tongue-in-cheek missing person advertisement on Craigslist, asking for the whereabouts of their elected representative. Ryan “fled sometime in and around January 20, 2017, and hasn’t been seen since,” the ad stated.
Newly filed campaign filings show what Ryan was doing instead: jetting around the country, raking in a whopping $657,400 in contributions in just nine days.
Makin bacon.
04/15/17 11:12 AM | Comment Link
RICH BAUER said...
14Peter, with the pigs in charge of the Dumbest Country on the Planet, you may be too optimistic.
A Republican lawmaker who voted to eliminate Internet privacy rules said, “Nobody’s got to use the Internet” when asked why ISPs should be able to use and share their customers’ Web browsing history for advertising purposes.
The closest thing to a pig in a blanket, US Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) was hosting a town hall meeting when a constituent asked about the decision to eliminate privacy rules. The person in the audience was disputing the Republican argument that ISPs shouldn’t face stricter requirements than websites such as Facebook.
“Facebook is not comparable to an ISP. I do not have to go on Facebook,” the town hall meeting attendee said. But when it comes to Internet service providers, the person said, “I have one choice. I don’t have to go on Google. My ISP provider is different than those providers.”
See Comrade Mitch, it’s so simple when you put it like that.
04/15/17 11:27 AM | Comment Link
RICH BAUER said...
15So Ted Stevens is not the only repugnican internut…
04/15/17 11:34 AM | Comment Link
Mitch said...
16Rich.
I hope all who support whichever cause you are supporting… Are like you…
As… You do them no good… And quite a bit of damage…
The leaps of “logic” you make….they are just…. Nonsense….
Or…. Perhaps…. I should say…. No Sense…..
M
04/15/17 5:35 PM | Comment Link
Trump's Warmongering on Steroids: But who Supplied the Steroids said...
17[…] generals, he’s a logical endpoint to a grim process, whether you’re talking about the growth of inequality in America and the rise of plutocracy — without which a billionaire president and his […]
04/24/17 12:23 AM | Comment Link
As Soon as Trump Started Bombing, the Corporate Media and Establishment Rushed to Call Him 'Presidential' – Liberal View News said...
18[…] those generals, he’s a logical endpoint to a grim process, whether you’re talking about the growth of inequality in America and the rise of plutocracy — without which a billionaire president and his […]
04/24/17 4:40 AM | Comment Link
Why Trump’s Wars Should Seem So Familiar | The British Times said...
19[…] generals, he’s a logical endpoint to a grim process, whether you’re talking about the growth of inequality in America and the rise of plutocracy ― without which a billionaire president and his billionaire […]
04/24/17 11:04 AM | Comment Link
Why Trump’s Wars Should Seem So Familiar - World Fast News said...
20[…] those generals, he’s a logical endpoint to a grim process, whether you’re talking about the growth of inequality in America and the rise of plutocracy ― without which a billionaire president and his billionaire […]
04/24/17 11:18 AM | Comment Link
Why Trump’s Wars Should Seem So Familiar - Bonjournal-best Hub of News said...
21[…] generals, he’s a logical endpoint to a grim process, whether you’re talking about the growth of inequality in America and the rise of plutocracy ― without which a billionaire president and his billionaire […]
04/24/17 11:20 AM | Comment Link
Why Trump’s Wars Should Seem So Familiar – Read News Daily said...
22[…] those generals, he’s a logical endpoint to a grim process, whether you’re talking about the growth of inequality in America and the rise of plutocracy ― without which a billionaire president and his billionaire […]
04/24/17 11:26 AM | Comment Link
The Honeymoon of the generals: Donald Trump is embracing a march for war across the world – Salon – Liberal View News said...
23[…] those generals, he’s a logical endpoint to a grim process, whether you’re talking about the growth of inequality in America and the rise of plutocracy — without which a billionaire president and his […]
04/25/17 9:22 AM | Comment Link
Presenting the Trump doctrine: ‘forever war’ – From The Horse's Mouth eMagazine said...
24[…] those generals, hes a logical endpoint to a grim process, whether youre talking about the growth of inequality in America and the rise of plutocracy or the form that American war-making is taking under […]
05/13/17 9:49 AM | Comment Link