Wow, i am actually depressed after watching that video. I did not know the unequal distribution of wealth was that severe. Furthermore, the majority of us have zero hope of seeing any change, in our lifetime, that would change this model and benefit us. It also sheds greater light on middle class and their proximity to the lower class/poor. I do not, however, believe in taking from the rich and giving to the poor in an arbitrary way. We can adjust our laws, in such a way, to bring up the lower classes while remaining objective. We can remove the current tax system that favors the upper-upper class, by closing the loopholes that the utilize to avoid their share of taxes. I think its time to move to a sales tax or flat tax based system that redistributes the tax burden according to consumption of products and services. No income tax, period. As long as we sit idly by and watch multi-national companies control the government; we will inevitably end up with two classes: upper-upper and poor. Packers001
I like your suggested solution of everybody just paying the same sales tax, because that seems pretty fair. The only way it wouldn't be fair is that less wealthy people don't buy as many or as expensive of goods as the more wealthy, so the more wealthy would end up paying a lot more taxes than the less wealthy. Maybe this is an ok solution and the wealthy should more or less just have to "suck it up" and spend the extra money in taxes if they really want the things that they don't need. But having an equal sales tax would also affect the middle class, who are also going to be buying more goods than the poor. I still don't think your solution is a bad one though. That's kind of the really frustrating issue: we can all see and understand that this problem exists, but how in the world do we go about fixing it? In the end, not everybody will be happy with the solution and most everybody will have to be willing to compromise. That just means that actually fixing the problem will be that much harder. Getting all the different people of different degrees of wealth to cooperate and agree on something will definitely be the hardest part. It sure seems like corporations and conglomerates along with the upper-upper class have got it good now... thestig001
I like your solution as well. The tax breaks and the welfare that these cooperations are on are just as expensive as the welfare that their underpayed workers need just to survive. The double dipping of the one percent from the government that they bought is a sad reality that isn't talked about because everyone else is happily ignorant in their illusion of power. Arizona001
I agree that if everyone paid the same sales taxes then no one would be getting treated poor just fair. The more power the better and the people who have more power don't flinch or even care about the people without any power. Power is most peoples movtivation. Your right Packers001 because we want change but if there was going to be a change it would hapen very slow and we wouldn't recognize it at first because it would take so long for it to catch up to society and to improve drastically. Summer001
Hmmm. This was a pretty interesting video. Amazing to see how far off from reality how most American's (myself included) imagined that wealth is distributed in this country. The severity of the inequality of distribution of the wealth is kind of scary, because it really seems to support Marx's whole social conflict theory, which rests on the groundwork that capitalism results in inequality. It helps me to better see how many people stray more to the left and want bigger government and more governmental control of the economy, because capitalism seems to have gone rampant. It seems like a little socialism might do us good. However, socialism also conflicts with the American Ideal of a free market and the spirit of free competition and individualism, that people have a right to private property. I think this partially what really makes the political debate between the left and right so interesting and is partially responsible for dividing the country. Some people from both sides of the big government/less government issue just don't want to give up some of those ideals. As a side note, I would also be really interested to see some historical data on the distribution of wealth to see how long it has been this way or when it started to become so extreme. thestig001
I wonder if we are happier in our current state, rather than what we imagine an equal distribution of wealth to look like. Maybe equal equates to less than we have now, or maybe not. For me, the heart of the problem lies in government close ties to corporations. Lobbying in its current form is destroying the American ideal. We need to harness their influence or send better men and women to the front lines of legislation. I'll argue that the first is easier than the second. Good men and women of character don't want to be in government, and that's a problem. Packers001
Wealth distribution is such an infuriating thing to be aware of. Capitalism has run rampant and is protected by the ones who are paid by the rich. The maddening thing is that poor people are just getting poorer. The rich take their industry to the places that need it and take complete advantage of the resources in those poor places. Who’s to stop them? Who’s to inform the people of the reality that’s happening to them? Where does that responsibility lie? Is it ethical and moral? All of these questions have obvious answers to them; but as a race of humans who consume the goods that keep the one percent in business, banning together like what Karl Marx said is perhaps, the first step. Arizona001
This video was interesting because the way people took the meaning of wealth. I didn't realize the wealth for the United States was a low as it was. This chart shown me where each class is at. What we think and what we actually know are two completely different things. The middle class is barely different then the low class which is interesting because middle class is just making it by and lower class isn't making it by. But they are so close that the majority are proabably srtuggling. It was very interesting that the ceo makes 380 times more in one hour than an average person in the same company makes in one month. the reality is not what we think it is because we aren't working in each persons shoes, but I do know the ceo isn't working 380 times more than us to get paid that much in one hour. The inequality here is not right and some companies hsouldn't be paying the workers what they are, whether its too much or not enough. Some people are getting away with a crime I think because they aren't paying people fairly. Summer001
I agree, a ceo of a company is not working 380 times more than others. Before looking at this chart I thought being in the middle class was a good and safe thing however, now it is scary knowing the middle class is almost on the same level of poverty. I am shocked that nine out of ten people would prefer the ideal America and we are still not even close to it. Toby001
I'm wondering the more we know the more we educate ourselves on this reality of the CEOs will employees' quality of work go down? Will they care, why would they if they are never going to get anywhere and they are making the owner richer than anyone human being even needs to be. The meaning of wealth is important for sure. I think it comes down to this what do we expect and want from our employers and what can we do about it? I want to be more informed and make the right choices for myself in protecting against supporting these people if I can. WonderWoman001
I agree Summer001 I do not believe the CEO is working 380 times more than us to get paid in one hour. I feel like the CEO’s hire people and give them bogus wages so that they can continue making the big bucks and have someone else do all the hard work. It is ridiculous and needs to change. LAWS001
Karl Marx's theory of social conflict that capitalism creates inequality seems to apply aptly in this context. The theory falls apart when you start to critically examine it. Marx talks about inequality in relative terms of a population. What it doesn't include is how capitalism brings the entire population on above the previous average. Think about how you are privileged to live today. 200 years ago you would have been considered Kings and Queens. Our current quality of life has not been successful due to redistributing wealth as we think it should be. Individual drive and creativity is what built our civilization to the point where we don't have to worry about the small things we take for granted in life. In the US we used to have laws that limited the power of corporations and huge businesses, just like we want today. It wasn't Capitalism that began to run rampant, it was Cronyism. Cronyism is what has created the massive gab that we see in the super wealthy compared to the average person. Marx was living in a society that was not as advanced as ours, as a result he was unable to see the eventual results of Capitalism and instead focused on his limited perception. In today's Age of Information we should know better. I gave the example in a comment in a previous blog post about how Ford gamed the bailout process back in 2009. We have congressmen who go to companies like Goldman-Sachs after leaving office. We have congressmen who go into office with almost no net worth and come out after 20 years with over $50 million dollars to their name. There is obvious and blatant corruption going on in our government. The conclusion that the wealth needs to be redistributed is a correct one, the reasoning and the proposed solutions to this problem are fallacious. I mean seriously, have any of us actually read everything that is put into law? Do any of us read ANY of what is put into law? hundreds of thousands of legal papers and you don't think there has been malicious intent in any of it? Sociology may be the youngest of the soft sciences, but a lot of the founding philosophy is just plain primitive compared to the philosophical and theoretical schools of thought that are presently available due to the leaps of civilization and the ability to gather the information that we have experienced in the last century alone. William F. Ogburn's theory of cultural lag is prevalent and obvious in the modern education system. Society literally can't keep up with innovation in thought, and the effects of this are being compounded more every day. FreedomUnderGod001 (1/2)
. Relating back to the video, I have a proposition to fix the problem of Cronyism. Our Founding Fathers implemented a representative democracy for two main reasons: one was that there was no way that they could acquire the votes from every single person in the country to reach a consensus on who would govern. This was due to technological limitations. The second is that they recognized that Cronyism would run rampant because of human nature, and so they limited the amount of people who could vote to about 10% of the population. They only wanted people who would protect the country to have a say in it, otherwise corruption would set in because of foreign and personal interests. The first thing we need to do is to implement a Direct Democracy. With the technology we have today, there is no reason we cannot have individuals in our country vote directly for who we want to be president/represent ourselves instead of electing people who elect people who elect people. The Founding Fathers wished to minimize the impact of the elite taking power through the idea of Federalism. The states would have individual liberty over their own decisions, especially how the right to vote is established. This would mean that the power to set economic policy would lie in smaller subsets of the populations, making corporations inefficient at lobbying and forcing representatives to have a more personal connection to the general public. The next thing we need to do is to temporarily reinstate a Limited Democracy while we are going through this stage of governmental change. This would mean that only people who have a stake in the country would be allowed to vote for the future of the country. The process for determining this is too complex to go into detail without writing a full blown paper. Back when the Founding Fathers were figuring this out the only qualification was that you owned land in the US. After a period of time when the Direct Democracy has been set up, the right to determine who is allowed to vote or not should be given directly to the state governments once again. The new system would make representatives more accountable when it is found out that they are forming policy in tangent with corporate intentions. Next we need to move manufacturing from other countries back into ours through a series of incentive and deterrent policy. Examples of this would be forcing companies who had a certain percentage of their manufacturing outside of the US to be import-taxed at exorbitant rates. Another example would be to cut export taxes down low for companies who were based and produced in the US and limiting the profit of margin they are allowed to reap from this advantage. Another aspect of attacking Cronyism and corruption is to abolish all political parties. These institutions are bureaucratic in nature, and have only pseudo-loyalty to the American People. If we go through the process that I outlined above, the stratification of our societal wealth will be severely reduced, while at the same time we would be in a position to better the economies and quality of life of the rest of the world too. What the US has turned into is an injustice to every human being on the planet earth. It's time to catch up with the cultural lag and push humankind back into an era of progress. FreedomUnderGod001 (2/2)
Wow, I think you need to go into politics maybe you can fix the problems and the economy while your at it. I'd vote for you and I haven't voted in years. The wealth should be redistributed equally to the people who are willing and able to fix the problems we as a country face. In pre-school when you saw someone without a snack you shared, what went wrong with people today. It's going to take something major to fix this country. TooTall001
Thanks, but people would hate me. Additionally, I have no money nor influence . If I wanted to run for an office and actually have some power I would have to build up connections through college and be active in the political system all throughout. I would have to affiliate with a political party in order to even be recognized in most organizations. Also, I'm a Libertarian so the media will hate me. I don't think the establishments of the Democrats and Republicans would appreciate me joining their political party in order to try and destroy it. I would have to temporarily sell my soul in order to gain any kind of support. I'm still not sure I'm willing to do that when I could just sit back inside of comfortable think tanks and throw other figureheads into the grinder. After the fall semester I will be evaluating the political landscape, so if I have an opportunity locally I might try and gain some recognition. Although I will admit, my handsome, masculine features do strike a chord with all the ladies, and probably about 2% of men. FreedomUnderGod001
Yea a lot of the problems of today are based in the loss of a moral conscious with the general public. I am very Conservative personally, but it wouldn't be my goal to change other people's beliefs., I would focus on government policy to maximize individual liberty so that they can believe what they wish. I would not be responsible for other people's souls, but I would be responsible to give the people the free will to choose to sin or not. FreedomUnderGod001
Wow that last part though...lol (post at 8:43pm) I think your smart you shouldn't think like that it makes you dumb no offense. But, a smart guy like you should think positive and hope for the best. Don't downgrade yourself and think of the negativity. Even if you don't get to be big you can do so much to try to make a change. And contribute to a better country and life for the world. Sell your soul? It sounds like Illuminati. HollaGurl001
Oh no, don't mistake my realism conclusions about myself with pessimism. If I were ever to run for office I would have to consider all kinds of factors that normal people don't think of. It is literally a Dramaturgical presentation whenever you are a public figure. Not only that, but no politician in today's age does anything important without the authority of the people funding him. Hey Gurl, Conspiracy theorists only sound crazy until they are proven right. FreedomUnderGod001
This video was hard to watch knowing what reality we live in. America is supposed to be land of the free but from where I am standing I do not see much equality. I think a lot of people are scared to speak up to their bosses or higher authorities about their pay because people live in fear of losing their jobs. After seeing this video it is hard to believe we live in a high income nation when knowing the poverty level. This video was also humbling because I cannot imagine what a low income nation feels like. A ceo does not deserve to get paid 380 times more than the average person even if he lives at his office. Toby001
I agree with what you said about America being the land of the free. It seems weird that more than half of the population is living very poorly, while less than half is taking up all of America's wealth. I also find it amazing that we live in a high-income nation. What do the people living in low-income nations have to deal with? swimmer001
Swimmer001, I don't think we can really imagine what is going on in a low-income nation without living there. I imagine that in low income nations that there is almost nonexistent wealth all throughout or that the wealth inequality is even more skewed than it is here. Delta001
I'm not going to lie this subject bewilders me. What can I do to change this? So now that we've watched we now know that there are some people out there with tons of money and control etc. etc. etc. I know it affects me and will my daughter in her future. If we could find a happy medium between the different economic systems that would be just and fair especially for the hard working people of this county that would be great. Is this an injustice of our rights, access to healthcare, laws being made, or how we get to live our lives? Is this about we just want more money and more things and live like they do? I'm happy to earn my education and earn an honest living. I hope to find a fair employer one day, with a safe working environment, and benefits to care for myself. How much of that is in my control exactly? I will have to be flexible for sure. I've never had a lot of anything, physically or financially. I will be happy to survive in this economy and I know I'm going to have to work hard to have what I have. Life isn't fair and I'm not sure the U.S. is the country that will ever work on fairness, it seems like it will always run on money and what we possess. At the end of the day that is not my motive. WonderWoman001
Wow, this video was extremely interesting. At first I thought the chart that told how Americans think the wealth is distributed was a big difference compared to the ideal distribution but after seeing the reality, my mind was blown. It is so crazy to think that 1% of Americans have 24% of the nation's wealth. Part of me thinks that those people in the upper-upper class deserve all the hard-earned money they made. However, I don't think they should be unfair to their employees by not paying them enough. At least America is not a socialist country, though. Then no one would want to work because they would earn the same as someone else who is working really hard. It is sad that so many people are unemployed. No matter what the American government does, though, there will always be unemployed people. swimmer001
That was a little hard to hear and a little depressing that the distribution of wealth in this country is that bad. However it doesn't affect me at all, I'll never be in the 1% or anywhere close for that matter and I don't think money buys happiness anyway. As welfare rises in the U.S. and the upper-upper 1% own everything the government should ask them for loans. Or look at it this way when the system collapses and it will, cash money will have no value and the majority of the 1% will kill themselves. Cancer doesn't care how much money you have and then the more money you have the longer you suffer. In the Bible greed is a sin and they'll get theirs in the end. TooTall001
I don't know if I would look at that one percent and think that they are sinful. Yes they probably have stepped on some toes to get where they are financially, but I think most of us if we were in their shoes would do the exact same thing despite what we want to believe. Like Dr. White has said "money makes people funny" and personalities do change when money is involved. I think sometimes we as a country like to point fingers at the "big bad corporations" a little too much. It's been ingrained in our culture to always root for the little guys and shame the successful and elite, whether it be sports, or corporations. But I do agree with you there is a problem, but I don't know if taking the wealth away from those 1 percenters is the key to a successful economy. glassonion001
I recently heard a economist talking about the distribution of wealth and if people think that the richest "1%" of America should be taxed more. We are in so much debt that if we took that top 1% and all of their wealth and put it towards helping our national debt, we would still be roughly in 1 trillion dollars in debt. Now this doesn't have a direct correlation to to the distribution of wealth, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that the hole we have dug is not something that we can easily fix with 1 or even 2 new laws regarding taxes. It's a problem that will have to be fixed over the next several years, and the President in the next election isn't going to be the savor either. It will have to be us that fixes these problems ourselves. glassonion001
To be fair, the President is one of the most influential people when it comes to the economy. It is the President's Administration's policies which are then (In the modern perversion of our government) pushed into law. Fiscally irresponsible presidents end up wasting money and encouraging Cronyism. When you say it will be "us" that fixes these problems, you are neglecting something extremely important. THE GOVERNMENT IS "US". Who we elect has a direct effect on how the country operates economically. The President in the 2016 election will literally determine the future of our country based on his policy. People don't "become" the President. They are elected into the office of the Presidency that is owned by the people. Do not separate an entire governmental arm of our democracy from the state of the country. FreedomUnderGod001
This video really opens up my mind on what’s happening around us, and most of us are quite aware that the system is skewed. It is a bit infuriating that the actual distribution of wealth is so far off from not only we believe is ideal, but also what we think it is. It’s a bit messed up that it’s almost preferred by some in order to make them work harder to get ahead. I don’t ever see it being economic equality, but with the knowledge that we have on the system we can now express opinions and fight for it. With the amount of money the top 1% has, they could easily spread that wealth to help others. With the underemployment and unemployment issues in the past, I’m sure this type of interference could have helped out a lot of struggling people.Taylojj2
I agree with you completely! If that one percent were to distribute the money they make to others, it can certainly help underemployment and unemployment. I am sure not many are actually aware of what's going on with the ideal economy and what we think it is. Its sad cause these are actual facts that should be presented to public, but data is really not out there. Too many people also don't care much about it cause they are so busy trying to earn money, it is impossible to think about this. But definitely government should take some steps to make it better and not worse. khush001
This video was really really depressing. I now know why being "homeless" is a major issue too now. Technically not even the people with right degrees are making that amount of money. Education they say is important, a degree for a better job is important. These were the sayings that were said almost about thirty to forty years ago, which don't even seem true anymore. The one percent, video talked about are people and owners with big business. So Degree didn't even play a role to get the money where they are right now. It is sad for the poor people and middle class people who work so hard and still struggle to make their ends meet. What's more sad is that the graph is still curving up and with the amount of unemployment increasing we can only predict poor becoming homeless too now. khush001
It is really depressing to see the egregious distribution of wealth in the US, but I think an education has a far greater importance than ensuring a higher income. You see, from the education we are receiving now we are empowering our selves for better jobs but also to be a more effective influence in our society. If it weren't for this class people like us would never know the extremely skewed distribution of wealth presented in this video and see this unfairness demonstrated in our society. Ignorance makes us very vulnerable to manipulation. Karma001
I agree with Karma001 completely. Ignorance of a voting population promotes representatives who focus on their own fame instead of their policy. This is another reason why the Founder Fathers were against universal suffrage. They realized that only the educated would be able to make smart decisions for the benefit of both the people and the country. How are we supposed to tell what color the sky is, if we are looking at the ground? FreedomUnderGod001
I'm actually astounded by how much the unequal distribution of wealth is in america. The fact that the top 1% owns 40% of the wealth makes everything incredibly skewed. And the fact that even though they get about 25% of the nations income, how come they aren't paying 25% of the nations income tax. It is ridiculous that they get so many tax breaks when they aren't the ones that need the help. It is the entire bottom 60% that could use the tax breaks. Not the richest of the rich who probably earn more money of interest than the entire bottom 60%. Delta001
Actually the top 1% pay more in taxes than the bottom 90%. As of 2011, the bottom 90% of taxpayers payed 31.74% of taxes. The rich are already funding our government. What's also curious is how whenever there are tax cuts the 1% actually get poorer and the bottom 90% actually get richer. For example after the 01/03 tax cuts, the burden of taxes on the 1% actually jumped far ahead of the 90%. Raising taxes is not the answer to the income disparity, lowering them are. FreedomUnderGod001
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this video, but it is just as grotesque now as it was the first time. The wealth of the US is egregiously distributed across the population, that we know for certain. What we don’t know is how our economic systems can be changed to be more fair or healthy. One problem that I see is that the individuals that have the most power are the least incentivised to change, that being the upper 20%. Why would they want to, they can see themselves as social benefactors creating jobs and wealth in the US while making a substantial amount for themselves. This is arguably a lie to cover up their greed which can never be satisfied. So yeah, let’s hope that gang of spirits from A Christmas Carol come back and help us change up these people’s minds!! Karma001
I'm with you on that! Well the saying, " The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer," wasn't a joke. It has always been this way, but now it is even tipped more into the extreme for the wealthy. The rich aren't just rich because of their jobs, but it's all politically tied, and they are the ones able to make the rules. Power is money, and when you are able to buy out competitors, or even lawmakers, the common person is left to struggle in the wake of such coorporate greed. Rosebudd001
My father is considered in the top 10% of income in the U.S., yet because of taxes and regulations and the cost of life being so high, he feels more financial strain now than there was 10 or even 20 years ago. I have a close friend who is in the 1%, and he would be considered lower-lower-upper class. Even his family feels the strain that the economy is producing. For a while I couldn't even tell that they weren't upper-middle class. When we talk about the 1%, even most of those people are sympathetic to our causes, cause they still have to work to get their money. The real disparity comes when you examine the 1% of the 1% (the 0.01% of the population). That is where the real wealth is. The funny thing is that you don't even hear about these people. The millionaires and billionaires that we all know by name (Trump,Gates,Romney,Zuckerberg, etc) aren't in the 1% of the 1%. These people don't have contact with the "real" world. You don't know who they are. That is what the governmental system that I proposed above helps to limit and get rid of. These people only have their wealth because we don't know about it. Talking about the 1% like they are all our enemies is extremely foolish. We need to make friends and persuade these people to help us. Alienating them is what will certainly turn them against us. FreedomUnderGod001
The music was depressing in the background... was I the only one who thought that? Crazy how us a nation of wealth don't distribute the wealth of the country. America is known to be one of the most wealthiest countries yet there are very poor people who are struggling through life and Imagine how much money is being thrown away by the rich that could be money needed for the ones that are truly in need of survival needs. To me I think that people are blind to not realize the reality of what is happening to us. We are not doing anything about it to try to change the inequality of the distribution of wealth. It is like we are distracted by other things that perhaps may not be what is truly important. What is this one percent gonna do with all that money. It snot like they are helping any people. UGH do they have no heart? I know one should work to continue the American Dream Motto but it is insane how much money the one percent are taking from everyone else. HollaGurl001
I also agree the music was depressing in the background. We are truly a self motivated society. Some would say we are a "fend for yourself" motto right now. I believe that we need to as a society change the outlook we have on success. Money has too much power over each individual. Put yourself in the shoe's of the 1%. Would you be willing to give up your wealth? SVT001
The numbers were actually shocking, about how wealthy the rich really are. All I know is that almost everyone I know, works really hard, and still can't afford what they really need. It's sad that most people think they are middle class and have a better financial standing than they really do; reality is that there almost isn't a middle class anymore. More like lots of lower class statistics instead. The fact that ceo's make 380 times an average worker in an hour is just down right criminal! There should be laws against such inequality. All of this Capitalism is also supression for the lost middle and lower classes. Maybe Socialism instead? Rosebudd001
I agree with you it is more like the middle class is with the poor class . The poor class really don't get know wealth at all but the rich have so much they can just wast some yet they still want taxs breaks and more . I agree we may need to go to a little more socialism. Player001
Earth has experimented with Socialism. As a result? Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Eastern Asia before the Chinese went capitalist(sorta), All of the middle east's economic strife, Extremist Terrorists. Did you know that recently Bin Laden's books from the compound he was living in was released to the public? He had books on Socialism and NeoLiberalism and advances in Marxist philosophy. Books on the history of WWII and studying how the Russians were able to last so long against the U.S. All of these terrible people throughout history have been consistently socialist in their agenda. When was the last time 30 million people were killed in the name of Capitalism? Not only historical example but the mathematics behind a purely socialist economy has been worked out and what ends up happening every time is that the quality of life degenerates for everyone under the system. There is a reason why Socialism is considered a "bad word". It's because it is provably and demonstrably bad. Not only bad, but Stupid. With a capital S. I haven't even touched upon the moral aspect of it either. That is a completely different, more in depth argument than I am willing to present, since the one I already presented suffices. FreedomUnderGod001
This video was really interesting to see how the wealth was in America. It shows America is kinda a greedy place how 1% owns 50% of Americas wealth. Then the 1% have so much money they don't know what to do with it , but don't want minimum wage to go up and use other countries to there advantage. This relates to marxs conflict theory how the 1% own and run almost everything but we haven't got to the point to were the poor rise up yet. But why would they when most don't even know the wealth distribution and I was one of those people . Player001
I really thought this video did a good job explaining what is going on around all of us. I think we have a drive to achieve the top. Unfortunately a lot of people will never be able to go as far as they should because we have such an inequality of wealth. I think we have options to help with the inequality. I feel like you have earned money that no one should be able to take that away from you including the government. I think however it is unfortunate that the rich do not help the poor as much as they could. I think as a society we rely too much on money. We need to not worry about what class we fall into as much as we need to worry that everyone in the world is eating a meal and not starving. SVT001.
This video was very devastating. Showing how America’s wealth being distributed works was a bit ridiculous. It is hard to believe how poor people really can be. Middle class is barely even above low class and of course high class is way above any class which is believable. For all of the hard workers, they barely have anything to show for it as for the CEO’s they’re making money off of their employees that cannot even live off of what they make on the average. Like he said in the video most of the wealthy people worked hard to get where they are but why should they make all of the money when they have people making the money for them that can barely survive off of their lousy pay, it’s a sad world. I believe that the ones working hard with ridiculous pay should be earning a high pay equally as he said it would be socialism. LAWS001
Wow, i am actually depressed after watching that video. I did not know the unequal distribution of wealth was that severe. Furthermore, the majority of us have zero hope of seeing any change, in our lifetime, that would change this model and benefit us. It also sheds greater light on middle class and their proximity to the lower class/poor. I do not, however, believe in taking from the rich and giving to the poor in an arbitrary way. We can adjust our laws, in such a way, to bring up the lower classes while remaining objective. We can remove the current tax system that favors the upper-upper class, by closing the loopholes that the utilize to avoid their share of taxes. I think its time to move to a sales tax or flat tax based system that redistributes the tax burden according to consumption of products and services. No income tax, period. As long as we sit idly by and watch multi-national companies control the government; we will inevitably end up with two classes: upper-upper and poor. Packers001
ReplyDeleteI like your suggested solution of everybody just paying the same sales tax, because that seems pretty fair. The only way it wouldn't be fair is that less wealthy people don't buy as many or as expensive of goods as the more wealthy, so the more wealthy would end up paying a lot more taxes than the less wealthy. Maybe this is an ok solution and the wealthy should more or less just have to "suck it up" and spend the extra money in taxes if they really want the things that they don't need. But having an equal sales tax would also affect the middle class, who are also going to be buying more goods than the poor. I still don't think your solution is a bad one though. That's kind of the really frustrating issue: we can all see and understand that this problem exists, but how in the world do we go about fixing it? In the end, not everybody will be happy with the solution and most everybody will have to be willing to compromise. That just means that actually fixing the problem will be that much harder. Getting all the different people of different degrees of wealth to cooperate and agree on something will definitely be the hardest part. It sure seems like corporations and conglomerates along with the upper-upper class have got it good now...
Deletethestig001
I like your solution as well. The tax breaks and the welfare that these cooperations are on are just as expensive as the welfare that their underpayed workers need just to survive. The double dipping of the one percent from the government that they bought is a sad reality that isn't talked about because everyone else is happily ignorant in their illusion of power. Arizona001
DeleteI agree that if everyone paid the same sales taxes then no one would be getting treated poor just fair. The more power the better and the people who have more power don't flinch or even care about the people without any power. Power is most peoples movtivation. Your right Packers001 because we want change but if there was going to be a change it would hapen very slow and we wouldn't recognize it at first because it would take so long for it to catch up to society and to improve drastically.
DeleteSummer001
Hmmm. This was a pretty interesting video. Amazing to see how far off from reality how most American's (myself included) imagined that wealth is distributed in this country. The severity of the inequality of distribution of the wealth is kind of scary, because it really seems to support Marx's whole social conflict theory, which rests on the groundwork that capitalism results in inequality. It helps me to better see how many people stray more to the left and want bigger government and more governmental control of the economy, because capitalism seems to have gone rampant. It seems like a little socialism might do us good. However, socialism also conflicts with the American Ideal of a free market and the spirit of free competition and individualism, that people have a right to private property. I think this partially what really makes the political debate between the left and right so interesting and is partially responsible for dividing the country. Some people from both sides of the big government/less government issue just don't want to give up some of those ideals.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, I would also be really interested to see some historical data on the distribution of wealth to see how long it has been this way or when it started to become so extreme.
thestig001
I wonder if we are happier in our current state, rather than what we imagine an equal distribution of wealth to look like. Maybe equal equates to less than we have now, or maybe not. For me, the heart of the problem lies in government close ties to corporations. Lobbying in its current form is destroying the American ideal. We need to harness their influence or send better men and women to the front lines of legislation. I'll argue that the first is easier than the second. Good men and women of character don't want to be in government, and that's a problem. Packers001
DeleteWealth distribution is such an infuriating thing to be aware of. Capitalism has run rampant and is protected by the ones who are paid by the rich. The maddening thing is that poor people are just getting poorer. The rich take their industry to the places that need it and take complete advantage of the resources in those poor places. Who’s to stop them? Who’s to inform the people of the reality that’s happening to them? Where does that responsibility lie? Is it ethical and moral? All of these questions have obvious answers to them; but as a race of humans who consume the goods that keep the one percent in business, banning together like what Karl Marx said is perhaps, the first step. Arizona001
ReplyDeleteThis video was interesting because the way people took the meaning of wealth. I didn't realize the wealth for the United States was a low as it was. This chart shown me where each class is at. What we think and what we actually know are two completely different things. The middle class is barely different then the low class which is interesting because middle class is just making it by and lower class isn't making it by. But they are so close that the majority are proabably srtuggling. It was very interesting that the ceo makes 380 times more in one hour than an average person in the same company makes in one month. the reality is not what we think it is because we aren't working in each persons shoes, but I do know the ceo isn't working 380 times more than us to get paid that much in one hour. The inequality here is not right and some companies hsouldn't be paying the workers what they are, whether its too much or not enough. Some people are getting away with a crime I think because they aren't paying people fairly.
ReplyDeleteSummer001
I agree, a ceo of a company is not working 380 times more than others. Before looking at this chart I thought being in the middle class was a good and safe thing however, now it is scary knowing the middle class is almost on the same level of poverty. I am shocked that nine out of ten people would prefer the ideal America and we are still not even close to it. Toby001
DeleteI'm wondering the more we know the more we educate ourselves on this reality of the CEOs will employees' quality of work go down? Will they care, why would they if they are never going to get anywhere and they are making the owner richer than anyone human being even needs to be. The meaning of wealth is important for sure. I think it comes down to this what do we expect and want from our employers and what can we do about it? I want to be more informed and make the right choices for myself in protecting against supporting these people if I can. WonderWoman001
DeleteI agree Summer001 I do not believe the CEO is working 380 times more than us to get paid in one hour. I feel like the CEO’s hire people and give them bogus wages so that they can continue making the big bucks and have someone else do all the hard work. It is ridiculous and needs to change. LAWS001
DeleteKarl Marx's theory of social conflict that capitalism creates inequality seems to apply aptly in this context. The theory falls apart when you start to critically examine it. Marx talks about inequality in relative terms of a population. What it doesn't include is how capitalism brings the entire population on above the previous average. Think about how you are privileged to live today. 200 years ago you would have been considered Kings and Queens. Our current quality of life has not been successful due to redistributing wealth as we think it should be. Individual drive and creativity is what built our civilization to the point where we don't have to worry about the small things we take for granted in life. In the US we used to have laws that limited the power of corporations and huge businesses, just like we want today. It wasn't Capitalism that began to run rampant, it was Cronyism. Cronyism is what has created the massive gab that we see in the super wealthy compared to the average person. Marx was living in a society that was not as advanced as ours, as a result he was unable to see the eventual results of Capitalism and instead focused on his limited perception. In today's Age of Information we should know better. I gave the example in a comment in a previous blog post about how Ford gamed the bailout process back in 2009. We have congressmen who go to companies like Goldman-Sachs after leaving office. We have congressmen who go into office with almost no net worth and come out after 20 years with over $50 million dollars to their name. There is obvious and blatant corruption going on in our government. The conclusion that the wealth needs to be redistributed is a correct one, the reasoning and the proposed solutions to this problem are fallacious. I mean seriously, have any of us actually read everything that is put into law? Do any of us read ANY of what is put into law? hundreds of thousands of legal papers and you don't think there has been malicious intent in any of it? Sociology may be the youngest of the soft sciences, but a lot of the founding philosophy is just plain primitive compared to the philosophical and theoretical schools of thought that are presently available due to the leaps of civilization and the ability to gather the information that we have experienced in the last century alone. William F. Ogburn's theory of cultural lag is prevalent and obvious in the modern education system. Society literally can't keep up with innovation in thought, and the effects of this are being compounded more every day. FreedomUnderGod001 (1/2)
ReplyDelete. Relating back to the video, I have a proposition to fix the problem of Cronyism. Our Founding Fathers implemented a representative democracy for two main reasons: one was that there was no way that they could acquire the votes from every single person in the country to reach a consensus on who would govern. This was due to technological limitations. The second is that they recognized that Cronyism would run rampant because of human nature, and so they limited the amount of people who could vote to about 10% of the population. They only wanted people who would protect the country to have a say in it, otherwise corruption would set in because of foreign and personal interests. The first thing we need to do is to implement a Direct Democracy. With the technology we have today, there is no reason we cannot have individuals in our country vote directly for who we want to be president/represent ourselves instead of electing people who elect people who elect people. The Founding Fathers wished to minimize the impact of the elite taking power through the idea of Federalism. The states would have individual liberty over their own decisions, especially how the right to vote is established. This would mean that the power to set economic policy would lie in smaller subsets of the populations, making corporations inefficient at lobbying and forcing representatives to have a more personal connection to the general public. The next thing we need to do is to temporarily reinstate a Limited Democracy while we are going through this stage of governmental change. This would mean that only people who have a stake in the country would be allowed to vote for the future of the country. The process for determining this is too complex to go into detail without writing a full blown paper. Back when the Founding Fathers were figuring this out the only qualification was that you owned land in the US. After a period of time when the Direct Democracy has been set up, the right to determine who is allowed to vote or not should be given directly to the state governments once again. The new system would make representatives more accountable when it is found out that they are forming policy in tangent with corporate intentions. Next we need to move manufacturing from other countries back into ours through a series of incentive and deterrent policy. Examples of this would be forcing companies who had a certain percentage of their manufacturing outside of the US to be import-taxed at exorbitant rates. Another example would be to cut export taxes down low for companies who were based and produced in the US and limiting the profit of margin they are allowed to reap from this advantage. Another aspect of attacking Cronyism and corruption is to abolish all political parties. These institutions are bureaucratic in nature, and have only pseudo-loyalty to the American People. If we go through the process that I outlined above, the stratification of our societal wealth will be severely reduced, while at the same time we would be in a position to better the economies and quality of life of the rest of the world too. What the US has turned into is an injustice to every human being on the planet earth. It's time to catch up with the cultural lag and push humankind back into an era of progress. FreedomUnderGod001 (2/2)
DeleteWow, I think you need to go into politics maybe you can fix the problems and the economy while your at it. I'd vote for you and I haven't voted in years. The wealth should be redistributed equally to the people who are willing and able to fix the problems we as a country face. In pre-school when you saw someone without a snack you shared, what went wrong with people today. It's going to take something major to fix this country. TooTall001
DeleteThanks, but people would hate me. Additionally, I have no money nor influence . If I wanted to run for an office and actually have some power I would have to build up connections through college and be active in the political system all throughout. I would have to affiliate with a political party in order to even be recognized in most organizations. Also, I'm a Libertarian so the media will hate me. I don't think the establishments of the Democrats and Republicans would appreciate me joining their political party in order to try and destroy it. I would have to temporarily sell my soul in order to gain any kind of support. I'm still not sure I'm willing to do that when I could just sit back inside of comfortable think tanks and throw other figureheads into the grinder. After the fall semester I will be evaluating the political landscape, so if I have an opportunity locally I might try and gain some recognition. Although I will admit, my handsome, masculine features do strike a chord with all the ladies, and probably about 2% of men. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteYea a lot of the problems of today are based in the loss of a moral conscious with the general public. I am very Conservative personally, but it wouldn't be my goal to change other people's beliefs., I would focus on government policy to maximize individual liberty so that they can believe what they wish. I would not be responsible for other people's souls, but I would be responsible to give the people the free will to choose to sin or not. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteWow that last part though...lol (post at 8:43pm)
DeleteI think your smart you shouldn't think like that it makes you dumb no offense. But, a smart guy like you should think positive and hope for the best. Don't downgrade yourself and think of the negativity. Even if you don't get to be big you can do so much to try to make a change. And contribute to a better country and life for the world. Sell your soul? It sounds like Illuminati.
HollaGurl001
Oh no, don't mistake my realism conclusions about myself with pessimism. If I were ever to run for office I would have to consider all kinds of factors that normal people don't think of. It is literally a Dramaturgical presentation whenever you are a public figure. Not only that, but no politician in today's age does anything important without the authority of the people funding him. Hey Gurl, Conspiracy theorists only sound crazy until they are proven right. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteThis video was hard to watch knowing what reality we live in. America is supposed to be land of the free but from where I am standing I do not see much equality. I think a lot of people are scared to speak up to their bosses or higher authorities about their pay because people live in fear of losing their jobs. After seeing this video it is hard to believe we live in a high income nation when knowing the poverty level. This video was also humbling because I cannot imagine what a low income nation feels like. A ceo does not deserve to get paid 380 times more than the average person even if he lives at his office. Toby001
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about America being the land of the free. It seems weird that more than half of the population is living very poorly, while less than half is taking up all of America's wealth. I also find it amazing that we live in a high-income nation. What do the people living in low-income nations have to deal with?
Deleteswimmer001
Swimmer001, I don't think we can really imagine what is going on in a low-income nation without living there. I imagine that in low income nations that there is almost nonexistent wealth all throughout or that the wealth inequality is even more skewed than it is here.
DeleteDelta001
I'm not going to lie this subject bewilders me. What can I do to change this? So now that we've watched we now know that there are some people out there with tons of money and control etc. etc. etc. I know it affects me and will my daughter in her future. If we could find a happy medium between the different economic systems that would be just and fair especially for the hard working people of this county that would be great. Is this an injustice of our rights, access to healthcare, laws being made, or how we get to live our lives? Is this about we just want more money and more things and live like they do? I'm happy to earn my education and earn an honest living. I hope to find a fair employer one day, with a safe working environment, and benefits to care for myself. How much of that is in my control exactly? I will have to be flexible for sure. I've never had a lot of anything, physically or financially. I will be happy to survive in this economy and I know I'm going to have to work hard to have what I have. Life isn't fair and I'm not sure the U.S. is the country that will ever work on fairness, it seems like it will always run on money and what we possess. At the end of the day that is not my motive. WonderWoman001
ReplyDeleteWow, this video was extremely interesting. At first I thought the chart that told how Americans think the wealth is distributed was a big difference compared to the ideal distribution but after seeing the reality, my mind was blown. It is so crazy to think that 1% of Americans have 24% of the nation's wealth. Part of me thinks that those people in the upper-upper class deserve all the hard-earned money they made. However, I don't think they should be unfair to their employees by not paying them enough. At least America is not a socialist country, though. Then no one would want to work because they would earn the same as someone else who is working really hard. It is sad that so many people are unemployed. No matter what the American government does, though, there will always be unemployed people.
ReplyDeleteswimmer001
That was a little hard to hear and a little depressing that the distribution of wealth in this country is that bad. However it doesn't affect me at all, I'll never be in the 1% or anywhere close for that matter and I don't think money buys happiness anyway. As welfare rises in the U.S. and the upper-upper 1% own everything the government should ask them for loans. Or look at it this way when the system collapses and it will, cash money will have no value and the majority of the 1% will kill themselves. Cancer doesn't care how much money you have and then the more money you have the longer you suffer. In the Bible greed is a sin and they'll get theirs in the end. TooTall001
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I would look at that one percent and think that they are sinful. Yes they probably have stepped on some toes to get where they are financially, but I think most of us if we were in their shoes would do the exact same thing despite what we want to believe. Like Dr. White has said "money makes people funny" and personalities do change when money is involved. I think sometimes we as a country like to point fingers at the "big bad corporations" a little too much. It's been ingrained in our culture to always root for the little guys and shame the successful and elite, whether it be sports, or corporations. But I do agree with you there is a problem, but I don't know if taking the wealth away from those 1 percenters is the key to a successful economy. glassonion001
DeleteI recently heard a economist talking about the distribution of wealth and if people think that the richest "1%" of America should be taxed more. We are in so much debt that if we took that top 1% and all of their wealth and put it towards helping our national debt, we would still be roughly in 1 trillion dollars in debt. Now this doesn't have a direct correlation to to the distribution of wealth, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that the hole we have dug is not something that we can easily fix with 1 or even 2 new laws regarding taxes. It's a problem that will have to be fixed over the next several years, and the President in the next election isn't going to be the savor either. It will have to be us that fixes these problems ourselves. glassonion001
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, the President is one of the most influential people when it comes to the economy. It is the President's Administration's policies which are then (In the modern perversion of our government) pushed into law. Fiscally irresponsible presidents end up wasting money and encouraging Cronyism. When you say it will be "us" that fixes these problems, you are neglecting something extremely important. THE GOVERNMENT IS "US". Who we elect has a direct effect on how the country operates economically. The President in the 2016 election will literally determine the future of our country based on his policy. People don't "become" the President. They are elected into the office of the Presidency that is owned by the people. Do not separate an entire governmental arm of our democracy from the state of the country. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteThis video really opens up my mind on what’s happening around us, and most of us are quite aware that the system is skewed. It is a bit infuriating that the actual distribution of wealth is so far off from not only we believe is ideal, but also what we think it is. It’s a bit messed up that it’s almost preferred by some in order to make them work harder to get ahead. I don’t ever see it being economic equality, but with the knowledge that we have on the system we can now express opinions and fight for it. With the amount of money the top 1% has, they could easily spread that wealth to help others. With the underemployment and unemployment issues in the past, I’m sure this type of interference could have helped out a lot of struggling people.Taylojj2
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely! If that one percent were to distribute the money they make to others, it can certainly help underemployment and unemployment. I am sure not many are actually aware of what's going on with the ideal economy and what we think it is. Its sad cause these are actual facts that should be presented to public, but data is really not out there. Too many people also don't care much about it cause they are so busy trying to earn money, it is impossible to think about this. But definitely government should take some steps to make it better and not worse.
Deletekhush001
This video was really really depressing. I now know why being "homeless" is a major issue too now. Technically not even the people with right degrees are making that amount of money. Education they say is important, a degree for a better job is important. These were the sayings that were said almost about thirty to forty years ago, which don't even seem true anymore. The one percent, video talked about are people and owners with big business. So Degree didn't even play a role to get the money where they are right now. It is sad for the poor people and middle class people who work so hard and still struggle to make their ends meet. What's more sad is that the graph is still curving up and with the amount of unemployment increasing we can only predict poor becoming homeless too now. khush001
ReplyDeleteIt is really depressing to see the egregious distribution of wealth in the US, but I think an education has a far greater importance than ensuring a higher income. You see, from the education we are receiving now we are empowering our selves for better jobs but also to be a more effective influence in our society. If it weren't for this class people like us would never know the extremely skewed distribution of wealth presented in this video and see this unfairness demonstrated in our society. Ignorance makes us very vulnerable to manipulation. Karma001
DeleteI agree with Karma001 completely. Ignorance of a voting population promotes representatives who focus on their own fame instead of their policy. This is another reason why the Founder Fathers were against universal suffrage. They realized that only the educated would be able to make smart decisions for the benefit of both the people and the country. How are we supposed to tell what color the sky is, if we are looking at the ground? FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteI'm actually astounded by how much the unequal distribution of wealth is in america. The fact that the top 1% owns 40% of the wealth makes everything incredibly skewed. And the fact that even though they get about 25% of the nations income, how come they aren't paying 25% of the nations income tax. It is ridiculous that they get so many tax breaks when they aren't the ones that need the help. It is the entire bottom 60% that could use the tax breaks. Not the richest of the rich who probably earn more money of interest than the entire bottom 60%.
ReplyDeleteDelta001
Actually the top 1% pay more in taxes than the bottom 90%. As of 2011, the bottom 90% of taxpayers payed 31.74% of taxes. The rich are already funding our government. What's also curious is how whenever there are tax cuts the 1% actually get poorer and the bottom 90% actually get richer. For example after the 01/03 tax cuts, the burden of taxes on the 1% actually jumped far ahead of the 90%. Raising taxes is not the answer to the income disparity, lowering them are. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteThis isn’t the first time I’ve seen this video, but it is just as grotesque now as it was the first time. The wealth of the US is egregiously distributed across the population, that we know for certain. What we don’t know is how our economic systems can be changed to be more fair or healthy. One problem that I see is that the individuals that have the most power are the least incentivised to change, that being the upper 20%. Why would they want to, they can see themselves as social benefactors creating jobs and wealth in the US while making a substantial amount for themselves. This is arguably a lie to cover up their greed which can never be satisfied. So yeah, let’s hope that gang of spirits from A Christmas Carol come back and help us change up these people’s minds!! Karma001
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on that! Well the saying, " The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer," wasn't a joke. It has always been this way, but now it is even tipped more into the extreme for the wealthy. The rich aren't just rich because of their jobs, but it's all politically tied, and they are the ones able to make the rules. Power is money, and when you are able to buy out competitors, or even lawmakers, the common person is left to struggle in the wake of such coorporate greed. Rosebudd001
DeleteMy father is considered in the top 10% of income in the U.S., yet because of taxes and regulations and the cost of life being so high, he feels more financial strain now than there was 10 or even 20 years ago. I have a close friend who is in the 1%, and he would be considered lower-lower-upper class. Even his family feels the strain that the economy is producing. For a while I couldn't even tell that they weren't upper-middle class. When we talk about the 1%, even most of those people are sympathetic to our causes, cause they still have to work to get their money. The real disparity comes when you examine the 1% of the 1% (the 0.01% of the population). That is where the real wealth is. The funny thing is that you don't even hear about these people. The millionaires and billionaires that we all know by name (Trump,Gates,Romney,Zuckerberg, etc) aren't in the 1% of the 1%. These people don't have contact with the "real" world. You don't know who they are. That is what the governmental system that I proposed above helps to limit and get rid of. These people only have their wealth because we don't know about it. Talking about the 1% like they are all our enemies is extremely foolish. We need to make friends and persuade these people to help us. Alienating them is what will certainly turn them against us. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteThe music was depressing in the background... was I the only one who thought that? Crazy how us a nation of wealth don't distribute the wealth of the country. America is known to be one of the most wealthiest countries yet there are very poor people who are struggling through life and Imagine how much money is being thrown away by the rich that could be money needed for the ones that are truly in need of survival needs. To me I think that people are blind to not realize the reality of what is happening to us. We are not doing anything about it to try to change the inequality of the distribution of wealth. It is like we are distracted by other things that perhaps may not be what is truly important. What is this one percent gonna do with all that money. It snot like they are helping any people. UGH do they have no heart? I know one should work to continue the American Dream Motto but it is insane how much money the one percent are taking from everyone else.
ReplyDeleteHollaGurl001
I also agree the music was depressing in the background. We are truly a self motivated society. Some would say we are a "fend for yourself" motto right now. I believe that we need to as a society change the outlook we have on success. Money has too much power over each individual. Put yourself in the shoe's of the 1%. Would you be willing to give up your wealth? SVT001
DeleteThe numbers were actually shocking, about how wealthy the rich really are. All I know is that almost everyone I know, works really hard, and still can't afford what they really need. It's sad that most people think they are middle class and have a better financial standing than they really do; reality is that there almost isn't a middle class anymore. More like lots of lower class statistics instead. The fact that ceo's make 380 times an average worker in an hour is just down right criminal! There should be laws against such inequality. All of this Capitalism is also supression for the lost middle and lower classes. Maybe Socialism instead? Rosebudd001
ReplyDeleteI agree with you it is more like the middle class is with the poor class . The poor class really don't get know wealth at all but the rich have so much they can just wast some yet they still want taxs breaks and more . I agree we may need to go to a little more socialism. Player001
DeleteEarth has experimented with Socialism. As a result? Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Eastern Asia before the Chinese went capitalist(sorta), All of the middle east's economic strife, Extremist Terrorists. Did you know that recently Bin Laden's books from the compound he was living in was released to the public? He had books on Socialism and NeoLiberalism and advances in Marxist philosophy. Books on the history of WWII and studying how the Russians were able to last so long against the U.S. All of these terrible people throughout history have been consistently socialist in their agenda. When was the last time 30 million people were killed in the name of Capitalism? Not only historical example but the mathematics behind a purely socialist economy has been worked out and what ends up happening every time is that the quality of life degenerates for everyone under the system. There is a reason why Socialism is considered a "bad word". It's because it is provably and demonstrably bad. Not only bad, but Stupid. With a capital S. I haven't even touched upon the moral aspect of it either. That is a completely different, more in depth argument than I am willing to present, since the one I already presented suffices. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteThis video was really interesting to see how the wealth was in America. It shows America is kinda a greedy place how 1% owns 50% of Americas wealth. Then the 1% have so much money they don't know what to do with it , but don't want minimum wage to go up and use other countries to there advantage. This relates to marxs conflict theory how the 1% own and run almost everything but we haven't got to the point to were the poor rise up yet. But why would they when most don't even know the wealth distribution and I was one of those people . Player001
ReplyDeleteI really thought this video did a good job explaining what is going on around all of us. I think we have a drive to achieve the top. Unfortunately a lot of people will never be able to go as far as they should because we have such an inequality of wealth. I think we have options to help with the inequality. I feel like you have earned money that no one should be able to take that away from you including the government. I think however it is unfortunate that the rich do not help the poor as much as they could. I think as a society we rely too much on money. We need to not worry about what class we fall into as much as we need to worry that everyone in the world is eating a meal and not starving. SVT001.
ReplyDeleteThis video was very devastating. Showing how America’s wealth being distributed works was a bit ridiculous. It is hard to believe how poor people really can be. Middle class is barely even above low class and of course high class is way above any class which is believable. For all of the hard workers, they barely have anything to show for it as for the CEO’s they’re making money off of their employees that cannot even live off of what they make on the average. Like he said in the video most of the wealthy people worked hard to get where they are but why should they make all of the money when they have people making the money for them that can barely survive off of their lousy pay, it’s a sad world. I believe that the ones working hard with ridiculous pay should be earning a high pay equally as he said it would be socialism. LAWS001
ReplyDelete