Most of us Americans thought we were doing pretty well financially, until the bubble burst and the value of our hard-earned assets (our homes and retirement funds) deflated. Silly us. Turns out, we were working our butts off to make rich people richer.
As American workers have worked harder and become more productive over the last couple decades, corporations have reaped record profits.
The rich people who control the corporations pocketed the wealth created by their employees and made possible by the infrastructure, education system and other amenities paid for by American taxpayers. Then, they shipped our jobs overseas, where labor is cheaper.
Income for American families has dropped steadily, as more people lose their living-wage jobs and are forced to accept lower-paying jobs, part-time jobs or unemployment insurance.
While American families are struggling to get by, corporations continue to receive taxpayer-funded subsidies and other kinds of special treatment. We are witnessing a massive redistribution of wealth from poor and middle class Americans to the richest.
Many Americans don't understand what's happening. Others have their suspicions, but don't know what to do about it. Most people are too busy working - they don't have time to think about the forces that are keeping them down. There are a lot of practical solutions being proposed by economists and social justice activists. I'll share them in another post.
BTW, these graphs are from Mother Jones, an awesome nonprofit news organization that specializes in investigative, political, and social justice reporting.
BTW, these graphs are from Mother Jones, an awesome nonprofit news organization that specializes in investigative, political, and social justice reporting.
