The important thing to look at is median household income, divided by income quintile.


Obviously it's good that incomes are up across the board, but "rich" and "poor" aren't always, or even usually, used as absolute terms. Usually they're used as relative terms, and certainly relative wealth can have a profound effect on life satisfaction and social relationships. As such, it's perfectly possible to think of the "poor getting poorer" if their relative income isn't growing as fast as others' incomes.

Certainly it's a better situation than if their incomes were going down in absolute terms, but the gap in income can still have social consequences.

In terms of economics and happiness, I think we can show that the marginal happiness benefit of a dollar decreases with overall wealth. As such, we get higher happiness through progressive taxation, and surely that's got some value in terms of a societal target. Obviously there are other forces that come into play (and capitalism in general is the best system we've found), but I think income inequality is at least something valid to be concerned about.

But I suppose that marks me as an idiot to Shaka, and I look forward to another downvote from peroxide (though I don't have any idea what he disagrees with me on).

Anyone that talks about "income inequality" automatically gets labelled an idiot in my mind, as does anyone who says the phrase "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer."

In reality, the rich and poor have all been doing better since the 1960s, even after adjusting for inflation.

The important thing to look at is median household income, divided by income quintile.

Look at this graph:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_Income_Distribution_1947-2007.svg

>> ^ForgedReality:

Bullets are inexpensive. The rich are not. VIVA LA REVOLUTION!


Revolution will never happen. Americans en mass have been molded into complacency and largely to stupid to realize it. Beyond that if we did, we wouldn't be able to agree on the goal, especially when a large chunk of Americans have been mindfucked by conservatives to believe the rich deserve to pay less taxes and should keep what they achieved (read: inherited), that income redistribution is BAD (unless it's from the poor/middle class to the rich, which is fantastic) and have been spoon-fed some crazy ass propaganda (socialism is the devil!).

I mean, just googleing 'how does the average republican feel about income inequality' and I get some juicy quotes strait from the horses mouth. Lovely bits like;

"Those screaming to share the wealth are usually the uneducated and lazy. That's a fact."

"I have no interest in stealing from people so that individuals on the lower rung of the ladder don't "feel" as bad because they have less than someone else."

You just have to love how mindfucked these people are and they just don't even realize it.

>> ^hpqp:

Great speaker, and great writer too.
Seriously, who needs more than 2mio$ a year? Geez!!


What are you talking about? With what am I supposed to paint my giraffes on the diamond yacht other than the wonderful green color of mashed dollar bills?
2mio a year do you have ANY idead how long their freaking necks are?

There are times when your parabolic orbit around reality comes dangerously close before you swing wide again. You are SOOO CLOSE to getting it, here. There is no free market. Not in our lifetime. Not in any lifetime. Like all utopic visions, it's a fantasy; a fantasy used to manipulate people like you into subservience. Liberty for the rich. Tyranny for rest.

When free market principles are put into place (like lowering taxes for the rich, privatization and deregulation) they yield no positive results. If you haven't been manipulated, then how do you explain your support for policies that fail time and time again? It's not a belief system, it's religion.

In the name of the Market, Ron Paul and the Invisible Hand, amen.

>> ^blankfist:

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
The free market crowd said that lowering taxes, privatization and deregulation would create jobs and grow the economy. We've done all that and we are now suffering massive income inequality, massive unemployment and recession. How many times do we have to bang our head against the wall before we figure out that free market politics don't work, never have and never will?

What free market is that exactly? I can't see a nurse for my medical needs without paying a doctor. I can't buy the drugs I need without a prescription. I can't cut people's hair without getting a license. I can't shoot a film without the cops shutting me down unless I have the tens of thousands the studios pay for permits. And on and on and on.
And don't blame a free market you and I've never seen in our lifetimes for the ills of the economy. The manipulation of interest rates, wall street bailouts and the housing bubble got us here to begin with, and that was 100% socially engineered. Time to renew your platitudes.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

The free market crowd said that lowering taxes, privatization and deregulation would create jobs and grow the economy. We've done all that and we are now suffering massive income inequality, massive unemployment and recession. How many times do we have to bang our head against the wall before we figure out that free market politics don't work, never have and never will?


What free market is that exactly? I can't see a nurse for my medical needs without paying a doctor. I can't buy the drugs I need without a prescription. I can't cut people's hair without getting a license. I can't shoot a film without the cops shutting me down unless I have the tens of thousands the studios pay for permits. And on and on and on.

And don't blame a free market you and I've never seen in our lifetimes for the ills of the economy. The manipulation of interest rates, wall street bailouts and the housing bubble got us here to begin with, and that was 100% socially engineered. Time to renew your platitudes.

The free market crowd said that lowering taxes, privatization and deregulation would create jobs and grow the economy. We've done all that and we are now suffering massive income inequality, massive unemployment and recession. How many times do we have to bang our head against the wall before we figure out that free market politics don't work, never have and never will?

It would still be bullshit, other industrialized nations get better service than we do and pay less for it. If our telecos are in such debt it's more likely due to their own mismanagement than anything the consumers did.
Most of the uber-wealthy do think they're pulling their own weight, they think they are some of the hardest working people on the planet. Many of them are also delusional narcissists.
>> ^calmlyintoit:

How do we get to a place in the US where most of us realize we all have to pull our own weight, including the fabulously uber-wealthy?

>> ^calmlyintoit:
How do we get to a place in the US where most of us realize we all have to pull our own weight, including the fabulously uber-wealthy?



Thumbscrews in the dungeon.

Your video, ForaTV: American Income Inequality Off the Rails, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

There is no rational argument to be had here. The left doesn't view life through the prism of right and wrong, only rich and poor (or rich versus poor).

On the one hand, the video is amusing and at least there is an attempt at creativity. On the other, this is nothing to celebrate, and while some use these cards as intended, many are sold or traded for cash, drugs and booze, yet another wasteful government system with no oversight or accountability (but who cares as the intentions are good).

The top 1% wealthy already pay 40% of the taxes. Forcing them to pay more will weaken the economy but snag a few more voters seeking "revenge" for perceived economic injustices.

Maybe the wealthy aren't "creating jobs" at the rate the left wants (that is, enough to stay in power) but what we DO know for certain is the socialist retards of this regime can't create a single job for less than half-a-million dollars each. Hasn't the Kenyawaiian already blown 4 trillion in fiat money with nothing to show for it? I'll take my chances with the 'evil' rich investors.

PS who are the real racists, the one who demand Black Americans need special gummint help at all times or those holding them to the same standards as everyone else?



>> ^GenjiKilpatrick:

So let's ignore the whole wealth & income inequality reality..
to wallow in the fantasy that uneducated darkies & leftists are really to blame for "stealing all taxpayers' money"..

Hey, Mushroom.. I think one of your masters needs another 100k or so.
You know, so he can hurry up and "create jobs" for you and all your friends. ; ]

So let's ignore the whole wealth & income inequality reality..

to wallow in the fantasy that uneducated darkies & leftists are really to blame for "stealing all taxpayers' money"..


Hey, Mushroom.. I think one of your masters needs another 100k or so.

You know, so he can hurry up and "create jobs" for you and all your friends. ; ]

You have to buy a $60 pass to the site to watch it unfortunately. >> ^Yogi:

Obama put forth a bill that will Tax the rich...lets see how that goes down.
EDIT: Full Talk somewhere?

America has a wider income inequality gap than several of those African countries people keep bringing up. So while the "first world poor" in the US are not as destitute as those of "third world" countries, relatively speaking they're getting more fucked over by their country's rich, thus the outrage at assholes like those at Faux News who will resort to petty insults just to protect the interests of the top 1%.


http://i.imgur.com/QL8yN.jpg