John Oliver discusses America's growing wealth gap and why it may be a problem in the future. Connect with Last Week Tonight online... Subscribe to the Last ...
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Infographics on the distribution of wealth in America, highlighting both the inequality and the difference between our perception of inequality and the actua...
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Sadly, everyone is missing the point on this. The reason the richest are
getting richer isn’t because they are running successful businesses like
McDonald’s and Walmart, it’s because they are running major BANKS and are
getting INVENTED MONEY that is being pulled out of thin air by the Federal
Reserve and the Federal Government.
Democrats DO NOT have the solution for this issue, and neither do
Republicans. The only solution is to get the government OUT of the market.
Wealth Inequality is poisoning the American Dream, killing economic
opportunity for everyone, and hurting the overall economy. It is the #1
fiscal issue we must keep the spotlight on in order to fix it.
“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not
as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” –
Steinbeck
It’s called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.
The reason everyone is so afraid of the words “Class Warfare” is because
there is class warfare. And nobody wants to fucking talk about it cause
they dont have an answer. Its just, “Well you know that’s just how it is in
the world. Most everyone gets fucked over and lives a terrible meaningless
life.”
My answer is socialism but everyone’s to fucking scared of the word to
realize it just means sharing. I dont know maybe someone has a better
answer, but since nobody wants to have a serious discussion about it… I
havent heard it.
Personally, I have no problem with wealth inequality if it was fairly
earned. If you’re lobbying government for special privileges, tax
loopholes, etc.. I have a problem with that. Otherwise, good on you! Enjoy
your money, it certainly isn’t my right to take it from you.
If you smoke dope, drop out of high school, have 3 kids by age 25 and have
no skills and make less than a college graduate – that is the leftist
definition of income inequality.
It’s soo easy to hate wealthy people, until you become wealthy yourself. I
think that is what a lot of people fail to realize.
So, income inequality has increased under Obama then.
So what happened to “hope and change” Obamaites?
My solution to you is to stop buying crap. Period. If you need clothes,
food, water etc. then buy them, but only buy what you need. Not what you
want. If you want something don’t buy it. You’ll live without it. Only buy
what you need, or things that will increase in value. Open a Roth IRA,
invest $25 a week (or more preferably), buy stock in companies under $20
with no debt/high cash flow/leaders in the industry and be patient. Keep
doing that week in and week out. You will be a millionaire in 20 years if
you follow this strategy. This is the key to wealth. If you don’t do this I
have no sympathy for you, and you shouldn’t blame anyone for your lot in
life except yourself.
Someone said “communism”, and used it as a negative.
I have no problems with communism, not exactly. Communism has failed
everywhere (to my knowledge), but some of the ideas in communism,
especially marxism, are actually pretty good.
One of the ideas I explicitly condone is that you should never be able to
amass wealth merely by already having wealth.
There’s all sorts of problems in the world today caused by a majority that
does not subscribe to this, one of them being a “landed gentry”. Landed
gentry are people who, through inheritance, can earn money simply by being
rich, and pass on that privilege to their children through inheritance.
This causes (as we see today) a polarization of wealth, where an elite
virtually either owns everything, or will own everything eventually. Let’s
not name a big western country just north of Mexico and south of Canada
that has this problem…
Another is the idea that I should not profit more on people that works for
me than the value they will likely generate.
In marxism, this means that the means of production should be owned by the
workers, thereby making sure that everyone gets their fair share.This
probably won’t work in reality, but the idea is good, exactly because it
prevents the “landed gentry” dilemma, by making sure that you won’t can’t a
secured income by “birthright”.
If I own a facility, all the workers generate value (or they are fired). If
I also earn money merely for owning it, then that money is essentially
something I’m only entitled to because the workers aren’t as rich and
fortunate as I am.
You can think what you will, but I do not like the idea that people can
earn a living simply by being so lucky as to be born by the “right parents”.
Capitalism might not have failed yet, but to me it sure looks like it’s
going to. The problem isn’t the capacity of virtually unlimited wealth. The
problem is that majority of the super rich never earned their own wealth,
and that their wealth is growing.
Your daily “a couple of weeks ago tonight with John Oliver” :D
So we should stop believing that hard work will reward you someday?
instead, the best thing to do is to steal from the rich? No man, that’s not
what america is about. If you are poor, it’s probably because you are a
lazy, good for nothing freeloader.
The irony is that creeping socialism has led to the rise in income
inequality in the US, as a wealthy class of hard working industrialists and
business entrepreneurs has been slowly replaced by an even richer parasitic
class of government bureaucrats, welfare administrators and special
interest lobbyists.
We can’t grow our consumer-driven economy if the consumers don’t have
enough money to CONSUME anything. That’s what the wealthy and their pawns
don’t realize. Reducing income inequality might give them a slightly
smaller share of the economy—but we’d have a stronger economy overall
that would benefit the rich as well.
Was that 71% number completely made up? Forbes currently claims that there
are more self-made millionaires on the list than inheritors.
The left has to decide wether they want to help the poor or punish the
rich. You can’t do both. It’s like saying we all want a healthy economy but
we don’t anyone to get rich in the process. This British twit is a totally
ignorant jack ass. Go back to Britian you don’t understand how America
works!
the fact hat the government and media font want to really talk about
inequality and demonize it as c”classswarfare” i more proof that we dont
live in a democracy and we are run by the rich,Thats the way its always
been,and all the rhetoric about democracy is just empty talk to convince
the great masses that they are somehow involved in an exploitive system.
All of those saying socialism is the solution also need to take into
account that corruption exists in every form of economy and government and
that trying to live by the ideals of anything but capitalism up until now
has shown little success worldwide without there being some form of
totalitarian government.
Class warfare? It could be worse. If I were doing this, I’d have responded
with: “I’m not f*cking killing rich people. I just want to spread all their
money around, and make them less grotesquely wealthy, or something like
that.” Also, was anyone surprised that Rubio is the one “protecting the
wealthy”, aka “f*cking everybody who doesn’t have the money to buy Rhode
Island”
One thing I can’t stand is when celebrities and politicians talk about
income inequality. I worked in the entertainment industry, and you know how
much I was paid? Minimum wage. And I didn’t mind being paid minimum wage,
because I was offering a service, and they were offering money for my
service. Free people arranged voluntary exchange. But don’t hypocrites when
I’m sure that this show pays it’s employees hardly anything.
Concentrated wealth slows economic growth.
Anyone who says complete socialism is the answer is a lunatic. I
honestly think the world has yet to find the perfect system. Capitalism is
the reason so many countries have the standard of living they do. I think
it is the closest we have gotten. Take a look at China. How has it been
able to grow at the incredible rates it had over the past 35 years? It has
slowly but surely been adopting democratic and capitalist attributes. If it
continued with its original policies it would still be stuck where it was
in the 70’s. (The reason I used China as an example is because it is the
most relevant at this point. If I use the US people would dismiss it
completely. Lets not forget the MONSTROUS growth the US went through in its
short life.)
It is hilarious that if the USA is not the best at everything, it is a
failure. The US economy is still growing and the US still is in the top 5
for standards of living. We are doing well. The best? No. But well. Those
who say “we’re are not #1 so we should turn to socialism” should just stop
and realize, if they are American, you still have it better than a lot of
the world. Be appreciative of that. But I guess the grass is always greener
on the other side.(Pardon the cliché) Yes, we have a lot to work on. Just
as long as we keep working to better ourselves and the world.
How to fix income inequality, GET THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE FREE MARKET
the only solution left is some sort of revolt by the people…i prefer
non-violent revolt. the three branches of the government are increasingly
useless for the people…the rich have become richer under Obama than under
any president in recent memory….Supreme Court justice Roberts, Alito,
Scalia, Clarence (I never say a word) Thomas is as right wing as ever in
recent memory and we are all under assault by billionaires (Koch) and their
lobbyists. investment banks and the stock market shift wealth we working
people create (either in US or internationally) and funnel that prosperity
right into the pockets of the ultra rich who own most of the shares of
stocks.
This is a pretty vexing discussion. In my opinion hard work should be
rewarded but owning companies is not hard work, notice how I said owning,
not managing. The businesses that we work for do not belong to us, in many
cases they belong to the hyper-rich. Its essentially slave-labor, we do
have many freedoms that true slaves don’t but at the end of the day you are
always going to get burned. They get away with it because we have had a
different picture of slavery painted in our minds since we were kids.
For all of you out there bitching “I’ll work hard and make lots of money
and I want keep my money” let me tell you something about your fucking work
ethic. It doesn’t matter good your work ethic is you are getting screwed.
Your super hard work ethic doesn’t scare the hyper-rich, in fact, they love
you for it! The harder YOU work the more money THEY make! The harder you
work the more you get screwed. Its the perfect system. Welcome to the
machine folks, they’ll tell you anything to get you play their game, after
they’ve bought the companies you work for they’ll buy politicians who will
be paid to tell you to that the American dream is just around the corner
and you just have to work a little harder and get the right qualifications
for a good job. They want you to succeed in the work force so they can
steal your money in the form of dividends and profits.
The trillions of dollars out there belongs to us, it belongs to the guy who
works the frier at McDonalds, it belongs to the shelve stockers, the
janitors and plumbers. It even belongs to the doctors, engineers, senior
executives, even the “rich” people are getting screwed. Everyone except the
truly insanely rich people are slaves. We are the ones who created that
wealth and it blows my mind that people aren’t rioting in the streets of
every city across America DEMANDING the wealth that we created. Its not
“socialism” we want, all we want is the wealth that we created, and they’re
not going to let us have it. Un-fucking-believable.
Deregulation, lower taxes and abolishing the feds’ power to print money
will reduce income inequality.
A mind blowing perspective of American inequality. It’s only 6 minutes and
worth a look.
My teacher showed this to my class in Sociology, and I found it extremely
shocking. Seriously, where’s this great country of America everyone’s
talking about, because financially, I’m not seeing it
Glad it’s different in Europe. The USA government is based on money not on
votes. Why does the USA only have 2 ways to vote.. It’s like a half
communism. Not true democracy like Europe. It’s a fake democracy and people
in the USA think theire vote counts… How is it legal for company’s to pay
for the people who can be elected? Why is that even LEGAL. Here the taxs
payers pay for the commercials for democracy and each party get there share
of PR. Why everything is so dumb in the USA? Who are the stupid people who
build this political wrong system. Why are they so stupid?
You know who that one percent is? Millionaires. There is nothing wrong
with that. I want to be a millionaire one day, and I don’t think 75% of my
income should go to the fucking government. And btw, literally anyone with
a good work ethic, and some creativity and intelligence can become a
millionaire.
Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Iceland,
Germany all have a much more even distribution of income, these countries
are wonderful to live in.
Mexico has a more unequal distribution of income than the US, is that what
people in the States dream of becoming more like? Like Mexico? lol
The answers is dismantling the trickle down Laffer economics policies that
the mega wealthy and corporations have bought and hijacked our government
and country with since following Nixons 1970 ,SCOTUS justice powell
memorandom, the megawealthys and corporations blueprint for dismantling our
democratic republic government and its once citizen controlled legislative
processes and judiciary. The ignorance and greed has infiltrated even the
poor working middle class by 35 years of repeated republican conservative
classwarfare propaganda and trickle down economics being the only economic
policy discussed advanced and implemented.
A specter is haunting America. The specter of Communism. Let it come and
come soon.
*if any of you are defending the rich, you are exactly in the first
category of people thinking “oh I am poor, but i am so close to being rich
that I will vote for presidents that make life better for the rich so that
it accommodates me in the future” the reality is, you are dirt poor, and
you will ONLY benefit the rich. You can either agree with the video and be
poor, or live comfortably being middle class, having to worry about taxes,
mortgages, credits, kids taking drugs, fighting over weed.*
*Or you can try to join the 20% society, though thing is, you wont, because
every avenue of how to get rich has been exploited already, and they have
policies, lawyers, patents working against you.*
Think of the guy who modified an engine that was 300% efficient as opposed
to 20% efficient ones we use, *Paul Pantone*; engine lubricated itself,
made more power, consumed so little fuel that it was insanity. He barely
got a patent for it, then on top of it there were so many patents that he
was crushed and forced to sell the patent. They offered him $15 million, he
said no, because he knew that it is worth billions, so they sued him
claiming that he is mentally insane “who wouldn’t take $15 million,” and he
spent some years in the mental institution, he got out, his engine is
patented, its crushed by other patents, nobody is talking about it anymore.
*So the only way to get rich is you have to be rich already, have
connections, and only rich can have those kind of connections. If you have
neither, they will only try to screw you over, so you cannot trust a damn
thing, this is a field of psychopaths who only care about accumulating
wealth to keep the poor and middle class fight over whatever is left. The
rich meanwhile do not pay taxes at all, corporate bank loopholes that won’t
be ever closed, you try it – you become 10 times worse than a cold blooded
murderer*
*Wealth Inequality in America*
This is what this election is all about.
Basically this video is propaganda aimed at idiots who don’t understand the
FACT that people move through the wealth brackets as they progress through
life. It might as well titled “old people have more money than young
people”. As well as idiots who don’t know the FACT that those in the top
20% pay most the tax levy. But don’t let FACTS get in the way of your petty
childish class war. 94,945 people don’t have a clue.
We need a customized version of Capitalism. One that sets a Cap on
earnings once you reach 10 times the income that the average worker for
your company makes. If a CEO wants to earn more, he will have to raise
the salary of his workers, so that he will remain within the 10x of average
worker salary. If not, then the CEO has earned his cap and thus gives an
opening for other Americans to earn more money in his void. This
distributes wealth more evenly.
Wealth Inequality in These United States: http://youtu.be/QPKKQnijnsM
People who have plenty have plenty because they underpaid their Employees
plus overcharged customers with marked-up retail prices. Therefore the
result is the Employees & the Customers are squeezed out of donating great
sums of money to charities. Those at the top of the heap rake that glory in
to themselves and then say “See what I did? I give to these people and help
these sick people and so on & on & on” when it was only by being a Master
Cheater that gave them that advantage, the advantage of low life blowhards
not high & mighty altruists and philanthropists.
I fail to see where the Rich are some sort of great human beings. They’re
just good at sliding shells around on a very slick table. What they
practice is thievery worthy of Robert Wagner and Eddie Albert in the show
To Catch a Thief.
As for Mr. Bill Gates having the poor slops vaccinated: that’s work paid
for by a medical simpleton not an educated benefactor. My son was killed
(28YO) by vaccines made with diseased monkey kidneys. I was given Measles
and Chickenpox my own self while a child because my Immune System was not
functioning and then I gave those diseases to my cousin Henry.
Vaccines are not “weakened” when injected into a child that has a
less-than-optimal immune system. Duh. The world is filled with medical
illiterates and swamis, and false shamans who have lots of money. And many
times the vaccines are prepared for what they deem an “Average Child” when
no such animal exists [or ever will exist]. My son was vaccinated in a
predominantly Black area of the country (Richmond Virginia) where the
vaccines had to be made extra strong.
Stupid World. Killers hold the horse reins and the whip they yield strikes
only another man’s children not his own. Anyone with a fraction of a
Working Brain would know you cannot combine so many multiple diseases into
a single injection without them cross-combining into new forms of disease.
They tell us that every day already. Disease organisms mutate. Every day
they say that through the News radio and TV and yet somehow when they do it
the diseases behave themselves and do not cross combine or mutate. What a
buncha jokes we have for leaders and medical idiots in every hospital and
doctor clinic in the United States… where they are purposely practicing
Genocide and Eugenics under the guise of medical treatment.
Phooey on em all. They will answer to Jesus soon. Maybe they can share
their expertise with him as to how disease organisms can be tamed when
stuffed together inside a hypodermic needle. Even the clown idiot knows
better.
Wealth distribution? What does that even mean?
I am very sceptical the author was even allowed access to this type of
data. Who the hell gave this data out? I really don’t think the US makes
this information easily accessible to ANYONE, it’s top secret, sources are
so misguided and misinformation so often no one knows what the hell is
going on.
*Humanities only hope for a better world relies on The Truth.** When people
learn **the truth about life** and realize that they are going to suffer
and die along with their families in the near future, they will no longer
be motivated by riches, power, fame, or any other influences that come from
our animal mind-set. Only The Truth and Life will matter, because they are
the only things that really exist.* ~> Google “The Truth Contest” and read
their top entry.
Capitalism consumes the Poor. The $22 trillion spent on Welfare etc since
1965 was a jobs program for all their Black employees. The US mail system
was pretty much the same thing, great jobs for Black slaves carrying
honkies’ mail to his front doorstep as I recall. Made White folk’s little
woman feel good ala Leave It to Beaver and the Nelsons.
And so on & so on like Social Security. All one big feel good scam to pass
the time away everybody running on a treadmill but nobody actually getting
anywhere except for another day older and deeper in debt plus 16 tons on
your back every inch of the way with the illusion it wasn’t there.
Jesus will bring something a great deal better soon. We’re a waste. Our
logic abilities are burying us in economic quicksand that never stops
pouring onto our head.
Most people are slaves working for super rich in reality. Until we stop
working mostly for money, but start building more sustainable resources
with no or little money like growing own food, mud/cheap housing
alternatives, alternative life style that is not focus solely on money,
then we will be in better shape. Greed for money has to be curtailed. We
have really think hard and redefine money in relation to what wealth really
is. Should wealth be sustainable food source, extremely affordable
housing, peace, simplicity, loving community, different education system,
sharing, sustainable future for next generation, more ethics, less greed
and more sharing etc?
If you assume that all the wealthy people became wealthy by themselves and
not through government or robbery;
What this chart would show is that it is extremely hard for poor and middle
class people to be productive.
After all your wealth is just a measure of your productivity.
Ah History, Look at what the government did to business and banking at the
end of the great depression, that is what created the middle class that was
so strong and lead to the growth of the economy during the later decades.
Post GFC all we have had is “too big to fail” and government acceptance of
risk from business without the ability to reap any rewards through taxes.
Steve, the “radical individual, and some other conservatives on this thread
who assert this is propaganda refuse to consider the historical fact that
when the rich are not restrained in their monopolization of the country’s
wealth, they gather it up and hoard it until there is little left
throughout the rest of society. In other words, unrestrained capitalism
eventually develops into plutocracy. The age of the robber barons was not
the only example of this almost happening. Each time, it has been checked
by regulatory legislation which have saved us from this kind of
transformation into oligarchic rule. The video is not anti-capitalist. And
it is not propaganda. The facts-the data is available to anyone who wants
to check it. The point of it is that a healthy democracy can only
thrive–only exist even- when it includes a healthy middle cllass.
More taxes are not the solution. We already have a progressive tax system.
The problem lies with the government. It is the epitome of waste and
inefficiency. Too much bureaucracy. The reason why government workers are
less productive (hence more costly) is that taxes are guaranteed.
Government, if compared to a company, does not have to earn its income.
Taxes will always flow into government. The incentive for government
workers at all levels to be productive is just not there.
:::Higher taxes would only make this problem worse.:::
If the gov. received higher a inflow of money, it would feel the need to
create more bureaucracy to handle and distribute the extra income. It could
in effect cancel the benefit of extra money.
Next time you visit your local gov office (DMV, county services related to
local gov. etc.) observe these people.
The government cannot go out of business. Lazy employees don’t hurt the
gov. as much as they hurt non-public companies. ::Public sector employees
are less productive and less innovative than private sector employees.::
doesn’t really bother me, they have more because they had a greater
contribution, if your company earns enough to pay you that much and it’s
your company, then take it