The three wealthiest families in the U.S.—the Waltons (Walmart), the Kochs, and the Mars—have seen their wealth increase nearly 6,000% just in the past generation. Median household wealth over the same period went down by 3%.
Our country's greatest failing, the true disaster, of our time: the scourge of growing inequality, economic and political. It is despicable as the very wealthy convert their financial might into political power to guard that wealth while exacerbating inequality further. This is the vast difference between a society whose arrangements serve all its citizens or one whose institutions have been converted into a stupendous fraud - democracy in name only.
The typical millionaire receives about $145,000 in public tax benefits, while working families get a grand total of $174 on average. In 2043, minorities will be the majority and the will have doubled. The lingering effects of generations of discriminatory and wealth-stripping practices have left black and Latino households far behind white families, and may impact their economic trajectories in the decades to come.
John Oliver riffs and rants on America's growing wealth gap
The author reviews two books: One discusses the state of journalism today; the other examines how the dominant culture brutalizes the poor and lionizes the powerful.
Reader Comments - U.S. Support Military Rule in Honduras; the New New Left; Stephen Colbert and Vladimir Putin; Income Inequality; Still more - GMO labeling; Occupy Wall Street and NYPD police tactics;
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