- More family members are working longer days for less pay than ever before. While some might like to look at the rise in household wealth as a sign of good economics, the facts are that only 50 percent of men make more than their fathers did, which means that 50 percent make less. Additionally, single mother households are notoriously low wage, but rarely discussed.
- Longer work days, more childcare, and dwindling benefits lower the quality of life families share. When statistics show that more than 40 percent of children born into either wealth or poverty remain there throughout adult hood, we have mourning to do; mourning for the destruction of the American dream that so many have fought for, soldiers and coal miners alike!
- The richest people in the world hold 43 percent of the world’s total wealth. The world’s wealthiest people account for one percent of the global population, while the poorest people of the world, who hold only two percent of global wealth, make up half of the global population.
- If global wealth was shared equally among every living adult, each person would have a $43,800 net worth; imagine what a woman in a third world country could achieve with that net worth. People starving for lack of food when there is enough wealth to feed every adult and their families, all due to feelings of entitlement and greed, is a massive tragedy.
- In America alone, a 10 percent tax increase on the nation’s 400 wealthiest citizens would raise enough funds for a $35,000 nest-egg for every child born in the nation in 2012. With a whopping $1.53 trillion dollars in personal wealth, the top 400 have subsidies paid for on the backs of the middle class.
- The national wealth disparity is a matter of national security. No matter one’s race or ethnicity, we all want to live safe and decent lives. However, that possibility is in serious risk when the average hourly earnings for CEOs is nearly triple the median hourly pay of the average American.
- A colorblind economy has been lost. While the folks that fought a bloodless war against social inequalities did achieve much, like an increase in hourly pay for minority families, their achievements have been lost to the Great Recession of 2008. In 2010, minority families of African and Hispanic heritage made a shaming 57 cents to every Caucasian family dollar.
- Higher productivity and GDP does not equate to better lives. Higher productivity means greater efficiency and higher profits. However, these profits are not shared with the workers, and only moderately with the consumers. Instead, they are held by the owners of capital, and used to further drive higher efficiency and profits.
- What is good for GDP is not always good for the individual. A car, imported water bottles, and big monoculture farm foods are great for GDP. However, they mean more expenses for the individual, and those expenses are not shared broadly along the economy; they are hoarded in the hands of people who already have everything, and want even more.
- The global wealthy have increased their assets by over $9 trillion in the past three years, while the average American family net-worth has dropped by 16 percent for Caucasians, 53 percent for African-Americans, and 66 percent for Hispanic families.
- The time has come for us to unite and rip the rugs from under the feet of the global 1 percent. Injustice and inequality go much deeper than the loss of a home over the net gain of a corporation. For many families in many parts of the world, economic inequality is the difference between life and death on daily basis.
