30 Statistics That Prove The Elite Are Getting Richer, The Poor Are Getting Poorer And The Middle Cl

30 Statistics That Prove The Elite Are Getting Richer, The Poor Are Getting Poorer And The Middle Class Is Being Destroyed

Not everyone has been doing badly during the economic turmoil of the last few years. In fact, there are some Americans that are doing really, really well. While the vast majority of us struggle, there is one small segment of society that is seemingly doing better than ever. This was reflected in a recent article on CNBC in which it was noted that companies that cater to average Americans are doing rather poorly right now while companies that market luxury goods and services are generally performing exceptionally well. So why aren't all American consumers jumping on the spending bandwagon? Well, it seems that there are a large number of Americans who either can't spend a lot of money right now or who are very hesitant to. A stunningly high number of Americans are still unemployed, and for many other Americans, there is a very real fear that hard economic times will return soon. On the other hand, there is a significant percentage of Americans who are blowing money on luxury goods and services as if the economy has fully turned around and it is time to let the good times roll. So exactly what in the world is going on here?

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The Rich Are Getting Richer

1 - As of 2007, the top 1 percent of all Americans was taking home 24 percent of the national income. This was a level that had not been seen since the days of the Great Depression.

2 - Incomes have been growing in the United States, but those at the very top of the pyramid have been gobbling up almost all of the income growth. According to Harvard Magazine, 66% of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.

3 - Even official government figures bear out the fact that the rich are getting richer. An analysis of income-tax data by the Congressional Budget Office a few years ago found that the top 1% of all American households own nearly twice as much of the corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.

4- Most Americans have suffered during the last few years, but not the boys and girls down on Wall Street. New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says that Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.

5 - Even as the number of Americans living in poverty skyrockets, the number of millionaires just keeps growing. In fact, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million during 2009.

6 - The amount of money some of these Wall Street hotshots are making is incredible. Back in 2005, the top 25 hedge fund managers earned a total of 9 billion dollars. That would be bad enough, but even in these hard economic times the rich just keep getting richer. One year after the recent financial collapse the top 25 hedge fund managers earned a total of approximately $25 billion. That breaks down to an average of $1 billion each. The truth is that the United States has been experiencing uneven prosperity for quite some time and things just seem to get worse with each passing year.

7 - Government anti-poverty programs are exploding in size in response to the recent economic difficulties. USA Today is reporting that a record one in six Americans are now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program.

8 - Over 50 million Americans are on now Medicaid. That figure is up more than 17 percent since the beginning of the recession.

9 - The number of Americans in the food stamp program rose to a new all-time record of 40.8 million in May. That number is up almost 50 percent since the beginning of the recession.

10 - The number of Americans who cannot afford even the basic necessities is absolutely staggering. A whopping 50 million Americans could not afford to buy enough food in order to stay healthy at some point over the last year.

11 - Compared to other industrialized nations, the United States is doing very poorly. The U.S. poverty rate is now the third worst among the developed nations tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

12 - The saddest part of this is what we are doing to our children. According to one recent study, approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010.

13 - But the American people cannot provide for their families if they don't have jobs. Today there are not nearly enough jobs for everyone. In 2010, it takes the average unemployed American worker over 8 months to find a job.

14 - Approximately 10 million Americans are currently receiving unemployment insurance, which is a number that is nearly four times higher than what it was at back in 2007.

15 - The truth is that we are creating a permanent underclass of Americans that cannot get jobs. The number of Americans receiving long-term unemployment benefits has increased over 60 percent in just the past year.

Read the full article here

To not copy/paste too much here and have it removed I'm including just the first half of this articles stats - there is a lot more to it in regards to the actual statistics so I suggest you give it a read before calling out "This is crap!" or whatever your opinion may be.

From just reading the beginning of the article I could tell I was going to agree with what it had to say overall.

As we've seen the elite or those in high power due to their bank accounts, are able to gamble (well not so much 'gamble' since they have inside information for example) with the money they have while the average or even upper middle class American is unable to take the chances others may be able to do.

So as the MSM continues to lie about what is really happening with our economy, people seem to be getting their hopes up - which is not a bad thing except in all reality the economy is not getting any better.

And if I remember correctly I just read an article about how the USD is going further down the hole and it may be much sooner than expected (we all knew/know it was coming, it was just a matter of when).
Then we have China who we owe so much money to the numbers are staggering (I wont bother giving a number because that is a debate on its own).

And the one thing we can all [for the most part] agree on is that we are spending WAY too much money on our military. We have plenty of weapons for defense and offense if necessary - plenty of trained troops - and yet we wage wars that are unnecessary, at least for the public/masses, and try to force our beliefs and 'democracy' on others while stealing their oil.
Last on my list of complaints is the war on drugs which is racking up a ton of cash per year that is a complete waste of tax payers money - it will NEVER be successful we all know that, and we now have more people (including police/govt. officials) than ever before whom know this to be true.

Anyway, take the time to read the article and see what you think. Feel free to voice your comments; always good to see what we each have to say when it comes to our economy.

reply to post by highlyoriginal


Do you need statistics for that..



Did the recession make any rich a hobo in the street? Even though they were the ones who F'd up?

Doesn't make sense does it??

reply to post by highlyoriginal


Excellent find. Bookmarked, S&F

I tracked a few of the article's sources/references. 'Tis an accurate -and truly gloomy- picture.

We're definitely back in a Feudal Society - except this time around, instead of bowing down to Royalty, we're sucking up to The Corporation.

Originally posted by soficrow
reply to post by highlyoriginal

 

I tracked a few of the article's sources/references. 'Tis an accurate -and truly gloomy- picture.

Glad you realized that - it does have good sources within the article, in fact all the biggest points that are made are backed up with a source which is what I liked. It wasn't just a list and that was it.

And oozyism, no we don't need statistics to see what is going on in the world but knowing why such things are happening to us is the first step to figuring out how to fix our problems and do something about it.

Better to stay ahead of the game by learning what you can than sit back and watch hoping you're making the right decisions without the knowledge you could learn from reading just a bit.

reply to post by soficrow


Yes.. the new royalty is economic....

Commerce has become more important than humanity; it is at the center of all policy now. Everything that relates to the human condition outside of consumerism is considered an externality and a drain...

From the article, now nobody can contest me. I have been saying this and now I have proof, I am not some nutjob!!!! SEE? I TOLD YOU!!!!

The reality is that incomes have just not kept up with housing costs. This has put an incredible amount of pressure on the middle class. Just how much pressure? Well, only the top 5 percent of all U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.

And as for the war on drugs I agree it is a drain. However one of the agencies I will be putting my resume in to when I graduate will be the DEA, and other government agencies as well. Why not? There is no security but working for the government!

As my final note... I will be telling my children not to bring any children into this world and if they do not heed my advice, I am truly petrified and horrified that my own grandchildren will end up working in American sweat shops, it's coming mark my words!

[edit on 3-9-2010 by ldyserenity]

reply to post by ldyserenity


So your way to get around the government's issues is to just go work for them? If you do end up working for them, I hope you get high up in the ranks and become a whistleblower

Hopefully, soon, the old adage "History Repeats Itself" will ring true.

I can't wait for the day when, sick and tired of 'eating cake', the Guillotines are rolled out into the town squares all across America.

Sorry, no-one could justify needing more than 10 million (sitting in a bank and living off the interest) to provide a descent standard of living for their family.
Being successful is one thing, being greedy and not giving a thought to your fellow man is quite another.

Most ATS people you will find have a disgust of any injustice happening in society deep down (along with other admirable traits). That's why we are here looking for the truth.

Originally posted by CitizenNum287119327

Being successful is one thing, being greedy and not giving a thought to your fellow man is quite another.

Sorry. Got to do it. Please check this out:

Nice Bacteria Finish Last OR How Greed Threatens the Survival of the Species

Thus does a species survive. Not by survival of the fittest individual, but through the altruistic service of a few adapted individuals.

Wow, this is a great OP. Thanks to the Crow for pointing me here from the bacteria thread.

That is a very interesting analogy you have drawn here, BTW Crow. Very interesting.

Being a metaphorical thinker, myself, I appreciate crafty analogies and metaphors.

THERE IS NO MIDDLE CLASS

YOU EITHER HAVE MONEY OR YOU DONT

THERE ARE ONLY THEM THAT ARE RICH AND THEM THAT ARE POOR.

AND EVEN THAT IS SUBJECTIVE

sorry for the caps but i needed to get that of my chest,
its simple economics either you have money or you dont.

Corporate Fascism and a corporate police state is the future for the proletariat.

What astonishes me is that right wing conservatives, fundamentalist religious people, and the militarily minded, support this corruption even though they are poor themselves. The neocons and their Project for a New American Century have triumphed and their is no turning back.

It's a brave new world, welcome to the monkey house.



[edit on 4-9-2010 by whaaa]

As george carlin stated one time:

The poor is there to scare the middle class.

I see it every day. Politicians get rich and us poor folk have to suffer because of it. I also love it the fact the same politicians say go to college to better your life, but now we have this recession and companies aren't looking for fresh blood.

The world is a joke and a latrine.