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Olympus Mons
esprit de l'univers

Registered: 09/15/09
Posts: 5,777
Loc: ∞
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Separate but unequal: Charts show growing rich-poor gap
#14019256 - 02/24/11 10:44 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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By Zachary Roth
The Great Recession and the slump that followed have triggered a jobs crisis that's been making headlines since before President Obama was in office, and that will likely be with us for years. But the American economy is also plagued by a less-noted, but just as serious, problem: Simply put, over the last 30 years, the gap between rich and poor has widened into a chasm. Gradual developments like this don't typically lend themselves to news coverage. But Mother Jones magazine has crunched the data on inequality, and put together a group of stunning new charts. Taken together, they offer a dramatic visual illustration of who's doing well and who's doing badly in modern America. Here are three samples: • This chart shows that the poorest 90 percent of Americans make an average of $31,244 a year, while the top 1 percent make over $1.1 million:
 • According to this chart, most income groups have barely grown richer since 1979. But the top 1 percent has seen its income nearly quadruple:
 • And this chart suggests most Americans have little idea of just how unequal income distribution is. And that they'd like things to be divvied up a lot more equitably:
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I close my eyes and seize it I clench my fists and beat it I light my torch and burn it I am the beast I worship....
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twighead
mͯó



Registered: 08/27/08
Posts: 29,562
Loc: Glenn Gould's Fuck Windmill
Last seen: 44 minutes, 11 seconds
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Re: Separate but unequal: Charts show growing rich-poor gap [Re: Olympus Mons]
#14019284 - 02/24/11 10:49 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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I remember my high school history teacher pulling out some figures from this world centric site...
# The amount of money that the richest 1 percent of the world's people makes each year equals what the poorest 57 percent makes. # The world's 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world's people. # The richest 5 percent of the world's people have incomes 114 times that of the poorest 5 percent. # The combined wealth of the world's 200 richest people hit $1 trillion in 1999; the combined income of 582 million people living in the 43 least developed countries is $146 billion. # The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world's countries) is less than the wealth of the world's three richest people combined. # A few hundred millionaires now own as much wealth as the world's poorest 2.5 billion people.
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Big Worm
Perf



Registered: 04/20/09
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Re: Separate but unequal: Charts show growing rich-poor gap [Re: twighead]
#14019300 - 02/24/11 10:52 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Samuel L Jackson
Bad Motherfucker


Registered: 12/10/09
Posts: 8,393
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Re: Separate but unequal: Charts show growing rich-poor gap [Re: Big Worm]
#14019305 - 02/24/11 10:55 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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i cant be the only one who isnt bothered by this.
some people are obviously going to be way richer than other people. and it makes sense that if you are a member of a category of people who are much more wealthy than everyone else, the people also in that category are going to possess a lot more money than the poor people.
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twighead
mͯó



Registered: 08/27/08
Posts: 29,562
Loc: Glenn Gould's Fuck Windmill
Last seen: 44 minutes, 11 seconds
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Re: Separate but unequal: Charts show growing rich-poor gap [Re: Samuel L Jackson]
#14019416 - 02/24/11 11:22 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
SamuelLJackson said: i cant be the only one who isnt bothered by this.
some people are obviously going to be way richer than other people. and it makes sense that if you are a member of a category of people who are much more wealthy than everyone else, the people also in that category are going to possess a lot more money than the poor people.
I understand this - but at the same time, the 3 richest people having more money than the GDP of the 48 poorest nations combined? That's pretty extreme.
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Samuel L Jackson
Bad Motherfucker


Registered: 12/10/09
Posts: 8,393
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Re: Separate but unequal: Charts show growing rich-poor gap [Re: twighead]
#14019496 - 02/24/11 11:39 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
twighead said:
Quote:
SamuelLJackson said: i cant be the only one who isnt bothered by this.
some people are obviously going to be way richer than other people. and it makes sense that if you are a member of a category of people who are much more wealthy than everyone else, the people also in that category are going to possess a lot more money than the poor people.
I understand this - but at the same time, the 3 richest people having more money than the GDP of the 48 poorest nations combined? That's pretty extreme.
yea but those are all countries like ethiopia (i imagine, not sure exactly which countries it is).
ethiopia does nothing but complain about how hungry they are and eat rice that we throw at them. if they actually gave a fuck and had some motivation they would clearly do something about their own problem and stop taking hand outs.
when you consider the billions of dollars bill gates has (and rightfully so, look how many products microsoft makes, and how many people own those products) it seems pretty obvious that he has much more wealth than an entire country of people who grow wild lettuce in their backyard and barely survive. they dont produce anything. they cant have a large GDP value.
in my opinion, people dig their own holes and should be held responsible for how poor they might be. we shouldnt look at successful people, then compare them to poor people, and get mad because the poor people are poor. its their own fault theyre poor, its not the rich peoples fault.
of course, some people are born in to being completely poor. but they arent trapped there. look at some rappers. they had really shitty lives and regardless of how dumb i think they are, they make lots of money by doing stuff that other people will pay money for.
the only person who can hold you back from living a comfortable life is you.
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