The rich and the poor - so far apart.....

[Missy M]

I was just reading through New York magazine and saw some of the following items.

A alligator handbag for $9,150.00
A windproof cotton coat with cashmere lining for $4,300.00
A condo with 4 bedrooms (not on Park or Fifth Ave.) $7.4 million

Reading an article last week it stated that one of the worst hit areas of New Orleans, during the hurricane, has a median household income of less than $7,500.00. Can you imagine, in Manhattan handbags are worth more than a families yearly income. I was so filled with disgust over the disparity between the rich and the poor. How obscene that some families have to live on an income that doesn't even equal the cost of a wealthy persons handbag. How can we change things in this country so the wealth is distributed more evenly?

[Ksec]

1. Capitalism

runs it course. The richest get richer. The largest eat the small. The poorest become destitute And we will eventually end up with one giant corporation running the entire World . Free Market will always end up this way when it runs its course.

Regulating it is the only hope but thats going away also

[ultraist]

9. It's not just capitalism,

It's our fucked up tax system that favors the wealthy and overburdens the working clas, as well as institutionalized classism, racism, and sexism.

There is a reason why median incomes have dropped for five straight years and the poverty rate has increased. The rich are getting richer because the system faciliates their success, not the sucess of ALL of us thanks to conservative policies.

[malaise]

11. Correct - there is capitalism in

the Scandinavian countries, in Canada, in France but you don't see these disparities. It is mindless greed and rule by corporations with no social safety net.

[ultraist]

12. Good point and in England there is more social mobility than in the US

The NYT did a series on class/income/social mobility recently and I was surprised to read that social mobility rates were higher in England.

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/national/class/?8dpc

[HughBeaumont]

2. Simple answer: We Can't.

I don't know what to tell you on that one. You're dealing with people who think the amount of wealth they have now is never, EVER going to be enough. Don't look for politicians to change things either - they're in the mindset that not giving CEOs and their corporations whatever they want seventy-googolplex-fold is akin to "COMM'NISM"!

And here's what those RICH people have to say about that!

[Trillo]

3. Abnormal concentration of capital.

One of the reasons for the downfall of past civilizations.

A change will occur, it always has. That's why its so sad, democracy was supposed to allow the people to change things peacefully. That our condition in the U.S. does not change as a result of the people's mass economic misery is perhaps the greatest evidence that U.S. democracy has been effectively undermined.

[jedr]

4. this was the master plan form the start;

And those who thought that they (those making 75-100k combined duel incomes) would be rich enough to be reaping the spoils are finding that they too are going to become the working poor....why is destroying the middle class a goal for any administration?

[AirAmFan]

5. More and more, millions of Americans are starting to notice what just hit

you, the inequality that has skyrocketed since 1980.

Don't let the naysayers here dissuade you. I wish the last Democratic presidential ticket had been reversed, to Edwards-Kerry. John Edwards built his primary campaign on bringing the "two Americas" closer together, with minimum wage increases, more government investment in education for poor children, and revival of antipoverty concerns. Bill Clinton's "New Markets" initiative focused on bringing infrastructure and employers to Native American reservations, inner cities, and other places where most people have very low incomes.

All that positivity was swept away, in two waves of corrupted Presidential elections.

Many Republicans used to vote Democratic, until Reagan's handlers convinced them Democrats don't stand for anything. IMO, the way back into power is through initiatives like "One America" and "New Markets", pulled together by a charismatic, young, Kennedyesque politician, preferably from a Southern state, like John Edwards.

It doesn't make sense to me that Democrats are not pushing the minimum wage much much harder, trying to attach an increase to EVERY bill that gets debated. I've never seen any poll results since Clinton left the White House that didn't show overwhelming public suppport for an increase in the minimum wage. The only people who cannot abide a higher minimum wage are corporate lobbyists who increasingly have been calling the tune for BOTH parties.

[Missy M]

7. I do get discouraged when the country has more interest in...

whether it was bush or Condi who wrote a note stating they had to go to the bathroom.

[AirAmFan]

10. Even here on DU, the most popular forums are dominated by glib 1-line

"sound-bytes". But there are many other forums besides GD. Even GD-Politics is much more thoughtful most of the time.

And, do you ever wander onto the "Politics and Issues" forums? You have a REALLY good eye for details of injustice that could move people to action. Who would have thought of comparing the price of a handbag in Manhattan with family income in low-lying sections of New Orleans? Imagine what powerful campaign ads could be based on insights like that.

Right now, the "Poverty & Economic Development" forum has only two pages, at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=230 .

But, as the 2006 and 2008 elections draw nearer, I'm sure people like you will make that forum -- or other forums that might replace it --more like the "Election Results and Discussion forum, threads from which regularly spill onto the "greatest" page.

[Arkansas Granny]

6. But, we should be thankful that the rich can afford these things.

Doncha know that they are the ones that create all the jobs so that one day we can all buy alligator bags and cashmere windbreakers? Isn't that the theory of why they deserve all the tax cuts?

[Missy M]

8. So far it hasn't trickled down yet but I guess it must be a really....

slow trickle. Sometimes I think the wealthy are really stupid suckers. The rest of us carry handbags for $50.00 and they do the same thing.