Walton Family fortune... if distributed

[djp2]

From an article in Contemporary Politics:

"Further aggravated by the subprime mortgage crisis threatening deep-seated recession and growing international indebtedness, uncertainties arise regarding future prospects. American hegemony, as well as public faith in a system blithely tolerating a state of affairs where the Walton family with a cumulative wealth in excess of $90bn equals that of the poorest 40% of America's people (some 120 million), is unsettling many (Judt 2007). This reflects a wider level of income inequality not seen since 1928, reinforcing demands for change echoing those of Barack Obama in his quest for the presidency. 'Supercapitalism'..."

This means that>----- the Walton Family fortune... if distributed to the poorest 120 million people in America... would DOUBLE their NET WORTH. ---Outrageous wealth!!

Article Name:
American Declinism and the Impact of Petro-socialism
Authors:
a) Richard De Zoysa,
b)Otto Newman
Affiliations:
a) London South Bank University, UK
b) San Diego State University, USA

Published in: Contemporary Politics, Volume 14, Issue 4 December 2008 , pages 411 - 428

This article quotes from:
Judt, T. (2007) The wrecking ball of innovation. New York Review, 6 December , pp. 21-24.

[ColbertWatcher]

1. With all that money, that company could afford to pay their workers better. n/t

[Hugabear]

2. This is the kind of shit that pisses me off to no end

Stories like this, and McCain with his 7 fucking houses, and all these other corporate fatcats and neocon bigwigs, rolling in their filthy lucre while laughing at the misery of the rest of the nation. If only we could seize these assets and distribute them in a more fair manner, so that NOBODY in this country has to wonder where their next meal will come from, or if they will be able to afford to keep their house warm this winter, or put clothes on their children's backs. It's outrageous that people like McCain have so many luxurious houses, while so many people are homeless.

[JHB]

13. Remember Cindy's quarter-million-dollar earrings?

What kind of person spends that kind of money on baubles?!?

[leftstreet]

3. Party like it's 1929!

[Arugula Latte]

4. I want John Boy's share ... Maybe Jim Bob's, too.

;)

[Rage for Order]

5. Imagine how that money could lift up those 120 million people

They would each get $750. I imagine those 120 million people would be set for life after receiving such a windfall. :eyes:

[lapfog_1]

8. They would probably blow it on a shopping trip to Walmart. - n/t

[izquierdista]

11. The multiplier effect

As it is now, that $90 billion sits idle, a place-holder to remind the world that Wal-Mart is a very valuable enterprise. The book value of that is only about 30% or more like $27 billion, the rest being the good will and forward looking hopes that Wally World will continue to draw in the suckers as it has all along.

But if that $63 billion difference in the value of hope and the value of reality was actually put to a good use, say backing up auto companies that employ people or for mortgages that keep people in their homes, then it really could do some good. The rich of the U.S. are parasitic organisms, sucking money out of productive uses and letting it sit largely unused where time and the elements will cause it to vanish.

[djp2]

20. well said

[djp2]

21. family members, too

the 120 million are not in 120 million families, more like 30-40 million families, so each family would get more in total

[Wapsie B]

6. So much easier to worship the super-wealthy

than to revamp a system where the money is funneled upwards on a continual basis. repugs having conversations making sure they talk loud enough so that others hear about how unfair it would be to finally strike it rich only to be taxed to death by the evil government.


edit: And this company needs tax incentives from cities to open a store? What the hell has the world come to when we have to provide welfare to open a freak'n Wally World?

[BrklynLiberal]

7. The words Walton and philanthropy will never appear in the same sentence.

The current generation of Walton's just care about making as big a profit as possible.

They do not even care about helping the economy of the country that made it possible for them to become so sickeningly rich.

They have practically single-handedly sold this country to China.

[Richard Steele]

9. Our cell phones and trinkets prevent us from recognizing the FEUDALISM we are again enmired in.

We forgot history, so now we're repeating it.
Our overlords never forgot, and now they're PERFECTED it.

A wise man once noted that the most perfect PRISON would be
a closed society wherein every prisoner was convinced that
they were a GUARD.

[leftofthedial]

10. anyone who does not believe that capitalism is theft

need look no further.

[enid602]

12. ownership

Let´s see; $90 billion divided by 120 million people equals $750 per family. Subtract distribution and administrativew costs, and those families would receive nothing. The disturbing thing about this article is not that the Waltons´ have so much, but that the 1/3 at the bottom have only $750 of net worth. Could that be right? So much for the ownership society.

[deaniac21]

15. stop doing the math you are ruining a great concept

[Fumesucker]

16. I suspect that the bottom one third actually have a negative net worth.. n/t

[PatSeg]

14. And the old cliche, "You can't take it with you"

comes to mind. How much is enough?

[hedgehog]

17. It's worse than that. We tend to think of money as a finite item, like

so many pounds of flour or tons of steel. Divide it how you will, there is only so much flour or steel to go around. The point that's hard to grasp is that the amount of money grows or shrinks depending on how it is used. Say $45bn of the Walton's money went to the poorest 40%, they would most likely spend it. Then the people who they spent it with would have extra money, and they would spend some of it, and so on. In the end, the effect of spreading the $45bn around might look like $145bn or more was spread around!

[whopis01]

18. Time to spread the wealth around. n/t

[tomp]

19. ought to be illegal. nt