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Poverty: America's Hidden Shame

By Joseph J. Adamson  Posted by (about the submitter)       (Page 3 of 6 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   4 comments
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For instance, most people do not know that in America the wealthiest ten percent of the U.S. population -- about 30 million people -- hold 90 percent of all the stocks.

Most people do not know that in America the wealthiest one percent (about 3 million people) hold about 90 percent of the total wealth of the nation, and about half of all the stocks.

Most people do not know that in America the wealthiest one percent also provide 80 percent of all financial contributions to the campaigns of politicians in both parties, and thus they are able to wield a considerable amount of control over the country. And the situation has gotten even worse during the last 27 years, because under Reaganism and Reaganomics (which Clinton couldn't stop and Bush continued and expanded), the distribution of wealth has been increasingly flowing to those who were already the wealthiest.

Now we all have to understand how and why this situation was created, and look at it with a historical perspective.

Money has always ruled, and laws have always enabled the wealthy to use their wealth to gain more wealth. That tradition carried over from Europe, and it flourished in America even though it was, in many cases, unfair.

By the early 20th Century (1900s) it had become absurdly unfair in America. There were no labor unions, and the wealthiest few ruled completely, and often ruthlessly. When the Industrial Revolution ramped up, some people got very wealthy, especially those who owned and operated businesses in the oil/gas and motor vehicle industry. And they brutally put down any movements to organize workers or protest the unfairness.

The very wealthiest few flaunted their wealth and lived like European aristocracy, with live-in servants, maids, chauffeurs and gardeners. They became very corrupt, and they abused the power that their great wealth gave them. Then, inevitably, their indulgences, excesses and carelessness helped lead to the stock market crash of 1929, and to the worst and longest depression America has ever been through. (See the page on Little Known American History.)

Fortunately, the actions and the New Deal of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s improved the situation considerably for several decades. Workers were able to organize and establish some rights. The American "middle class" grew very large and strong. And America, as a whole, became great.

But, when the New Right (also called the Neo-Conservative Movement) came to power in 1980 with Republican President Ronald Reagan, things started to get considerably worse again. Even when Democratic President Bill Clinton was in office in the 1990s he could not stop Reaganism, because too many Americans simply did not realize that Reagan was actually a right-wing demagogue who thumped his bible, waved his flag and rattled his sword in order to appeal to the pride, prejudices and egotism of many American nationalists. Many Americans also did not realize that Reagan actually served the wealthiest few at the expense of the majority.

That's why Reaganite (New Right) Republicans were still able to control Congress while President Clinton was in office, and it is why all the political and corporate corruption increased and grew so rampant.

Then, when Reaganite Republican George W. Bush gained presidential power by hook and by crook in 2000, the situation got drastically worse. And I'll tell you how and why.

Consider that in 1982 before Reaganism took hold, there were only 13 billionaires in America, and by 2004 there were 313 billionaires in America.

Furthermore, by 2004 the ten wealthiest of those 313 American billionaires managed to have raked in a total of $209 Billion ($209,000,000,000) just among the ten of them.

In March 2006 Forbes Magazine reported that there were then a record 793 multi-billionaires in the world. Twenty years ago there were only 140, so clearly the rich are getting much richer. Incredibly richer. Reaganism has affected the whole world, because it has helped to make it seem proper to be extremely wealthy, to flaunt that wealth, and to even be proud of having so much more than everyone else. In other words, many people have been tempted, deceived, and corrupted by Reaganite ideology.

The average net worth of those 793 billionaires in 2004 was $3.3 billion, and they were able to accumulate a total of $2.6 Trillion ($2,600,000,000,000) among them, which is 18 percent more than just one year before.

Bill Gates is still the wealthiest, having accumulated $50 Billion by 2004. And, by the way, even though he can well afford to be charitable, he probably writes off his charitable donations to reduce his tax liability. Granted, since he got married he probably really means to be beneficent with his charitable foundation, but I suspect he doesn't give up much if any of his wealth because of it. Such foundations are usually designed to avoid paying a fair amount of taxes, because the amount "given" in charitable donations is essentially gotten back in savings on reduced tax liability. So, while the money from foundation grants certainly does a lot of good, it means that the wealthy "donors" are enabled to not pay anywhere near their fair share of taxes, and thus the revenue of the national treasury is that much less than it should be.

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