Clipmarks | dmegivern's 'inequality' clips

More Americans Say U.S. Split into Haves/Have-Nots

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:13:29 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern

More Americans Say U.S. a Nation of Haves and Have-Nots

Half now say it is, up from 37% four years ago

PRINCETON, NJ -- Along with their mounting concerns about national economic conditions in recent years, Americans have grown more likely to perceive structural economic inequality in the country. Nearly half of Americans, 49%, now say the nation is divided into two groups: the "haves" and the "have-nots." This is up from 45% two years ago, and from 37% in June 2004.

At the same time that more Americans see an economic class divide in the country, the percentage of Americans holding a profoundly negative view of the U.S. economy has jumped sharply, from 41% in June 2004 to 55% in June 2006 to 84% in June 2008.

Tags: inequality

American Poverty

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:58:36 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: http://www.dmegivern-dfoster.net/Consequences.html
http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/003704.html
http://thewisdomgoldenmean.blogspot.com/2007/06/poverty-from-up-close-and-personal.html

Clip Source: www.cbpp.org

POVERTY REMAINS HIGHER, AND MEDIAN INCOME FOR NON-ELDERLY IS LOWER, THAN WHEN RECESSION HIT BOTTOM:
Poor Performance Unprecedented for Four-Year Recovery Period

Trend Toward Deep Poverty

Census data also show a trend of deepening poverty among those who are poor. The amount by which the average poor person fell below the poverty line in 2005 — $3,236 — was the highest on record. So was the share of the poor (43 percent) who fell below half of the poverty line.[2]

Results Disappointing for this Stage of an Economic Recovery

While overall median income rose in 2005, the typical non-elderly household saw its income fall in 2005 and now has income $2,000 below its level during the recession itself.

The share of the poor living in deep poverty remained at a record level in 2005.

In the poverty data the Census Bureau released today, Americans are considered poor if their annual incomes in 2005 were below $15,577 for a three-person family, equivalent to $1,298 a month.

Income inequality

Satirical Look at What the Feminist Movement Needs

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:10:37 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern

Clip Source: www.theonion.com

Man Finally Put In Charge Of Struggling Feminist Movement

WASHINGTON—After decades spent battling gender discrimination and inequality in the workplace, the feminist movement underwent a high-level shake-up last month, when 53-year-old management consultant Peter "Buck" McGowan took over as new chief of the worldwide initiative for women's rights.

"All the feminist movement needed to do was bring on someone who had the balls to do something about this glass ceiling business," said McGowan, who quickly closed the 23.5 percent gender wage gap by "making a few calls to the big boys upstairs." "In the world of gender identity and empowered female sexuality, it's all about who you know."

McGowan claimed that one of the main reasons the movement enjoyed so little success in the past was that the previous management was often too timid and passive and should have been much more results-focused.

McGowan, however, said he didn't get into the business of women's rights for the praise.

Tags: feminism, satire

Welcome to Richistan, USA

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 01:23:05 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern

Clip Source: observer.guardian.co.uk

Welcome to Richistan, USA

The American Dream of riches for all is turning into a nightmare of inequality. But a backlash is brewing, reports Paul Harris in New York

As the rest of the country struggles to get by, a huge bubble of multi-millionaires lives almost in a parallel world. The rich now live in their own world of private education, private health care and gated mansions. They have their own schools and their own banks. They even travel apart - creating a booming industry of private jets and yachts. Their world now has a name, thanks to a new book by Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Frank which has dubbed it 'Richistan'. There every dream can come true. But for the American Dream itself - which promises everyone can join the elite - the emergence of Richistan is a mixed blessing. 'We in America are heading towards 'developing nation' levels of inequality.

· 'Affluent' is Richistani for 'not really rich'. According to Frank, you need about $10m to be considered entry-level rich.

Tags: wealth, class, inequality

Generation X and Younger Back Obama

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 03:45:55 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern

Clip Source: www.thenation.com

Will the Real Generation Obama Please Stand Up?

Obama's book The Audacity of Hope makes it clear just whom he's calling old: "In the back-and-forth between Clinton and Gingrich, and in the elections of 2000 and 2004, I sometimes felt as if I were watching the psychodrama of the baby boom generation--a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago--played out on the national stage," writes Obama. It's a theme he's returned to with increasing frequency lately. "There's no doubt that we represent the kind of change Senator Clinton can't deliver on. And part of it's generational,"

Generation Y may hold the numerical key to a Democratic victory in future elections, but it's those pesky thirty- and fortysomethings who seek to shape the future of the party and redefine the word "progressive."

The X-er economic philosophy was

described

as "balanced-budget populism," combining fiscal responsibility with a concern for income inequality.

Tags: obama, politics, generation, progressive

Parts of the United States As Poor as Third World

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:24:47 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

Parts of the United States are as poor as the Third World, according to a shocking United Nations report on global inequality.

The annual Human Development Report normally concerns itself with the Third World, but the 2005 edition scrutinises inequalities in health provision inside the US as part of a survey of how inequality worldwide is retarding the eradication of poverty.

It reveals that the infant mortality rate has been rising in the US for the past five years - and is now the same as Malaysia. America's black children are twice as likely as whites to die before their first birthday.

Although the US leads the world in healthcare spending - per head of population it spends twice what other rich OECD nations spend on average, 13 per cent of its national income - this high level goes disproportionately on the care of white Americans. It has not been targeted to eradicate large disparities in infant death rates based on race, wealth and state of residence.

Tags: inequality, poverty, u.s.

America's Permanent Ruling Class

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:08:28 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern

Clip Source: chronicle.com

Are Conservative Republicans Now America's Permanent Ruling Class?

By JOHN J. DIIULIO JR.

In an early October 2005 cover story, "What's Gone Wrong for America's Right," The Economist magazine listed the contemporary GOP's conservative cleavages: small-government conservitives versus big-government conservatives, conservatives of faith versus conservatives of doubt, insurgent conservatives versus establishment conservatives, business conservatives versus religious conservatives, and neoconservatives versus traditional conservatives.

"Today," he writes, the GOP is led intellectually "by neoconservatives and other Republicans who are explicitly pro-big government."

Tags: class, ownership, inequality, politics, conservative

Socioeconomic Class More Recognized in U.S.

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 23:34:05 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: My little brother, who works for a plastics factory, was one of the first to lose his home in the mortgage crisis. I could not believe it when Alan Greenspan said he didn't see it coming. I think the wealthy who lead our country need to make a few friends in the lower classes to better keep their pulse on the other American economy.

Clip Source: pewresearch.org

A Nation of "Haves" and "Have-Nots"?

Far More Americans Now See Their Country as Sharply Divided Along Economic Lines

Over the past two decades, a growing share of the public has come to the view that American society is divided into two groups, the "haves" and the "have-nots." Today, Americans are split evenly on the two-class question with as many saying the country is divided along economic lines as say this is not the case (48% each). In sharp contrast, in 1988, 71% rejected this notion, while just 26% saw a divided nation.

Of equal importance, the number of Americans who see themselves among the "have-nots" of society has doubled over the past two decades, from 17% in 1988 to 34% today. In 1988, far more Americans said that, if they had to choose, they probably were among the "haves" (59%) than the "have-nots" (17%). Today, this gap is far narrower (45% "haves" vs. 34% "have-nots").

Tags: inequality, poverty, wealth, class

The History of Inequality in America

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:20:59 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: Paul Krugman, Harvard professor and NY times writer, offers a history of inequality in the U.S.

Clip Source: krugman.blogs.nytimes.com

The chart shows the share of the richest 10 percent of the American population in total income – an indicator that closely tracks many other measures of economic inequality – over the past 90 years, as estimated by the economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez. I’ve added labels indicating four key periods. These are:

The Long Gilded Age:

Public policy did little to limit extremes of wealth and poverty, mainly because the political dominance of the elite remained intact; the politics of the era, in which working Americans were divided by racial, religious, and cultural issues, have recognizable parallels with modern politics.

It was a society without extremes of wealth or poverty, a society of broadly shared prosperity, partly because strong unions, a high minimum wage, and a progressive tax system helped limit inequality.

Tags: income, inequality, history, u.s.

Extreme Rich-Poor Divides

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:52:30 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: From Digg, this website features photos of inequality around the world. In the U.S., the border between Detroit and Gross Pointe, MI is very

Clip Source: deputy-dog.com

here’s a quick selection of shocking photos / google maps links to start the day. they all illustrate an extreme degree of wealth divide in different parts of the world.

Tags: photos, inequality

Detroit Urban Decay

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:16:56 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: Detroit is a city of contrasts, particularly economic inequality. Burnt out houses are framed by glamorous suburbs.

Clip Source: sociology.berkeley.edu

Detroit , known as Motor City , once the fourth largest city in the United States , home of the Ford Motor Company, General Motors and other major car manufacturers, is nowadays a city in serious decline, which has lost more than half its population and much of its real estate. Until recently, residents would celebrate'Devil's Night' on the eve of Halloween by going out and setting fire to dilapidated buildings. Houses, factories, stores, office blocks, theatres, even the railway station, stand in ruins or have disappeared altogether, leaving vast empty lots that have returned to nature. The home of Motown music, Detroit is also the most segregated major city in the United States and one of the poorest, struggling to provide public services for its needy inhabitants.

Tags: urban decay, detroit

Socioeconomic Class in America

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 19:44:41 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: Barbara Ehrenreich walks readers through social class in the US as she has studied it.

Clip Source: www.motherjones.com

A Guided Tour of Class in America

BE: There still is a real big earnings gap between college and non-college graduates, but it's begun to shrink. Jared tells me that the reason it was growing so fast in the nineties was not that college graduates were doing so well, but that low-wage people, blue-collar people, were doing so poorly. Their wages were being held down -- and that remains true.

TE: For people I've known, leaping classes tended to be a complicated, painful experience.

BE: Both chronic, long-term poverty and downward mobility from the middle class are in the same category of things that America likes not to think about. Periodically, we'll have some little focus on poverty, like post-Katrina, but then it goes away again.

I couldn't get over it, how beaten down people were, how they had internalized obedience. The fear of standing out in any way that might be noticed seemed to grip them.

Tags: ses, social.class, usa, inequality

Back to the Era of the Robber Barons

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:57:42 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: Recently, David Brooks of the New York Times, tried to ignorantly argue that inequality was slowing down. Here are some facts from an actual economist.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Thy Neighbor’s Stash

Frank notes that “many of the forces that have been causing inequality to grow seem to be gathering steam.” Because the gains have been so lopsided — the richest 1 percent have seen their share of national income rise from 8.2 percent in 1980 to 17.4 percent in 2005 — even the merely rich are having to overextend themselves just to keep up. “As incomes continue to grow at the top and stagnate elsewhere, we will see even more of our national income devoted to luxury goods, the main effect of which will be to raise the bar that defines what counts as luxury.”

Between 1949 and 1979, the rising tide of the American economy lifted all boats more or less equally. In fact, the incomes of the bottom 80 percent grew more rapidly than the incomes of the top 1 percent, and those of the bottom 20 percent grew most rapidly of all. But since 1979, gains have flowed disproportionately to top earners.

Tags: inequality, usa

UK inequality at 40 year high

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 08:51:34 GMT

clipped by: sunbeam

Clip Source: www.jrf.org.uk

New poverty and wealth maps of Britain reveal inequality to be at 40-year high

A new way of comparing poverty and wealth trends across Britain shows inequality has reached levels not seen for over 40 years. This is according to research released today (17 July) by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. A second report, published simultaneously, has found that the public believes the gap between rich and poor people is too large.

households in already-wealthy areas have tended to become disproportionately wealthier and that many rich people live in areas segregated from the rest of society. At the same time, more households have become poor over the last 15 years, but fewer are very poor.

the report contains comprehensive maps which are based on census and survey data illustrating the changes in poverty and wealth across Britain from 1968 to 2005.

It found that over the last 20 years, a large and enduring majority of people have considered the gap between high and low incomes too large.

Tags: poverty, wealth, inequality, uk, census, attitude survey

Detroit's Environmental Abuses

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:52:00 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: Mothers in Detroit are trying to highlight toxic dumping and other environmental injustices

Clip Source: www.ns.umich.edu

Detroit mothers reveal environmental abuses through photography

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—With the snaps of their cameras, Detroit Head Start mothers are speaking out against what they see as environmental injustice that harms their children.

In the Photo Voice project, mothers are documenting the abuses through photography. Their photos have captured cases of illegal dumping in their neighborhoods by trucks with covered license plates. Some photos show air pollution from factories, as well as abandoned, unsafe buildings.

Communities of color disproportionately suffer from environmental hazards and toxins and Detroit is no exception, he said. With a minority population of approximately 87 percent, Detroit houses more than 40,000 toxic facilities, according to the Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice.

Tags: environment, pollution, injustice, racism, inequality