"Well I left you Half''

[Ichingcarpenter]

The recent Oxfam report on global wealth inequality reveals some of the ugly extremes that have divided our world. It also directs our attention to the Global Wealth Report compiled by Credit Suisse, and the companion Databook, which offer a shocking testament to the severity of U.S. and global inequality.

1. The 30 Richest Americans Own as much as Half of the U.S. Population

The Oxfam report tells us that 85 individuals own as much as half the world. The U.S. is the biggest reason for that, with 5 percent of the world's population and 30 percent of the wealth. China, India, and Africa, on the other hand, combine for about half the world's population and just 12 percent of the wealth.

In the U.S., the richest 30 individuals own about $792 billion, while the bottom half of Americans own 1.1 percent of our country's wealth, also about $792 billion. That's 30 people owning as much as 157,000,000 people.

This information is derived from the Global Wealth Databook and the Forbes 400 List. More details are provided at Us Against Greed.

2. The Bottom Half of America Owns a Smaller Percentage of National Wealth than Almost All Other Countries and Continents

The 1.1 percent of America's wealth owned by the poorest half is less than the poorest halves of Asia (1.3 percent of the region's wealth), Africa (2.1 percent), Latin America (3.2 percent), India (4.5 percent), the United Kingdom (7.6 percent), and China (9.6 percent).

It goes beyond the poorest half. The upper-middle class of America (roughly $50,000 to $200,000 in wealth) own a smaller percentage of wealth than the corresponding upper-middle classes of China and India. Of course, America's lower and middle classes have more money in absolute terms than corresponding classes in China and India. But that leads to the next topic.

3. Less Mobility: North America's Bottom Half Has Less Chance to MOVE UP than Any Other Region of the World

Conservatives argue that individuals should be able to improve their economic positions with personal initiative and hard work. But economic mobility is lower in the U.S. than in most developed countries. And lower than in many undeveloped countries.

The results of a Credit Suisse wealth mobility simulation are given in the Global Wealth Databook: "North America is...less mobile than other regions, especially over longer time horizons. Europe is next in line, followed by the middle group of Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa. The most mobile regions are China and India."

4. America's MIDDLE CLASS is Further from the Top than in All Other Developed Countries

As noted above, it's not just the bottom half being battered by inequality -- it's most of the rest of us. The U.S. median of $44,911 is only 15 percent of the $301,140 mean (which is greatly skewed by the wealth of the richest 10 percent). That ratio is less than any other of the 27 developed countries listed by Credit Suisse, and much less than the average OECD ratio of 35 percent.

For the world as a whole, the median is only 8 percent of the mean, reflecting the fact that half the world's adults average less than $500 in wealth.

The Greatest Shock: How Little is Needed to Restore Some Sanity

Extreme inequality means that people without homes are freezing to death in America. On a winter day in 2012 over 633,000 people were homeless in the United States. Based on an annual single room occupancy (SRO) cost of $558 per month, a little over $4 billion would provide shelter for every homeless person for the entire year.

- See more at: http://thecontributor.com/economy/income-inequality-problem-no-one-wants-fix#sthash.gfZNROuW.dpuf

[marions ghost]

1. "Why the Rich are Freaking Out"

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/wealthy-top-one-percent-economy-finance-102833.html

Economists, advisers to the wealthy and the wealthy themselves describe a deep-seated anxiety that the national — and even global — mood is turning against the super-rich in ways that ultimately could prove dangerous and hard to control.

President Barack Obama and the Democrats have pivoted to income inequality ahead of the midterm elections. Pope Francis has strongly warned against the dangers of wealth concentration. And all of this follows the rise of the Occupy movement in 2011 and a bout of bank-bashing populism in the tea party.

The collective result, according to one member of the 1 percent, is a fear that the rich are in deep, deep trouble. Maybe not today but soon.

“You have a bunch of people who see conspiracies everywhere and believe that this inequality issue will quickly turn into serious class warfare,” said this person, who asked not to be identified by name so as not to anger any wealthy friends. “They don’t believe inequality is bad and believe the only way to deal with it is to allow entrepreneurs to have even fewer shackles.”

And so the rich are lashing out.

----
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman this week wrote that even plutocrats who manage not to invoke Nazi Germany “nonetheless hold, and loudly express, political and economic views that combine paranoia and megalomania in equal measure.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/wealthy-top-one-percent-economy-finance-102833.html#ixzz2sH193vB6

[sabrina 1]

2. They are worried that the exposure of the grotesque greed which has resulted in

the dangerous inequality we are experiencing will result 'class warfare'???

Lol, THEY have been conducting class warfare on the people.

What they are afraid of is that everyone else might decide to fight back finally to stop them from stealing any more of the country's wealth.

Warfare, class or otherwise is fine so long as the other side submits, caves, gives up and just accepts their defeat.

So the Dems are mentioning it now before the election?

Maybe if they started to do something about it, like giving the same tax breaks to the other half of the country they have been giving to the top 1%, providing the same subsidies to small business owners they provide to the top 1% who take jobs OUT of the country?

Or, better yet, end the tax cuts and subsidies to the hoarders of money right now. It would be a very popular bill with the majority of the people at this point.

How about not waiting until after the election?

[marions ghost]

4. well said

I couldn't agree more. The backlash against the money hoarders is spreading... and the strong rhetoric from politicians usually comes before any action, but I agree the challenge remains...

Can the Democrats really DO anything --because they are so beholden to moneyed interests?

About all we can do is keep paying attention and informing others of the facts. Accepting defeat is not an option if we want to survive as a nation that operates in the interests of all citizens.

[jwirr]

9. It would never pass the House BUT it is worth putting it on the floor IF they can get past boner.

Most ideas take several times up to pass and it needs to be started now.

[tblue]

12. "hoarders of money"

Brilliant! Nobody but nobody needs THAT MUCH money. Those at the very top could lose 90% of it and still be able to buy anything they could possibly want. And that 90% of their wealth could heal the world too.

[tblue37]

30. They are like the dragons of legend, who hoard treasure that they

cannot use themselves, lying atop their stolen wealth, destroying anyone who approaches their "precious."

[Dustlawyer]

17. K&R!!! Right on!

[Hotler]

32. They are worried that the 99%ers will come knocking on their doors.....

with pitch forks, torches and load them up in Tumbrels to take them to the town square for a meeting with the Occupy razor (guillotine)

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. I do take exception to Politico's 'bank-bashing populism in the tea party.'

That came from occupy and the liberal left, the tea party did nothing with this issue.

[marions ghost]

7. good catch

--yeah, I'm not aware of too much "bank-bashing populism" in the tea party. The tea party is concerned about government intrusion but doesn't seem to object to business exploitation.

Isn't tea party silence on the subject why Big Business-oriented RethugliCons got into bed with the tea party (and now may be having regrets about their little affair)?

[KansDem]

14. In all fairness...

There was this one reference to stopping the bailouts. But that's the only time I can recall that the Teabaggers "attacked" the one-percenters and that was after the banksters got their bailouts and bonuses. The other points are repeated ad nauseum.

However, true to form, "September" is misspelled!

[GoneFishin]

18. They were designer astroturf, cultivated to be co-opted by the Kochs as soon as they gained any

traction.

[grahamhgreen]

29. HAHAHA! "SETPEMBER"!!!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

24. From the article: "On a practical level, the wealthy are jumping at shadows"

THIS:

Is what makes the 1% wake up in a cold sweat at night.

[marions ghost]

26. Yep --true that

We have the numbers...that's what they fear--that their god-like power and obscene riches will be called into question one of these days by the masses they exploit. They know it's wrong--but they have no power over the God Of Mammon. Those fat cats have a whole lot of atoning to do in their next lifetime. (I'm sure it won't happen in this one).

thx for the laugh

[Spitfire of ATJ]

27. Eventually America will wake up and realize their government can arrest the rich.

[tblue37]

31. The damned fools don't realize that the FDR New Deal SAVED capitalism.

By rolling back New Deal regulations and destroying the safety net, the super rich are provoking even more drastic responses against them.

[marions ghost]

33. Their greed knows no bounds

When average wage earners in the middle class and the poor are hurting, they squeeze even more. Greed really is a disease. Which is why we must have limits -- in the form of laws and regulations, safety nets, and fair taxation. The rich are out of control now. Our only hope is that enough people will finally want to stop their agenda, one way or the other, instead of knuckling under over and over. We do have the numbers.

Americans are stoic and will put up with a lot. But look around--do you see much happiness and faith in the future? I see people gritting their teeth and enduring. Stressed. Worried. Living in fear of losing a job.

What has happened here is a national shame.

[tclambert]

5. Why do you hate our hereditary aristocracy?

From birth they have to take on the odious responsibility of running all our lives, of directing our government on how to behave and which other nations to make war on, and, and, uh, keeping the caviar surplus in check.

That cartoon gets the situation wrong. The wealthiest of the wealthy do not happily give half the pie to everyone else. They'd take it all if they could.

How much wood would a 1% woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? None. He'd keep it all.

[niyad]

6. the top 1% sHOULD be getting worried. they remind me of a very old (and sick) joke:

george wallace is talking to the president of south africa (back in apartheid times), and says something like: "there are 5 million of you, and 8 million of them. does the name custer ring a bell?"

[jwirr]

10. LOL

[kairos12]

8. Why do you hate America? Job creators you know.

[KoKo]

11. Ahhh....what to do about this. Recommend Read.

[cer7711]

13. REVOLUTION!

NOW, damn it!

[W.J. McCabe]

15. If we don't arrest and reverse this downward spiral this is only the beginning.

The cancer of conservatism must be cut out before it spreads further.

[calimary]

16. Sheesh - I guess I really do side with the one percent.

"In the U.S., the richest 30 individuals own about $792 billion, while the bottom half of Americans own 1.1 percent of our country's wealth, also about $792 billion. That's 30 people owning as much as 157,000,000 people."

[Gary 50]

19. The fix....

Clearly what we need are more tax breaks for the corporations and the one percent. Ask any Republican politician. Oh, and lets do away with the minimum wage. And social security. And of course we have to stop underfunding the military. Remember, the basic problem with our country is the government is giving too much to the takers, the 47% who would never vote for Romney and he and his party consider the enemy and do everything in their power to crush.

[merrily]

20. Globally, 85 individuals own more than the bottom half of the world's population.

That's the statistic that gets me. It's from Oxfam.

[TBF]

21. Excellent toon -

this should be plastered everywhere.

[TrollBuster9090]

22. I totally agree, BUT....if the goal is to change this atrocity, we have to concentrate more on

If the goal is to change this atrocity, we have to concentrate MORE on the fact that THIS IS THE RESULT OF A STUPID, REGRESSIVE, TRICKLE-DOWN TAX POLICY that was brought in in 1981, which shifted the tax burden to the working class while giving the investor class a free ride, rather than on the fact that the rich are greedy asswipes who would rather kick malnourished poor children off of foodstamps than pay another penny in taxes. As hard as that may be to do.

Both the above statements are true, but the first one makes it harder for our opponents to make a red herring argument about 'class warfare.'

The conservative bastards on the right have known this for generations, when the've played dogwhistle politics, accusing African Americans of being lazy, immoral, and 'dependent,' and then cloaking themselves in immunity by saying...BUT, it's not their fault....it's the fault of liberal government policies. That had the effect of cloaking the illegitimate emotion of racism in a discussion about government policy, and they've done damned well on that for over 30 years. We need to do the same thing with the LEGITIMATE concern over class warfare, and the fact that we're getting the shit kicked out of us IN that class war, by switching the subject back to the government policy that GOT us into this mess. Greed is hard to change. Government policy is not.

[SunSeeker]

23. K & R

[Curmudgeoness]

25. Many of these stats shock me.

Not that I have not heard each one individually, but when you put this all in one article, it floors me.

The ultra-rich should be worried, but I don't see that they are. If they were worried just a tad, they would stop with all the poor bashing and defense of the policies that only help them. Have you seen any of that? Me either.

[blkmusclmachine]

28. Washington DC: Owned by the 1%. No one else need apply.

[lunasun]

34. How exceptional!