"Of the Half-Billion Poorest Adults in the World, One Out of Ten is an American"

[Hissyspit]

1. At the Bottom: Of the Half-Billion Poorest Adults in the World, One out of Ten is an American

That seems impossible, with so many extremely poor countries, and it requires a second look at the data, and then a third look. But it's true. In the world's poorest decile (bottom 10%), one out of ten are Americans, many of whom are burdened with so much debt that any remnant of tangible wealth is negated. Other nations have high debt, most notably in Europe, but without an excessive burden on their poorest citizens.

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3. In the Middle: The US is the Only Region Where the Middle-Class Does Not Own Its Equivalent Share of Wealth

The North American middle class, as defined by Credit Suisse, and of which the U.S. is by far the largest part, has 39% of the people but only 21 percent of national wealth. Every other region of the world shows the reverse phenomenon, with the middle class owning an oversized portion of national wealth.

MORE IN THIS THREAD:

Wealth Data: U.S. Inequality at Its Ugliest

http://www.democraticunderground.com/128064519

[merrily]

1. Thanks, Hissyspit. That is stunning. Bernie is about wealth inequality as well as income inequality.

Most politicians like to talk only about income inequality because there is not much the federal government can do about that.

[jwirr]

2. I am assuming that the poll looked at the assets vs debt of

each person. My disabled daughter has zero assets and if you look at Medicaid as a debt because the estate must pay it back then you have a great deal of really poor people in this country.

[Travis_0004]

3. Or even just buying a house

If I am young and buy a 250k house, I have that as debt. Lets assume I have 100k in retirement, 20k in savings and a paid off car worth 10k, and make 100k a year.

I would argue I am well off, but I am 120k in debt. Statistically I owe much more than somebody in the third world making 2.00 a day. (Who has no access to debt)

I may be much poorer by one metric, but certainly not worse off.

[jwirr]

5. Yes, I used my daughter's situation because I am more

familiar with it but debt is a really big problem in this country.

[Hortensis]

4. I don't believe the header. Today's world's poorest are dying

from poverty, the least advantaged people in very impoverished areas, and will not be in this world long.

Ours typically live for decades under bushes, in shelters when the weather requires, even in SROs when those are available, and eat our lavish food waste out of garbage cans and at soup kitchens before untreated medical problems finally either force them into care homes or, if too late for that, places like L.A.'s Barlow Respiratory Hospital, where people scraped up by paramedics from behind L.A.'s dumpsters, etc., are taken for "long-term care" that is often not at all long term.