Nation's Poorest 1% Now Controls Two-Thirds Of U.S. Soda Can Wealth

[GoddessOfGuinness]

WASHINGTON—A report on growing disparities in the concentration of U.S. aluminum-can wealth, released Tuesday by the Department of Commerce, revealed that 66 percent of the nation's recyclable assets are now held by the poorest 1 percent of the population.

According to the sobering report, the disproportionate distribution of soda-can wealth is greater than ever before, and has become one of the worst instances of economic inequality in the nation's history. Data showed that over-salvaging of cans by a small and elite group of can-horders has created a steadily growing and possibly unbridgeable gap between the rich and the mega-poor.

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"Although our nation's upper middle class actually consumes the most beverages, a staggering percentage of these cans wind up in the hands of a very few," said economist Cynthia Pierce, who worked as a consultant on the three-year, $14 million government study. "It's a troubling trend. And as a tiny fraction of the population continues to maintain its stranglehold on redeemable can wealth, it's a trend that shows no sign of slowing."

According to Pierce, the study points to a distinct economic advantage for the most can-affluent—those who possess the resources necessary to collect, transport, separate, and accumulate more and more cans than the rest of the population.

More here: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nations_poorest_1_now_controls_two

They got me. I totally fell for it. WP had a link to The Onion site, and all I saw was the headline. :rofl:

[sasquatch]

1. Sounds like the market for Double Wides and Primer Colored Vehicles is about to get hot

:rofl:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. This paragraph was the best

I almost pissed myself

According to economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, people like Dorsey, who maintain an ultra-poor lifestyle that is vastly different from the rest of the population, are egregiously out of touch with the everyday economic realities of mainstream America.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

5. Sounds like something the McShame/ImPalin team would say

doesn't it? :rofl:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. This paragraph was the best

I almost pissed myself

According to economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, people like Dorsey, who maintain an ultra-poor lifestyle that is vastly different from the rest of the population, are egregiously out of touch with the everyday economic realities of mainstream America.

[Nikia]

4. I know this is satire

But many people don't recycle because they feel it is inconvient. We recycle in general and save our aluminum cans to sell rather than putting them out with the general recycleables. We turn them in maybe 3 times per year and get $20-$30 each time. Despite the work of the poor salvagers, you cannot really turn in that many cans at a time unless you have a car to put them in.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. That's interesting...

Our town collects all our recyclables, so I've never even thought of selling aluminum cans. We don't use very many aluminum cans anyway.


It's interesting though...Our town recently gave us large recycling bins and even larger (dare I say huge?) trash bins.
They pick up trash twice a week, and recycling once a week. It would have been so much better if the huge bin was for recyclables, and the large bin was for trash.