Your first reaction may well be, “You’re preaching to the choir! Why don’t you tell us something we didn’t already know?” I fully understand. I’m sharing it, because this, along with its supporting article, may help you explain why it is true to people who are not in the choir.
Americans are eager to see the government "spread the wealth around" through heavy taxes on rich people. This, according to Gallup, is a relatively new phenomenon, with a clear preference for soaking the rich really only emerging in the past four or five years:
On a different polling measure, Gallup finds that at least since the mid-1980s a large majority of Americans have expressed a preference for a flatter distribution of income. But that’s something that could, at least hypothetically, be achieved in a whole variety of ways. Taxing the rich in order to redistribute income to the working class is a much more specific idea and, naturally, a more contentious one.
Not surprisingly, Republicans and rich people are not particularly excited about this idea, while Democrats and the poor love it…
Inserted from <VOX>
Republicans serve the Kochs, the Waltons and the rest of the worst of the 1%. More Americans need to understand this. Spread the word!
11 Responses to “Americans Know Inequality Hurts America”
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Interesting graph. I suppose there were probably ups and downs between 1940 and 2000 also, but this does simplify the trend. That one big dip around 2008 looks racist knee-jerk to me – after that it looks less tainted.
Perhaps because 1940-1980ish the wealthy were paying alot more than later years–we did not support increasing it when we felt it was already a fair share.
Exceellent point!
Hopefully this affects 2016 election debates and policy statements.
I wish every one of those repuglikkkants that live in “The Bubble” would understand how much they need to pay more in taxes and keep the money out of the off-shore accounts!
I couldn't get the video or the graph to down load, away from home and the wi fi here is awful. Until all of the middle class and poor wake up and start voting, this won't change. We have a government run by the wealthy and they will certainly not change anything.
"Do you think our government should or should not redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich?"
To me, the answer to this question should reflect the values of the country's citizenry in fairly broad strokes. Is it right that the top 1% have more wealth (40% according to the video) than the bottom 90% (26% of wealth)? Is it right that so many Americans cannot afford healthcare or decent affordable food? Is it right that education, which can be a great equaliser, has become a political football with only the 1% getting the quality that is needed in today's world?
If one believes in the historical documents of the founders that "all men are created equal", then there must be a reckoning of the wealth distribution. And it would appear that far more people are calling for a redistribution. The wealthy use the same roads, water services etc that everyone else does. They should be paying more and not getting all sorts of benefits not available to the everyman.
I wholeheartedly agree.
It really mystifies me why a lot of people don't have principles (this is the same the world over), but it does seem that a lot don't – if they did have principles this graph would look so different! People's beliefs are swayed by the most insubstantial things – and they mystify me!
Very well done. I shared this on FB.
Maybe you'll get a few more readers.
Thanks all. As I see it, government has been redistributing both income by taxing the poor and middle classes to pay for welfare and tax brakes for the 1%, and especially the 0.1%. Perhaps we should call it recovering the wealth instead.