Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Surprise! The Rich Are Still Getting Richer

In news that will surprise almost no one currently trying to occupy Wall Street, a new government report shows that the income of the top 1% is larger than ever and continuing to grow.

According to a new Congressional Budget Office report released on Tuesday, since 1979 the average, after-tax income of the top one percent of American households has risen 275 percent. Meanwhile, for the poorest one-fifth of the country, it's gone up just 18 percent. And for the biggest slice of "middle class" America -- the three-fifths of homes between the top and bottom 20% -- incomes have risen just 40%.

All those numbers are inflation adjusted and only brings the data up to 2007, before the crisis that led to our current great recession.

The report also underlines how the good times of the last 30 years were good mostly for the wealthiest among us. The top 1 percent receives about 17 percent of all income in this country, a number that has doubled since 1979.

Again, the new data is not shocking, but could provide a boost of energy and momentum to the Occupy Wall Street protestors that faced increased resistance in recent days, especially outside New York. Police in Oakland, Atlanta, and Chicago clashed with protestors yesterday, while residents of downtown Manhattan are growing weary of the drum circles that have plagued them for weeks.

Between the tear gas, the coming winter months, and the our wandering attentions spans the movement will soon be reaching a critical point where disappointment and a lack of energy could drain it of any life. This is a healthy reminder for the 99% of why they were so mad in the first place.

Origin
Source: the Atlantic Wire 

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