Thank you for responding. I kept the top part because I just keep getting hung up on this part. So how do we force this wealth to trickle down? Or is that just a symptom of capitalism and there’s always going to be a few with this wealth and I have to accept it?
I don’t want a society like Saudi Arabia that creates dependency, but I do safeguards to ensure more adults are successful.
wealth gap should absolutely shrink. I’ll link federal reserve, but the top 1 percent in this country own 93% of the market. The bottom 50% own 1 percent.
Three reasons this should change:
American dream is dead for people 40 and under in many parts of the US. Look at Simpson’s. In 1989, Homer was able to support his family of 5 on his salary. Nowadays, it requires both parents to work. Houses are smaller are more cheaply built, and it is harder to support more than a child or two.
Glut of wealth has allowed companies to purchase many things to bottleneck supplies and exponentially raise prices. There’s one company in Toronto that owns 75k starter homes in the US. Most are used as rent or VRBO. I was lucky enough to buy my first home in 2017 for 120k. 26 year olds now have to spend nearly double that for a house.
Finally, wealth buys power. The more wealth you have, the more influence you have. With the bottom 50% scrounging to survive, we’re seeing more policies that are designed to give these people more power and influence while the bottom continues to struggle.
No, I don’t think people should have to work 2-3 jobs to support the poorest, I don’t want the system Saudi Arabia has. I also don’t want a system where a person can own 10 homes that lay vacant long chunks of the year while people are forced to move back home to make ends meet.
How do we 'force the wealth to trickle down'? Well, I guess we could become totally Socialist and pretty much everyone would live lower middle class lives while the elite .1% have literally ALL the money and power. America is still the Land of Opportunity. Certainly not an easy road but it's still possible to accumulate wealth from very humble beginnings.
'The American Dream is dead for people 40 and under'? Not really. Several recent studies have shown the younger generation don't WANT to buy a home or start a family. Is that the result of the economics - perhaps. But it could also be that the younger generation has been raised to get everything they want right now and the thought of delaying one iota of pleasure is a foreign concept and one they will not accept. They don't want the 'hassle' of owning a home or having kids - those things might interfere with their lifestyle.
In my experience, many younger generation kids don't have the same work ethic, won't go the extra mile consistently, won't study at night to get more training/a better degree/designation, etc. They want work/life balance, work from home, plenty of vacation, etc. Self-sacrifice is not in their vocabulary. Working 2 jobs to get what you want is a non-starter.
If you have skills and are a hard worker, the American Dream is still very much alive. If you want to live in Seattle and you have a job only paying you $50k a year because that's the going rate for someone with your experience and skill level, then something has to change in order for you to live the Dream and I don't think it's 'forcing' someone's wealth to come to you if you're not willing to make changes in your life. I've had engineer friends who, at times, have struggled to find another job because they refused to move. But, they complained about the 'awful job market'. There are plenty of nice places to live and there are almost always jobs to be had if you're willing to make some changes in your life.
People working at McDonalds who expect to make enough money to support a family of 4 are woefully ignorant. The skills required to work there aren't worth a 'living wage' in today's society if, by living wage, it means enough money for a family of 4 to have a home, cars, etc. The job itself is not set up as a lifetime employment opportunity. It's a part-time, HS and college kid gig.