The Top 1 percent vs. All Others
Motivation at its best is one part logic, one part emotion, and one part morality, linked together in a triangle and driven by a genuine concern for the listener or reader while directed toward a highly relevant purpose. That is the essence and the intended purpose of this essay.
That said, here are my guiding questions in this essay: Would you be willing to put your money at risk in a game of poker when you know in advance that the deck is stacked against you? Would you bet against a pair of loaded dice in a game of craps? How about pulling the trigger of a gun with the barrel pressed against your head in a game of Russian roulette knowing that every chamber is loaded with a live round of ammo?
If you answered “No” to every question you are on the safe side of sanity. You value life and your place in the universe. But what if you discovered there were at least 21 critical issues in American society in which the deck is stacked decidedly against you in every one of them, and you knew collectively they are preventing you from finding the kind of life, liberty, and happiness articulated in our Declaration of Independence? Would you go about your business as usual, or would you find out what these issues are, and set about devoting time and energy to changing them?
If you answered “Yes” to that last question, you are still on the safe side of sanity. And you still value life and your place in the universe. But what if logic, reason, facts, circumstances, understanding, analysis, evaluation; plus love, caring, compassion, spirituality, virtue and a driving moral imperative all combined to compel you to take action in favor of changing all these issues that are preventing you and 99 percent of humanity from finding the life, liberty, and happiness here and now that a few others are stripping from you more and more with each passing day?
I hope I have done my best to corner you, and prepare you to do the right thing. If so, your remaining questions should be “What are the issues?” and “How do I know that they are real?”
Here is the answer to the second question: The Russell Sage Foundation[1] conducted a poll of Americans about 21 issues of substance, and divided their responses into two groups: In the first group were those with an income of $1 million and more, and in the second were those with incomes from zero to $999,999. They referred to these two groups as “top 1% elites,” and the “other 99%.” Average wealth for the elites was $14 million.
Their analysis of the results show a significant difference in how the wealthy perceive issues, and how the rest of us perceive those same issues. But if those differences were about issues such as tastes in wines, or clothes, or cars we would not give the survey much thought. The 21 issues in this survey are different. They concern our lives, our education, our health, our wealth, and our future. The wealthy have considerably more influence over them than we do in spite of being outnumbered 99 to 1. The reason is because their wealth exceeds ours by many trillions of dollars, and they have a lot of disposable income. Therefore, their influence over legislation exceeds ours by a huge amount. As a result their desires are made into laws while ours are not. And remember? We are a nation of laws. The laws must be obeyed. Or else.
A vast chasm exists between us and them on every one of these 21 issues. What we are for, they are against. And what we are against, they are for. Now considering that they can contribute unlimited amounts of money to political candidates, while also offering them lucrative positions once out of office, plus speaking fees and all-expense paid trips while in office, the scales quickly become unbalanced in the favor of the rich. You can read the list of issues at the end of this essay: For example, they want to cut Social Security and Medicare; freeze minimum wages; prevent the government from helping you find employment; ship more jobs overseas; hide more income in secret locations overseas; give you and your kids no help with higher education; let the hungry go hungry, and let the very poor wither and die without help. They can argue that their opinions are just that. But if that were true , why do they engage in all those political activities and pay into the coffers that lure politicians into their camp to make matters worse for us and better for them?
Historically, wealth begets power, and power begets corruption; and corruption begets evil outcomes. It is the pathway to greed on a grand scale. And the more distance the wealthy can put between themselves and those outcomes, the more innocence they feel about them. What else can be concluded? Greed and corruption are universal across nations; they transcend religions, genders, and education levels. Still, excessive wealth is the cause of excessive poverty simply because both come from the same defined pool. You can’t have one without the other. Few people choose poverty; even less choose to remain there. But they are prevented from leaving because they do not have the means to get out. All the wealth and income have been sucked away from them by the wealthy.
Power is the key conduit to change. It comes in many forms. Majorities have power. Dissenters have power. Making your voice heard has power. Writers, speakers, and organizers have power. Voters have power. Petitioners have power. Marchers have power. Assembling and protesting have power. Even your residual money has power.
Some answers to this dilemma are: Taking all of your money out of banks and putting it into credit unions shifts some power away from the elite. Stop patronizing large oil companies, huge gambling centers, and giant sports activities. They are all owned by the elites. Boycott products made by companies that refuse to pay their fair share in taxes. Start with Apple and go from there. Signing petitions about progressive issues has power. Voting for progressive candidates has power. Writing intelligent letters to Supreme Court justices, to the Federal Reserve Board, and to state governors about decisions that deny your rights while supporting the elites has power. Demanding that voting districts become fairly apportioned has power. Demanding the repeal of unfair voting laws has power. Joining organizations that demand justice has power. Giving an encouraging word to the downtrodden has power. Spending your money wisely has power. Standing up for what is right has power.
Despair has no power. Doing nothing has no power at all. Looking the other way has no power. Good intentions have no power. I don’t know who first said “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” but he or she was one beautifully articulate person. A sin of omission is just as serious as a sin of commission.
Now read the following list of issues and responses made by the wealthy on an empty stomach. Otherwise, you will want to vomit.
Elite Interests vs. Public Priorities
Why are the opinions of the majority so widely misreported or overlooked? Perhaps it is that the emerging populist attitudes of the Populist Majority contrast starkly with those American elites.
The following contrasts elite opinion with that of majority opinion on a range of issues, in a recent survey funded by the Russell Sage Foundation. Unless otherwise stated elites are defined as at or near the top 1 percent of US wealth holders and have an average income of more than 1 million dollars annually. Public opinion was calculated by averaging polls together from various mainstream firms such as Gallup and Pew on a wide range of issues:
|
|
Elites in favor of expanding or
cutting (a)
|
Public in favor of expanding or cutting
|
|
Environment protection
|
-8
|
+29
|
|
Health care
|
-19
|
+44
|
|
Social Security
|
-33
|
+46
|
Notes: Each entry is the percentage of respondents that say a given program should be expanded minus the percentage saying it should be cut.
|
|
Percent of Elite in Favor
|
Percent of Public in Favor
|
|
Government must see that no one is without food clothing or shelter
|
+43
|
+68
|
|
Minimum wage should be high enough so that no family with a full time worker falls below poverty line
|
+40
|
+78
|
|
The government should provide a decent standard of living for the unemployed
|
+23
|
+50
|
|
The government should see to it that everyone who wants a job can find one
|
+19
|
+68
|
|
The federal government should provide jobs for everyone who wants to work but can’t find private work
|
+8
|
+53
|
|
Favor cuts in spending like Medicare, education, and highways to cut budget deficits
|
+58
|
+27
|
|
The federal gov’t should spend whatever is necessary in order for children to have good schools
|
+35
|
+87
|
|
The federal government should make certain that everyone who wants to go to college can do so
|
+28
|
+78
|
|
The federal gov’t should spend more for worker retraining in order to stay up with the economic changes
|
+30
|
+57
|
|
The gov’t should redistribute wealth by increasing taxes on the rich
|
+17
|
+52
|
|
Responsibility of the gov’t to help close the income gap
|
+13
|
+46
|
|
Cut Social Security
|
+33
|
+10
|
|
Willing to pay more in taxes in order to provide health care for everyone
|
+41
|
+59
|
|
Favor national health insurance most paid by gov’t
|
+32
|
+61
|
|
The gov’t top priority should be protecting American jobs
|
+29
|
+81
|
|
More US companies setting up operations overseas
|
+73
|
+23
|
|
Approve of trade relations with China
|
+69
|
+30
|
[1] The Russell Sage Foundation is the principal American foundation devoted exclusively to research in the social sciences. Located in New York City, it is a research center, a funding source for studies by scholars at other academic and research institutions, and an active member of the nation's social science community. The foundation also publishes, under its own imprint, the books that derive from the work of its grantees and visiting scholars.
Love ya!
Jane
Ron