The Widening Income Gap: Rich vs. Poor
You would think that as a nation we suffer equally in economic
downturns, but recent Census Bureau data, indicates otherwise. I
know that you, as well as I, have always heard, the rich get
richer, and the poor get poorer. But no one actually believed
that until these recent findings proved the theory true.
Once upon a time in this country, there wasn't a great
distinction between the higher-income, the middle-income and the
lower-income. Maybe there was greater distinction between the
truly wealthy and the well-to-do, but that was the greatest gap.
That's not the picture we look at today.
The losers, here, and I state loser with the plural emphasis,
have been the middle and low-income Americans. Although there
have been economic gains in this country, the gains have been on
the part of the higher-end wage earners, not the bread and
butter wage earners that helped to build America. The corporate
executives, the presidents, the positions that are commission,
bonus, and incentive dependent have seen the growth. The middle
and lower income Americans have seen only shortfalls. On the
average, 45 out of 50 states have witnessed increasing income
gaps over the last 20 years, and that is a frightening
statistic. What does this say about our economy, the regulations
under which we all live, and the attitudes of our lawmakers (who
by the way, are among the higher-end wage earners)? It certainly
seems a long way from the principles upon which this country was
founded, and grew in the early years. The principles we believed
and operated under then, were that hard work should pay off.
That for any individual willing to come to America and work
hard, there was a life of prosperity, not poverty. Today, we are
living a realization that this is merely an ideal, not a
philosophy of our government and lawmakers.
We have had the strongest economy ever over the last twenty to
thirty years, and the fact that even under these excellent
conditions, we have failed to close a gap spells serious
problems; that we witnessed its further widening is an affront
to the hard working, honest citizens of this country. What does
this say to our approaching generation of workers? That fat
corporate bonuses, the Enron and HealthSouth scandals, and the
day of "corporate dominance" is the successful path to follow.
Pay no heed to the working man, the unskilled laborer, the
production worker in a non-union plant.
What do the statistics revealed in the census say to us? Here
are just a few: In some southern states, the poorest family's
incomes increased by less than $1000, the richest family's
incomes increased by an average of $40,000. (This doesn't
include bonuses and incentive pay). The ratio of bottom and top
income measurements revealed that for many of the 45 states,
there is a 10 to 1 difference; in other words, the top income
measurements were 10 times those of the bottom income
measurements.
To give you a point of reference, during the 1970s, there was
not one single state where the difference was greater than 3.
Amazing information, is it not? What are the contributing
factors in this completely evident see-saw relationship?
Economic trends and government policy are the largest
contributors, and both can be used to turn this trend around.
The question facing most of voting America today, is will we
demand a turnaround? Reforming the tax system, from state to
federal levels, examining our minimum wage laws, implementing
educational programs that further encourage higher education,
and demanding more accountability from corporate America would
go a long way towards correcting a terrible and growing problem.
If all members of a society are contributing to the growth of
that society, all members should share in the prosperity. That
is a basic principle upon which a democracy operates; the harder
you work, the greater your opportunity and prosperity.
Currently, we're not headed in this direction. The rich are
getting richer, and the poor are suffering.