Back in 2013, a video that provided a visualization of wealth in America went viral. Imagine one hundred Americans standing on a football field, one yard apart from each other, arranged from poorest to richest. They represent income percentiles. Now visualize each person’s wealth as a stack of $100 bills. The stack starts out very small, then grows slowly for the next 80 yards. Then something starts to happen. The stacks begin to grow higher and then take off in an exponential fashion around the 1 yard line. Just take a moment to watch the video.
The video also shows a graphic from a survey that compares what Americans think the distribution of wealth is in quintiles, along with what they think the ideal distribution should be, and what is actually is.
Now an equal distribution of wealth is not possible, nor even desirable. Some people are more ambitious and work harder and should be rewarded for their effort. But it is a sad reflection on our country, that a land with so much wealth also has one of the highest levels of poverty among the developed nations.
Forty years ago, the distribution was closer to the middle graph of what Americans think it is. But one thing is for certain, after four decades of upward redistribution of wealth, our nation has not been moving in the direction of a more just economy.
Equity - Environment - Economic Justice 