Did you know that 1% of America's families own 40% of the country's wealth?

Question

And that 20% of America's richest families own the 80% of the country's wealth, leaving the remaining 20% of the wealth to be shared by the remaining 80% of the population?

Oh and i wanted to add one thing...

Do you think its fair?

Source:
Wealth, Income, and Power
by G. William Domhoff
http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

Answer 1

Yes, and yes.

hth

Answer 2

Look up: Pareto principle or the 20/80 rule.

This is not a single occurrance in the U.S., but is applicable to many other countries as well as businesses. It comes as no suprise.

I believe the "fair" part is subjective.
You are going to get 3 general types of answers for this:
1) Lower Class people will generally argue that it is not fair.
2) Medium Class people will argue for both sides, saying that it is fair for some because they worked hard, but not for others because they did not work hard.
3) Higher Class people will generally argue that it is fair, however, some individuals of higher learning and people that worked their way to the positions may say that it is not fair in all cases.

Honestly, I'm not going to try to say what is fair and what isn't. This is the way our society is run and it is the way the world operates.

On some positive notes:
You also need to think of the fact that 20% is a LOT of people. When you consider how many individuals and occupations comprise the 20%, you realize that it is not just the extremely wealthy that are in this category. It also contains many doctors, lawyers, ... and many of the other occupations that are attainable, with hard work, to the general population.
On another note, you are saying the word "wealth", which likely means things like large investments or companies that employ many people, which is a good thing. The 1%, the wealthies people in the country, are likely to have most, if not all, of their money invested in ventures all accross the country that may employ otherwise unemployed individuals. It is also reassuring to know that the majority of wealth likely lies in the hands of educated individuals who can make better invesement and purchase decisions to help benefit our economy, as opposed to other lower class individuals who may simply waste most of their money through consumption.

Answer 3

yes i did know that. more surprised that you did not.

additional info - yes it is fair, this is a capitalist society and you get what you put in.

more over- there have been studies and all reasonable evidence points to the fact that even if the government (under some socialist miracle) stepped in and re-spread all the wealth equally... that it would work back to the same way that it is now. SO EVERYBODY WAS GIVEN THE SAME SHARE - it would still go back to the 20-80 rule. Because some people have ambition and some people are just a sack of shart.

Answer 4

Yes, or at least the WORLD'S richest 1% owns 40% of the wealth worldwide. AMERICA'S richest 1% owns 38% of the wealth in America.

Answer 5

Yes I did know that.

And did you know that almost all of that 1% are senior citizens?

If you think this is unfair, I disagree. Some people are pretty good at making money.

If you propose 'redistributing wealth for the good of the country,' well I guess you must be a Democrat.

We tax the richest people pretty heavility at the income side (35%) and then again when they die or give it away (45%). That's splenty.

Answer 6

I'm so shocked - I'm going to have a heart attack - okay - this is not an earth shattering little known fact. Just look around - and see the difference between the lifestyles of the 10 bedroom homes down the street and the duplex housing - 10x more people living in 20% of the space.

Answer 7

well, it probably doesn't help that most corporations don't pay taxes. According to the GAO, between 1996 and 2000, 61% didn't pay any income taxes. As of 2003, corporate tax receipts only made up 7.4% overall taxes.

if we can get the gov't to make all corporations to pay at least a 5% income tax then it might be a little bit easier to reduce taxes for the people at the bottom.

Answer 8

So what? This is the true face of the American dream, and it shock you? If you want to live in a place, where 1% of the population own 80% of the wealth, then go in Russia...

Answer 9

If the Democrats and Obama get their way, we will all become slaves to the government. Working hard to make our own life better will be a thing of the past. We will no longer be the "Land of Opportunity"!

Answer 10

It will eventually be .1% of the people own 100% of everything,
thankfully not in this lifetime

Answer 11

That's the way it's always been - the rich get richer and the poor have children.