Wealth gap creating a social time bomb

[Newsjock]

Source: The Guardian

Growing inequality in US cities could lead to widespread social unrest and increased mortality, says a new United Nations report on the urban environment.

In a survey of 120 major cities New York was found to be the ninth most unequal in the world and Atlanta, New Orleans, Washington, and Miami had similar inequality levels to those of Nairobi, Kenya and Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Many were above an internationally recognised acceptable "alert" line used to warn governments.

"High levels of inequality can lead to negative social, economic and political consequences that have a destabilising effect on societies," said the report. "(They) create social and political fractures that can develop into social unrest and insecurity."

According to the annual State of the World's cities report from UN-Habitat, race is one of the most important factors determining levels of inequality in the US and Canada.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/23/population-...

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[Bicoastal]

2. Yipes.

We need Obama more than ever.

[Drunken Irishman]

3. God damn that William Ayers! BOO OBAMA! SOCIALIST TERRORIST!

[bluestateguy]

4. Inequality is dangerous to democracy

Democracy simply does not work in societies that have extreme economic polarization and no functioning middle class.

[mwb970]

20. Democracy also requires a free, open press and an informed citizenry.

Thanks to the right wing, we no longer have any of the basic characteristics underlying a democracy. If you check the description of a fascist state, however, you will find that we increasingly fit that description.

Our nation is being killed by the poison dripped into its veins daily by Fox "News" and right-wing hate radio. They'll be the death of us before it's over.

[truedelphi]

63. Free press is a necessity to any democratic society

In the 1980's, when progressives knew they had to overthrow the Marcos regime, they firt went to the media outlet headquarters and hijacked those.

A free press must exist. Without it, Democracy dies.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

5. This is why the "socialism" charge will not work this time.

People see trickle down for the fraud it is.

[unpossibles]

50. some do

Unfortunately, some do not. I still have idiots tell me that it works, despite all evidence to the contrary. I am usually the type to try and respect differing beliefs, but that's a doozy to ignore.

[tclambert]

68. Someone on another thread called it the "pie crumb" theory

instead of trickle down. The rich get the pie. Everybody else fights for the crumbs.

[SOS]

78. "Feeding the sparrows through the horses"

Sorry about the imagery, but that is, regrettably, our current economic system.

[tclambert]

91. I would just like to say, "Ewww."

[Connonym]

6. Can I just say "duh"? nt

[Kaleko]

7. Be my guest. We're celebrating the landslide we're helping to create

as we speak.

Mmmmmm, big, awesome landslide. Tsunami-ish.

[greyghost]

15. Yes, you can!

[sohndrsmith]

8. thank you for posting this, and I am NOT interested in "killing

the messenger" (it's a real, necessary message) but, why the HE** is this news? The American fight for selfishness does not square with the America I believe in....

Class inequality always has and always will exist, but what I find particularly alarming is that those on the lower rungs of financial/societal "norms" are unable to do anything to build themselves up, improve the situation, realize the "American dream" that we seem to be so easily convinced that it exists....

One thing that I cannot, and will never understand is how any candidate (or individual for that matter) can promote the idea of individual prosperity (which is not a bad thing) but is unwilling to recognize the fact that this means nothing to many who will or have lost everything due to health issues and the lack of a coherent health system.

How many of us would choose the possibility of a better tax rate once we clear 250K that could be wiped out with an illness, rather than the security of being able to work and save and improve our lives without the onus that at any point it would all be destroyed because of a screwed up health system.

There is someone on Hardball right now (a re-airing of the show) who says "universal health care is not what America is about" (I paraphrase, but it's close). Okay, that may be true. But how bloody shortsighted is this idea? How functional are our families, our employees, our businesses, our companies - if we just dismiss the fact that human beings have health care needs, and when they're significant and/or expensive or chronic... they are supposed to - fend for themselves? This helps all of us HOW?

incroyable!

[Indenturedebtor]

9. Welcome to DU! I agree with most of what you said

Two things though:

Nationalised Healthcare is as American as "The pursuit of happiness" or the simple idea that we're all in this together. And it's sure as hell more American than interventionist international adventures (modern colonialism), or giving money to churches... and nationalised healthcare would be a heck of a lot cheaper than what the former costs us.

And yeah it's true that inequality will always exist but it's supposed to look more like a bell curve rather than its inverse.

[sohndrsmith]

11. thanks! I love it here... but I'm not sure what we disagree on...: )

but it's an important debate no matter what. Perhaps I'm just confused. : )

[Indenturedebtor]

12. Minutae is all. I just get really worked up at the "National Healthcare is UnAmerican" thing

I think that's utter bullshit!

[intheflow]

90. Not just as American as "the pursuit of happiness."

Much more applicable to the healthcare inequity in the country is "the pursuit of Life." Can't really pursue life if you're starving and homeless because of overwhelming medical bills.

[Indenturedebtor]

92. True that! Isn't this sort of like those laws that require you to help someone

if you can?

Like you can't just watch someone bleed out on the sidewalk and not call an ambulance?

[intheflow]

94. Good comparison!

It is like the so-called Good Samaritan laws. How can you just turn your back on the millions of uninsured people in your own country? If for no other reason, it's a public health issue. Do they not "get it" that poor people don't go to the doctor because they can't afford it, until it's a desperate health situation. That's how epidemics spread in other countries. Do they really think they're immune from epidemics? Of course they do because they don't think they have any contact with poor people--even though it's poor people who wait on them in restaurants and malls, who wash their home and cut their lawns. But since they don't see "those people," except as automatons who do their bidding, then they really do think this problem doesn't concern them. Talk about being willfully ignorant!

[Indenturedebtor]

98. That's the name for it "Good Samaritan"... for that matter many puke think that poor people

are people without jobs. It's inconceivable to them that someone can work 80 hours a week and still be poor.

[bulloney]

17. The gal on Hardball you're referring to makes a simplistic argument.

How does she know if the Founding Fathers wouldn't have favored universal health care? Because the problems associated with health care costs didn't exist back then?

I guess if you use her logic, our Founding Fathers wouldn't have favored any of the technology that has made our lives easier.

[Bluenorthwest]

41. I'd bet George Washington

Would have supported a dental plan for all. We joke about his wooden teeth, but they were a burden and a source of pain for him for years. He knew exactly how that condition hindered his pursuit of liberty and happiness, and made his very life shorter.

[RaleighNCDUer]

44. Universal Health Care ! Leeches for ALL ! nt

[BridgeTheGap]

26. "Class inequality always has and always will exist" - how are those classes

organizing to make sure they get their fair slice of the pie?
The top 5% are very organized and clear in their goals, with great resources to bring to bear on influencing government policy.
Organized labor is there for working people, though at a much diminished level.
The middle class is taking a beating.
Since 2001, 75% of the newly created wealth has gone to the top 1% of the population.
We have to be better organized to get our just slice of the pie.
It can start with campaign finance reform at the ballot box. Don't vote for candidates who are taking money from "special interest" groups who are essentially there to suck up more wealth for the already wealthy and tamp down on our efforts to organize on our own behalf.

[unpossibles]

51. Many of the people who should be fighting for it

have been conditioned to think it's unfair of them to want it, or worse, that if they just work a little harder, they too will be rich someday (Joe The Plumber), when in fact that is just a message their bosses want them to have so they will work harder. Sure, some do make it, but class mobility is not as common-place as the right makes it seem.

We really need better education, and more consequences for lying propaganda (ie: Rush Limbaugh, et al). They have the freedom to speak, but it amazes me that the media does not call them out on it more, and even more, that the media uses them as "experts" to air their BS.

[BridgeTheGap]

66. The corporate owned media is a large part of the problem...they are the "cultural-political"

drivers. As you said, creating that sense that it's not fair for them to want it.
And it's what they focus on. Notice how John Edwards got alot more ms media attention in '04.
In the '08 primary, Edwards positions looked alot more like Kucinich's and, just like they do with Kucinich, they started ignoring Edwards.

[tclambert]

72. Too often we act like we exist in a vacuum.

Other countries exist and have dealt with the same problem. The US is behind the other 7 in the G8 on universal health care. The other 7 of the top industrial countries all have universal health care, and it costs them less per person than our market based system, and many of them get better results. Of course, our results are skewed because many uninsured people wait to get treatment, or go to emergency rooms instead of doctors' offices. Let me repeat that: 7 out of 8 cover everyone, for lower cost, and get better results. How much experimental data do we need?

[rucognizant]

69. Universal Healthcare................

A NEED programmed by the MEDIA/Drug/Medical Professonal/Community! WHile they, try to "lock up /privatize the remedies, poison & privatize the food supply, POLLUTE the air & water , and PROPAGANDIZE us into thinking we need a lot more the we do...........( restless leg syndrome?????????? WHAT IS IT? IS it terminal? DO you really need meds to take care of it? as advised by your friendly Tee Vee? DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO HAS IT?)
Once upon a time in AMerica people ate REAL HEALTHY FOOD and WERE HEALTHY! They were living longer then too...............WTHOUT artificial means!
( I am talking about the times I was living and witness to this phenomenon. 1945-1985? give or take......Historically back during the gilded age I'm sure there were unjust deaths due to poverty...... But I am talking about what we succeeded in achiving as a country and then lost in the name of ideology and politics.BAck thenthere were greedy bad people, but in the minority. WHat has happened since about 1980; co-oinciding with efforts by the right wing to push the country in another direction........... including buying up the media to get ONLY THEIR message out................is the rapid proliferation of greedy bad people.! AND the failure of the honest people to be aware of their presence and INTENT. WHY? I don't know. Any ideas on that?

[tclambert]

71. Well, they let us play the lottery

But a lucky ticket and you, too, could become fabulously wealthy without deserving it, much like someone born into a family with the last name of Bush.

[meow2u3]

100. What's the difference between a lottery millionaire and a corporate CEO?

The lottery winner got rich quick honestly.

[antimatter98]

10. This book is a good one: Planet of Slums, by Mike Davis n/t

[BlueIris]

82. Thanks! nt

[Tunkamerica]

13. Throughout history it's been a balancing game

How rich can "we" get before the poor rise up? How many troops do we need to employ to keep the poor from rising up? How little can we pay those troops, how bad can we treat them, and have them still protect our wealth?

When the balance swings too far then heads are lost. literally. when it swings back the other the rich scream socialism, communism, etc. and undermine every social program they can get their hands on until the game is back in their favor.

[groovedaddy]

35. Was it J.P. Morgan who said: "I can hire one half of the working class

to kill the other half?"

[machI]

14. Kicked and Recommended

[bulloney]

16. And Caribou Barbie was in Findlay, Ohio Wednesday continuing her 'Obama's a Socialist' theme.

Getting the crowds all riled up.

What these people fail to see is that tax and other economic policies from the past several years have skewed the wealth into the hands of fewer people, contributing to the current mess that we're in now.

These people who cheer on Mooselini and her 'Obama's a Socialist' message apparently don't see that they've lost ground economically under this system, or they think by cheering on policies supported by the elites, that they will share their wealth and prosperity with them.

[DeeDeeNY]

21. Almost all of those idiots cheering her would benefit under Obama's tax plan

They are so stupid, short-sighted and thickheaded, it's beyond belief.

[Xenotime]

52. That's why we need Obama in office..

We must help them since they can't help themselves.

[RaleighNCDUer]

45. And that is the equivalent of a Cargo Cult,

praying to a bamboo airplane so the gods will bring back the real thing.

[tclambert]

77. RealClearPolitics.com just changed Ohio from a toss-up to leaning Obama.

They show Obama ahead by 6% in Ohio now. And that puts Obama at 306 electoral votes solid or leaning his way, versus 160 on McCain's side, and the rest toss-ups. I've heard a couple of times now the phrase "the Palin effect is costing McCain votes among moderates."

[Delphinus]

18. K & R!

[onehandle]

19. France, 1789. n/t

[closeupready]

28. Let them eat cake!

[Bette Noir]

43. I thought we were on pie this cycle?

[MannyGoldstein]

22. Eat The Rich

Before they eat you.

[groovedaddy]

36. Would you like fries with that? n.t

[Initech]

62. With some fava beans and a nice chianti.

[tclambert]

79. LOL.. They're quite tasty with a nice garlic and butter sauce. n/t

[Yavapai]

105. Think you cook them more like Pork!

You know like super-rich & beans, Oysters Rockefeller, "W" fries (those of you who live in cattle country will know what these are), a Gates & Tomato sandwich, sweet & sour Hilton and such....

[Loge23]

23. U.S.: One of the world leaders in inequality

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

I fear what a McCain "victory" would mean to our country. If we can't see past the smears, lies, and unproductive messages of their campaign; or if their machine is able to steal the election - I don't think that the people of this country will just walk away and say "oh well".

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[closeupready]

29. I'll enjoy seeing your post and account locked and deleted.

[Ikonoklast]

30. Fail.

All debunked.

Not even a decent attempt at trolling.

Sad.

[sutz12]

33. I guess you missed the longest primary campaign in history, then...?

[americanmutt]

25. crosssroads...

I stand here,american, patriot.and lover of the freedom that i have complacenty enjoyed for many years, (because i am a poor boy)
that, I do not care about the color of your skin, I don't like assholes of any race.

[bronxiteforever]

27. k & r- Charles Dickens wrote about this and his words still ring true

From the foldings of its robe, the ghost brought two children;
wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt
down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.

'Oh, Man. look here. Look, look, down here.' exclaimed the Ghost.

They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling,
wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where
graceful youth should have filled their features out, and
touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled
hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and
pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat
enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No
change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any
grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has
monsters half so horrible and dread.

Scrooge started back, appalled.

'Spirit. are they yours.' Scrooge could say no more.

'They are Man's,' said the Spirit, looking down upon
them. 'And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers.
This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both,
and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy,
for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the
writing be erased. Deny it.' cried the Spirit, stretching out
its hand towards the city. 'Slander those who tell it ye.
Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse.
And abide the end.'

'Have they no refuge or resource.' cried Scrooge.

'Are there no prisons.' said the Spirit, turning on him
for the last time with his own words. 'Are there no workhouses.'"

[ladywnch]

61. I thought you were going to use the 'then let them die and decrease the surplus population'

seems to be the repug philosophy.

[tclambert]

81. I was expecting something from "A Tale of Two Cities."

[Romulox]

31. "THANK GOD IT PASSED!!!" nt

[greyghost]

32. A word too the wise, one more stolen election and...

[sutz12]

34. Mailed my ballot in yesterday....

Proud to say I voted for exactly NO Republicans.

[greyghost]

103. :) Way to go.

[pattmarty]

37. AND, where do we hear about this? From a British paper..........

.......and not a fucking peep here. Well, when I watch Hannity & O'reilley tonight, I am sure they will INFORM me.

[Mark Baker]

84. It wasn't exactly very prominent in the Guardian

I've been bored at work recently so have spent rather longer than I should have on the Graun's web site (I don't think my boss reads this ), and I missed it.

And given the WSJ link someone else posted on this thread (which seems to be about a different study, but with similar conclusions), I can't see there's much difference.

[enid602]

38. facts?

Without giving any facts, the article states that NYC is the 9th most unequal in the world, and cites a UN report that inequality in the states is largely based on race. The one fact they give is that African Americans and Latinos in Western New York (i.e., New York State) earn less money than do whites. Last time I looked, Western New York was somewhere up near Canada, and a few light years away from NYC.

[Bluenorthwest]

47. Well if you are all about 'facts'

Western NY is a specific region of NY State. When you equate Western NY with 'NY State', you are foisting a non fact. People in Western NY would argue that tax funds for the entire state are lavished upon the City, upon in fact, Manhattan. Thus the inequality outside the city is in part due to the inequality inside the city. No money for kids in Buffalo, because it is spent instead to make life easier for Manhattanites, who are in fact mostly white, and getting more so.
Your thinking is in fact the problem they are talking about. NY State is a whole system that tends to ignore much of its own in favor of one segment of the population. Light years? Try a 5 hour drive. Perhaps the NYC folk would be willing to do without the tax money from 'somewhere up near Canada'? Do you think they'd even consider that? The answer is no, because without Western NY and the rest of the State as well, including large citities such as Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and all of the rural areas, NYC would be in dire and untenable straights. NYC depends on the funds from the rest of the state to exist as they do.
Right now in NYC, those that do the work can not afford to live where the work is done. They all commute to worker places, and return to Manhattan each day to serve the whims of the elite. Many of the people who keep NYC running don't even live in the 5 Borroughs, many live in the Hudson River Valley, or other regions of the State. Thousands even live in - gasp-New Jersey! 'Cause NYC is too damned spendy for anyone but the rich, and unlivable for anyone but those blind to social justice issues.
I guess mostly I'm wondering if you call the far Eastern and Northern parts of NY State 'Western' and how exactly you read a road map. Hope you never try to find Vermont, you'll wind up in Ohio.
Facts. Got any?

[JustAnotherGen]

67. Thanks Blue

I'm a former Rochesterian (raised there and lived there for 30 years) who had to leave home for Central New Jersey a few years ago because in our Global Economy it's expected that we do that in order to make a good living. My cost of living is much higher in Central New Jersey - but it's worth it to actually see my tax dollars at work. As a Western New Yorker - I only got to see them at work when I hopped on a plane to NYC for business.

[TankLV]

101. "Try a 5 hour drive" FAIL. It takes THREE HOURS just to get from Buffalo to Syracuse

It takes over NINE hours to drive to NYC from Buffalo. All Day. Which IS "light years" away.

Just thought you'd like a "little" fact...

Western New York is in no way, shape or form a "part of NYC" as the article is claiming. It has NOTHING to do with NYC.

NYC isn't even a part of "upstate" which is relegated to the area just up the Hudson River from NYC.

The only thing NYC has in common with Western New York is just the two words: "New" and "York". And WNY's Tax Dollars...

If the article said NEW YORK STATE, then you'd have some point to your false arguments.

But the article in question talked about NYC - the CITY - not the STATE.

Sorry, but you're "logic" is all bullshit...

[midnight]

39. The ACLU wants to know why our govt. has set up the

military to handle unrest in this country? It is being planned. Just like 9-11. But thas is just me connecting the dots.

[wvbygod]

96. It is being planned. Just like 9-11 ???

What in the world are you trying to say? What dots? Microdot doses?

[lonestarnot]

40. And Richard Branson goes sailing.

[Bette Noir]

42. When I was a kid, (1960s) the US was proud of the equality of our country.

We bragged that we were the "most equal" country in the world. Newspapers ran charts and graphs touting the fact that no one was poor; most were comfortable, and the extremely rich weren't that much different than the middle class.

Not so, any more. We've become the freaking Phillipines, not only in the inequality of wealth and income, but in having entrenched political dynasties. Hey, if the Founding Fathers had wanted us to have hereditary rulers, they wouldn't have banned the holding of hereditary titles by law.

I shouldn't have said that. I have no reason to believe that the Phillipines are as bad as they were 40 years ago. By this time, the US could be much worse.

[NOLALady]

46. The 60s in my neck of the woods was about as unequal

as it is today. I would say worse.

The social unrest of the 60s was because of that inequality.

[WriteDown]

87. Was that the same point in US history....

where separate drinking fountains and separate entrances were common? Don't get me started on the treatment of the Indians during that time either.

[happygoluckytoyou]

48. so THAT is why we all plan to slow-down our work and production when "THE MAN" takes all the profits

[unpossibles]

49. I've been using this argument for years against the few rightist friends I have

That history has clearly shown what a large populace who has nothing to lose can do to those in power who have everything to lose and are outnumbered. If nothing else, I figure since these people seem to lack the altruism gene, maybe it would sink it that a functioning and secure society is in their best interest, as well as their bank account's best interest. Sadly, most either ignore it, or accuse me of threatening them, which is hilarious. Or would be were the rampant blind and willful ignorance not so sad.

[Turbineguy]

53. What would

Louis XVI say?

http://www.actionext.com/names_a/allan_sherman_lyrics/y...

[tclambert]

80. "Oh, you peasants are a pain in the neck."

[lovuian]

54. Economics 101 when the assets of a country is owned by 1%

of the people its a sign of a Depression

we are there again

[Blue_Tires]

55. just for the sheer 'hell freezing' factor, i'd love to see the WSJ print a story like this

of course, no american media will run it...

[kestrel91316]

56. It's too bad that any attempt to remedy the situation constitutes

"socialism" and is therefore evil and to be avoided at all cost.

Thank God unfettered free market capitalism is the solution to all the world's problems.

[Phred42]

57. This is probably why they are illegally deploying US Military around THIS country.

Preparation for riots

[truedelphi]

102. I am sorry Phred

I hate it when my realize that my paranoia has been contagious

Or did I get my paranoia from you?

[BanTheGOP]

58. We need a SERIOUS Economic Makeover...

...starting with the tax code. First on the agenda...

Tax ALL earnings 100% over 10 Million dollars. NOBODY is WORTH more than 10 million a year, and all monies over that amount should go to helping people, not padding the greed of republicanized bastards.

Tax ALL earnings 70% over 1 Million dollars. Same reason as above.

Tax ALL earnings 50% over $75,000. This establishes fairness in our code.

Tax earnings 35% over $20,000. This helps us fall in line with the rest of the world in economic fairness.

BAN all corporate boards. In fact, for all companies over 50 employees, create a "citizen" or "people's board" to ensure that the direction of the company goes toward creating product that will help the citizenry, not provide dollars for profits of the board members.

Eliminate ALL "golden parachutes."

Establish ACROSS THE BOARD profit sharing for ALL employees, administered by the citizen boards and the US Government.

Ensure that companies maintain a systematic and measurable adherence to environmental protocols.

Eliminate stock movements for corporations, ceding control of the financial stability of all companies to citizen boards.

WARNING>>>>NONE OF THIS CAN HAPPEN UNTIL WE BAN THE republican PARTY....

[drmeow]

70. Make higher education free

including med school.

[L. Coyote]

59. Bush tax cuts are destroying the global economy, and then ome!!

[whistle]

60. Think about it 3,000 billionaires and 10 million millionaires around the world

...and about 600 million providing a shield of protection around these parasites.

The masses of humanity are close to 6 billion. By shear numbers the masses overwhelm the extreme wealthy. That protective shield is corrupt, cowardly, ambitious and easily swayed. So the masses can win if unified toward a comon goal.

[truedelphi]

64. Yesterday's House Of Representatives' Oversight Committee sure proved your point

Waxman, Speer et al examining the "credit rating" agencies like Standard and Poor, and Moody's

These credit agencies were being paid to provide a credit rating to the very entitities that are now bringing our society to its collective knees.

AIG - triple A rating. Washington Mutual - triple A rating. Lehman Brothers - triple A rating.

Those inside the big credit rating firms who were honest enough to protest those ratings several years ago when doing so would have mattered were far too few. And they were systematically ignored, and/or systematically fired from the credit rating agenices.

Speer called the agencies a "Culture of corruption"

[whistle]

93. For sure this is a conspiracy by the wealthy classes against the

...most vulnerable in our society and around the world

[bkkyosemite]

65. I want a bailout. If the most elite of the elite can get a bailout why can't those that need

one get it. What I want in a bailout is nothing compared to what they are getting.

[fascisthunter]

73. We Wouldn't Be "Bailed Out", Since We are Paying the Tab Anyways

but I hear ya...

[bkkyosemite]

74. Yea I know that but I wouldn't owe any bills before I had to pay

[fascisthunter]

76. It's Funny How We all Pay for Everything Anyways

yet we aren't allowed to pool our resources together to help the least amongst us. Imagine someone telling you, you were not allowed to help your neighbor out because it would effect some business man's bottom line? That's essentially the right's argument.

[fascisthunter]

75. It's Time to Put the Squeeze On to the Wealthy Class

and by doing so, we knock their deluded selves down a notch. They are privileged to have amassed such wealth in this country... they should pay their share of taxes. You have more, you pay more.... stop whining, you live better than most already, and the taxes you pay won't even be an inconvenience your lifestyle.

[tinfoilberet]

83. That is why wealthy people who balk at giving away more of their money

always confuse me. I mean, social unrest affect us all; even those in gated communities. Societal stability benefits us all.

[Doctor_J]

85. We can hope

This 51-year-old hopes he's around to help out when the time bomb goes off. I'd rather die taking my country back than listening to my arteries harden while watching Cabal "News" on TV

[KamaAina]

86. The only bit of good news there...

whoever did the survey considered New Orleans to be one of the world's 120 major cities.

Hell, Bush, Heckuvajob Brownie & Co. don't even consider it to be one of America's 120 major cities!

[Generator]

88. What most people don't realize is the concept of middle class

was fought and bled for. There was no "weekend", no 40 hour week, no rights, no health care, no nothing before the labor movements. And this brief blip in time from the 40's until now-well until Ronald Reagan started dismantling the unions and ever since it's been one coordinated effort to end the middle class. The GOAL of the powers to be is to end the labor movements (done that pretty well) end the benefits of the middle class (working two jobs defeats weekends now doesn't it) and destroy the safety nets (social security anyone?). It was nice while it lasted though.

I saw this sad couple on CNN-wondering "what happened to America?" and of course "independents" HA HA-leaning toward McCain. Of course they still don't get. Why is it so hard? Democrats are sometimes bad-but the Republicans REASON for existing is for the wealthiest to hold on to every dime and TAKE IT AWAY from the middle class and poor- and to turn this country into a third world one. (I understood this fact when I aws ten!-I hated Reagan before I could vote-I knew he was a LIAR) Done well with that. Because Mr. and Mrs. independent-Joe Plumbers of the world-plumbers aren't going to be RICH-it's a FANTASY. You ain't ever making over $250,000 ever. You have been punked. God why is this so hard? How many people ever make that kind of money? THE VERY FEW. AND you sure as shit ain't ever going to be one of them unless you are DAMN lucky OR WERE BORN TO IT. See George Bush.

[BrklynLiberal]

89. I guess that answers the question that someone posed a few days back

as to why it should matter that there is a growing inequality of wealth in the US.

This article gives very clear meaning to this quote.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
George Santayana

[wvbygod]

95. It's here now and you don't have to be rich to become a victim of hate

The average person with anything of value is at risk in some poor inner cities and some remote
poor rural areas. Not only are your possessions at risk but some areas your life can be
taken just for having "more" and being an "outsider" in these arenas of hate.

Life has little value in some places.

[HughBeaumont]

97. "We're All In This Together!"

Er . . . except when we're not.

[greblc]

99. 3rd world here we come!

.

[GinaMaria]

104. equality prevents revolution

this is not something to mess with.