Tuesday, April 12, 2011

"Of The 1%, By The 1%, For The 1%": A Must Read For 99%


Last night I found another good article in my May 2011 issue of VANITY FAIR magazine by the economist Joseph E. Stiglitz*, titled OF THE 1%, BY THE 1%, FOR THE 1%. I strongly recommend that the other 99% read this article. As for the 1% that the article is about, they are excused from this assignment as wealth has its privileges.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stiglitz

Joseph E. Stiglitz is a professor of economics at Columbia University and won the Nobel Prize for economics in 2001. If you are interested in learning more about Joseph E. Stiglitz, you can read about him at Wikipedia. See the above link.

I have written about the level playing field many times in my blog, and yet I think there is a misunderstanding as to what the level playing is. The level playing field is an ideal. The level playing field is something that we all should strive for. It is in a way much like the Golden Rule - do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

This article by Joseph E. Stiglitz is only in part about economics. What it is really about is much bigger. When the top 1% controls 40 percent of the wealth of our country, we are moving in the wrong direction. Carried to the extreme, can we be talking about 50, 60, 70, 80 or 90 percent of the wealth of this country controlled by the top 1%? The United States will cease to exist long before the latter numbers are reached. The combustible mixture of 50:1, 60:1 will lead to a revolution. I doubt that it will ever get to 70:1 or 80:1.

Stay tuned.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

25% of the income, 40% of the wealth, in the hands and control of 1% of the population. And the people we are offered as prospects for election to office? Come from that 1%. So whose interests are they going to serve?

I am one of the 99%.

Cloudia said...

can't fool ALL the people ALL the time, so change is coming!


How ya been?




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Daniel Hatch said...

If the top 10 percent hold 90 percent of the wealth and we take away 10 percent of it ... OUR SHARE DOUBLES!