Lilguy

The Destruction of the 'American Dream'

What has made America a land of opportunity throughout most of its history is that the economic pie got larger and larger--and almost everyone gained from that growth.

But that has not always been true. As CautiousInvestor notes above, the Gilded Age was one exception when the pie got larger, but fewer gained from it. And, of course, we have had the intermittent recessions and depressions in which the pie got smaller, usually at the greater expense of the less fortunate--but the more fortunate also suffered some.

Today is different. Over the last decade--as reported in the Census report Mr. Zielenski notes above--through two recessions and a historic "boom" period, the highest 10% income households retained its its real income levels unchanged, while the median national household income has declined by 4.3% and the bottom 10% of households saw their family incomes shrink by 9%.

With the growing divergence in income (flows), one can only expect the growing concentration of wealth (stock) in the top group to continue. If the US government doesn't do something to reverse that income and wealth centralization, our economy will lose any remnants of vigor and growth it may have and, ultimately, create the conditions for total distrust of government and civil unrest.

It is not a trend that want might children and grandchildren to experience. I thought Mr. Obama might be part of the answer to that problem, but he sold out so fast to the interests of the wealthy in propping up Wall Street and the wealthy, I am not at all optimistic for our country's economic and political future.