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Subscribe to RSSAmerica has always prided itself on being the type of place where anyone with enough determination can climb the economic ladder.
But these days, many Americans seem to be growing frustrated by the gap between those who are wealthy and those who are not.
Our most popular Life Inc. post this week looked at a Pew study showing that most Americans see a strong or very strong conflict between rich and poor Americans. That perception has increased significantly over the past couple years, as the country has struggled to overcome the effects of the Great Recession.
Many readers have clearly been angered by what they see as a growing disparity.
“The poor fight the wars and work the jobs. The rich make money off of those endeavors. Job creators (yeah right),” one reader wrote.
But others saw the conflict as more of a sign of difficult times.
“The rich attack the poor for being lazy and the poor attack the rich for being greedy. The haves & have-nots always battle in tough times,” another reader wrote.
If the weak economy has feeling more poor than rich, then chances are the holidays were especially tough. Another popular post this week looked at smart ways to dig out of that holiday debt.
The post prompted a lively discussion on how to avoid getting into debt in the first place.
“Your employer gives you only two opportunities each year to bring the entire family together: Thanksgiving and Christmas. Don't ruin it by paying off the credit card bills for the rest of the year,” one reader wrote.
Hindsight is always 20-20, whether you’re looking at your post-holiday credit card bill or considering whether you really should have friended your boss on Facebook and then posted those photos of your wild New Year’s Eve bash.
Another popular Life Inc. post this week looked at how the youngest members of the workforce may be inadvertently oversharingwith their co-workers on Facebook, to the possible detriment of their career.
Some people said they had learned to be careful on Facebook, by keeping their boss and co-workers from seeing their posts. Others argued that people should have learned by now.
“Facebook, facebook. At this point, it isn't like people don't know the bad things that can happen to them. It is that they don't care until they've paid the price,” one reader wrote.
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The wealthy have politicians to speak for them and do their bidding . The middle class is on their own .
It's too easy to get on unemployment, and it's even harder to get off of it .....it's adictive!
Yeah, keep poking the poor with these articles. They forget that the poor also have guns and are in great numbers.
and the poor have no clue how to make money.
Don't be trollish. Why make money when we can just shoot the rich? If I were to start Alphabetically, guess what number you'd be?
The truth of the matter is that anyone can come up with the next Iphone or whatever, but it take that first Initial Capital Investment to get things moving. Ever worked with one of those legalized loan sharks? They usually want majority ownership of YOUR company. It doesn't take an intelligent person to know that is Morally wrong, but completely legal.
Most people have no cluewho the rich are. most millionaires income are 70k-250k and they are very frugal
Unfortunately, being a millionaire today does not buy you much today. With interest rates and dividends so low, good luck on living on that. A lot of current retirees are millionaires but they get the bulk of their income from Social Security and/or pensions.
In order to be independently wealthy, you have to be a multi-milionaire and only 2-3% of households fit into that bucket.
Given the current job situation, the cost of the national debt, the state of our infrastructure and the cost of the Boomer retirements, it seems unlikely that the next generation, unless they inherited wealth, will be able to attain financial independence.
You cannot build policy, an economy and a country on what works for 2% of the population. That's just plain stupid.
Where do you get your information? I could live for 15 years on that and that is including renting not owning a house and that is at our currant expenses with two kids.
I'm amazed this country hasn't imploded on itself yet. There has always been class warfare, but not because they were rich, but because they were Kings, Despots, Emporers, etc. who weilded so much power and control over lives of the poor through brute force!
Then came the Era of Enlightenment (aka Liberalism), a period where those like John Locke and others believed the People should have more control, freedoms and liberty over their lives. This ideology is what sparked the American Revolution against King George II and the British India Tea Company who were using these profits (taxes) to benefit themselves while making the Colonists toil and struggle for it.
After the Revolution up to the Civil War, earlier Americans were very acute to the dangers of unconstrained governments and corporations doing its bidding, so they wrapped them both up tight with the US Constitution and very strict Corporate Charters to limit these abuses. Back then a business owner couldn't own stock in another company; was fully liable for all losses and crimes; couldn't donate to any political causes; and had to re-apply to do business annually/bi-annually (depending on the State) at which point it could be rejected if it was no longer conducting business in the best interest of the communitie(s) it served.
For quite awhile the Federal Courts and States through the People were able keep it this way, like electing Andrew Jackson to take down the Banksters he called "A Den of Thieves" by successfully stripping the Charters of over a dozen federal and state banks who were profitting (some call it skimming) off the taxpayers. Now that is no longer the case, whereas corporations have far more rights and immunities than a US citizens does!
Today, you can't even tell the difference between a politician or a corporation as they're often one in the same. There was a time proffiting off the labor of another was called slavery or inservitude, but now its called a Business Model! I understand one of the benefits of owning a company is to make a living (or profit), just like anyone else who goes to work does---but it's the households who create the income of this country, and when a few are absconding with all the income produced by households its going to slow down any economy...it's not rocket science!
America really needs to re-look at how companies are operating and if they are truly in it for the right reasons...simply to get rich off the labor of others, or provide legitimate goods or services to the public that will benefit or enhance their communities?
we need to quit electing the leaders that we do and elect some who want to serve their country and cut out this stupid rule once elected a paycheck for life. also make all lobbyist understand if you get caught doing something illegal then you and that other person will get shot.
if we don't put our foot down people its gonna get real bad and i do mean bad. the music and movie people already are showing us that now.
America of yesteryear consisted of the Rich and Poor attending church together.
As our population has grown, and one thing has consistently not grown in comparison is church membership.
Laugh, complain, whine, cuss, and deny all you want, but when people are disconnected from God and community, they feel no responsibility to either.
The community of our past centered around the church, which was replaced with social organizations.
Our social organizations are now being replaced with FACEBOOK!
When humans no longer interact with common desires, they then focus solely on themselves.
Technology isn't always a good thing!
Is it really Rich vs. Poor? Or more like the rich who use their power and money to corrupt the system vs. everyone else?
The wealth gap never was an issue until the democrats and Obama made it an issue. There has always been haves and haves not. If one is wealthy its because of their hard work, education, knowledge or it was inherited, if your poor its just the opposite. There are those who are not wealthy but are not poor, that me. I made who I am because of me, no one else. I could be poor if I allow it, but I won't. Everyone is born in this world with the same opportunities, its up to each one of use to seek and take advantage of those opprotunites as they arise. Someone once told me, "If its to be, its up to me". I took those words and live my life by them. I know I will never be wealthy because I will not allow myself to be, but I also know I will not be poor because of the same reason.
Well! This will all IMPLODE when PEOPLE WANT BALANCE and TRUE HONESTY back in our Society.
THE RED SUITS and THEIR PITCH FORKS with all the DECEPTION have got to go back to HELL. Our Government is riddled and so has Corporate Boards of Companies.
GOD has a tough fight ahead to ELIMINATE all the WRONG in this COUNTRY !!!!