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dreamdancer

The Other 99 Percent: How the U.S. Compares

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interesting...

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The other 99 percent do far worse in the United States than in any other developed country. The other 99 percent take home just 82.6 percent of America’s personal income. In the United States the share of the other 99 percent has been falling for decades.

The other 99 percent share of total income reached a high of 92.3 percent in 1973. Back then, U.S. income distribution looked the same as it does in continental Europe today. It fell slightly in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the mid-1980s it was still over 90 percent. Then the slide began.

The share of the other 99 percent's income fell from 90.9 percent to 83.5 percent between 1986 and 2000. It reached its lowest point at the height of the 2000s boom, just before the global financial crisis. By 2007, the income share of the other 99 percent had declined to just 81.7 percent.

In other words, between the 1970s and the 2000s the United States went from looking like a European country to looking like an African country. Data are available for very few poor countries, but even in South Africa the income share of the other 99 percent is higher than it is in the United States.

The only developed country that comes close to the United States in the decimation of its other 99 percent is the United Kingdom. In the UK, the other 99 percent take in 85.8 percent of total income, down from 90.2 percent in 1990, the earliest year with data are available. Surely it’s no coincidence that some of the biggest Occupy encampments have been in New York and London.



http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/05-7
stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

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interesting...

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The other 99 percent do far worse in the United States than in any other developed country. The other 99 percent take home just 82.6 percent of Americas personal income. In the United States the share of the other 99 percent has been falling for decades.



http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/05-7



They're doing great.

97.7% of Americans living in poverty have a color TV and 78.3% have air conditioning. When I visited poor towns in Mexico they didn't have electricity, windows with glass in them, or safe water to drink

The bottom 90% get a better deal on income tax than they do in the rest of the OECD 24, with America having the most progressive income tax system (ratio of the top decile's income tax burden to income share) out of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, The Slovak Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, and The United Kingdom.

The fact that some guy working on Sand Hill Road makes 10X my salary has little to do with whether I have enough to support my family. If the bottom 99% rose up and took 100% of the top 1%'s earnings we'd only have 20% more which would hardly be life changing especially after prices rose to match purchasing power.

OTOH, the government giving special treatment to key industries (buying mortgages, making special bankruptcy provisions for student loans, exempting the health care industry from anti-trust laws) has a huge effect on how much of our paychecks we have left over. Real home prices doubling, the cost of education increasing at 4X the rate of inflation, etc. do that.

The whole 99 vs 1 thing is a tiresome distraction from those real issues.

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What he said. Our poor may not be better off in some ways than the poor in parts of Europe, Australia and NZ (Japan?), but they're way better off than in much of the rest of the world.

I don't resent the guy making 1000 times what I did. But when unemployment is what it is, I kind of resent rich people "tightening their belts" at the expense of "the little people." That's more my problem than theirs, though.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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what we get with that much societal inequality is a set of very fast drivers who look at workers as 'drones' and think they own the road...

until they crash - and the rest of society has to clean up the mess.

sometimes a stitch in time...
stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

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>what we get with that much societal inequality is a set of very fast drivers who look
> at workers as 'drones' and think they own the road...

Most of the very fast drivers I know are younger guys who have very little money but think the faster they go, the cooler they are.

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>what we get with that much societal inequality is a set of very fast drivers who look
> at workers as 'drones' and think they own the road...

Most of the very fast drivers I know are younger guys who have very little money but think the faster they go, the cooler they are.



and self involved soccer moms - digging around in their purses

and real estate agents - digging around in their back seat

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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>what we get with that much societal inequality is a set of very fast drivers who look
> at workers as 'drones' and think they own the road...

Most of the very fast drivers I know are younger guys who have very little money but think the faster they go, the cooler they are.



Must be differenct out West

Most of the crazy fast drivers here in the MidWest are girls under the age of 19 [:/]
"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

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>what we get with that much societal inequality is a set of very fast drivers who look
> at workers as 'drones' and think they own the road...

Most of the very fast drivers I know are younger guys who have very little money but think the faster they go, the cooler they are.



Around here, they think the louder their stereo is, the cooler they are.

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Is this the only news source you use? Bias, Bias, Bias...

For the record, I use AP, FOX, Guardian UK, CNN, and even Al Jazeera America on occasion...

CommonDelusions sounds like The Onion...



actually, this source wasn't his favorite in the past when he was a repost whore for Alternut. That one lets anyone (provided they meet minimum standards of political obedience) to publish their own rants.

This particular citation he gave was a bit weak on the argument- it didn't compare our 99% to the 99% in England or elsewhere, it was just a wealth distribution argument.

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>what we get with that much societal inequality is a set of very fast drivers who look
> at workers as 'drones' and think they own the road...

Most of the very fast drivers I know are younger guys who have very little money but think the faster they go, the cooler they are.



Around here, they think the louder their stereo is, the cooler they are.



And, I suspect one could go quickly to Bonfire and figure out which skydivers are reckless and stupid drivers - they like to brag about it there. And there's no such thing as a rich skydiver,,,,,,so QED

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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>what we get with that much societal inequality is a set of very fast drivers who look
> at workers as 'drones' and think they own the road...

Most of the very fast drivers I know are younger guys who have very little money but think the faster they go, the cooler they are.



It's all about bein' cool! :D


Chuck

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>what we get with that much societal inequality is a set of very fast drivers who look
> at workers as 'drones' and think they own the road...

Most of the very fast drivers I know are younger guys who have very little money but think the faster they go, the cooler they are.



It's all about bein' cool! :D


Chuck



Yeah-just ask James Dean, Princess Di, and Sam Kinnison-all ice cold from driving fast...

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what we get with that much societal inequality is a set of very fast drivers who look at workers as 'drones' and think they own the road...

until they crash - and the rest of society has to clean up the mess.

sometimes a stitch in time...



Yes. Take a look at Eurozone economies right now. They are doing swimmingly well, eh? How about Iceland? Ireland? Spain? Italy? Greece? Belgium?

Crashing the economy? Who is left cleaning up the mess? I mean, sweet Jesus! It ain't the rich that left those deficits. It's the "99%" sucking the gravy train dry, isn't it?

Edit: take a look at Greece. They all KNOW that they are crashing and decided, fuck it, if they are going down they'll take everyone with them. (Of course, this may be a long term GOOD thing. Their failed system cannot be bailed out to continue until the next bailout. They'll have no choice but to face extreme misery for a while).


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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>what we get with that much societal inequality is a set of very fast drivers who look
> at workers as 'drones' and think they own the road...

Most of the very fast drivers I know are younger guys who have very little money but think the faster they go, the cooler they are.



It's all about bein' cool! :D


Chuck



Yeah-just ask James Dean, Princess Di, and Sam Kinnison-all ice cold from driving fast...


...and the beat goes-on!


Chuck

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