Statistics released today by the US Census Bureau report that the top 20 percent of Americans received 49.4% of all income, compared with 3.4% made by the lower 20 percent. The ratio of 14.5 to 1 was an increase from 13.6 to 1 just two years ago in 2008. The income gap between the rich and the poor in the United States has grown to its largest margin ever.
And yet, many people in lower-income brackets still support Republican politicians who want to increase the divide even farther. There is a stark divide between Democrats and Republicans over whether to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy.
We hope that, as we increase our discussions of hierarchies in the United States, we will break out of our programming to listen to the people on top who are making decisions that benefit themselves. When statistics paint such a clear picture, we will not vote to channel our resources to the top.
