Musings Report 2019-45 11-10-19 Why Do We Celebrate the Super-Wealthy Getting Wealthier?
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Why Do We Celebrate the Super-Wealthy Getting Wealthier?
The one constant across the media-political spectrum is an unblinking focus on the stock market as a barometer of the national economy: every major media outlet from the New York Times to Fox News prominently displays stock market action, and TV news anchors' expressions reflect the emotional connection to the market: if stocks rose, the anchors are smiling and chirpy, and if the market fell then their expressions are downcast and dour.
This cheerleading of the stock market is based on an implicit assumption that the rising stock market raises all boats: a rising market is assumed to reflect an expansion of sales and profits that trickle down to the masses in higher wages, more jobs and rising 401K retirement accounts.
The reality is starkly different: the vast majority of the gains generated by a rising stock market flow to the top 10% households who own 93% of all financial assets, and the gains within the top 10% are highly concentrated in the top .01% of financiers, families and corporate managers who have reaped the vast majority of the past decade of stock market gains.
The 1% grabbed 82% of all wealth created in 2017
America's Richest 1% Now Own As Much Wealth As The Middle And Lower Classes Combined
As my friend Adam T. recently observed: when we cheer the rising stock market, we're celebrating the super-wealthy getting even wealthier. Why are we celebrating an unprecedented widening of wealth inequality that erodes democracy (because the super-wealthy buy political influence) and the social contract?
Rising wealth inequality is extremely destabilizing politically, socially and economically: much of the social unrest breaking out around the world can be traced to the political, social and financial disenfranchisement of the masses by super-wealthy elites.
Economically, soaring inequality concentrates and capital and power in the hands of the few, creating fertile ground for cartels and monopolies who raise costs without generating better services or more jobs. This dynamic is easily visible in the U.S.:
The U.S. Only Pretends to Have Free Markets: From plane tickets to cellphone bills, monopoly power costs American consumers billions of dollars a year.
Politically, the 90% who are losing ground seek political redress, generating tension in a political system dominated by the super-wealthy. As wealth and power are further concentrated in the elite, social mobility declines as labor's share of the economy shrinks.
So in effect, in cheering advances in the stock market that benefit the financial and political elite, we're cheering the destabilization of our economy and society.
At some point, people will awaken to the fact that the soaring stock market is the primary engine of soaring inequality, the erosion of democracy and the destabilization of the social order.
It's not too difficult to predict a political rebellion against the machinery of soaring inequality, which will eventually lead to a reduction in the power of the Federal Reserve and its dependent, Wall Street.
From Left Field
Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected: Researchers are sounding the alarm after an analysis showed that buying a new smartphone consumes as much energy as using an existing phone for an entire decade.
The Dumbing Down of America – By Design
Carl Jung Speaks of Introverted Intuitives (Empaths) (via Betty Lim)
Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism (book)
The US city preparing itself for the collapse of capitalism: From a festival that helps artists trade work for healthcare to a regional micro-currency, Kingston is trying to build an inclusive and self-sufficient local ecosystem.
Reaching that Wile E. Coyote moment.
The End of the Roman Empire Wasn’t That Bad: Maybe the end of the American one won’t be either. -- typical shallow analysis....the collapse of the Western Roman Empire made life harder for millions of people, not just the elite. The emergence of a new social and economic order took a thousand years, and the rights of individuals did not return to Roman standards (for free people, not slaves) until the 1800s, fully 1,300 years after the collapse of Rome.
The worship of billionaires has become our sh**tiest religion
How The Rich Get Richer And The Poor Get Poorer-- the consequences of a rigged system...
America's Richest 1% Now Own As Much Wealth As The Middle And Lower Classes Combined-- the Chattering Class has done very very well, so they assume everyone has done well. They live in upper-middle class bubbles....
The coming death of just about every rock legend-- time waits for no one...
"If you want to change somebody, don't preach to him. Set an example and shut up." Jack LaLanne
Thanks for reading--
charles |
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