Percentile Wealth in $ % of total wealth
99% $10,203,700 34.0%
95% $1,441,200 57.4%
90% $623,500 68.8%
80% $344,900 84.6%
60% $161,300
40% $61,000
20% $11,000
1% -$8,900
Friday, October 2, 2009
Who Rules America: Concentration of Weath in the US
Examining the charts below (click on them for full view), what explains the growing concentration of wealth among members of the upper class? Do you feel that this distribution of wealth is justified? why or why not? After reading "Who Rules America" in your reader, what perspective does Domhoff offer? What, if anything, should be done about these trends?
Percentile Wealth in $ % of total wealth
99% $10,203,700 34.0%
95% $1,441,200 57.4%
90% $623,500 68.8%
80% $344,900 84.6%
60% $161,300
40% $61,000
20% $11,000
1% -$8,900
Percentile Wealth in $ % of total wealth
99% $10,203,700 34.0%
95% $1,441,200 57.4%
90% $623,500 68.8%
80% $344,900 84.6%
60% $161,300
40% $61,000
20% $11,000
1% -$8,900
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It seems to me that the concentation of wealth for the upper class has to do with the percentage of shares that each wealthy household has. I feel that the more wealthy households have money comming in from different areas such as the stock market, and lower income familys just seem to have the money they make. Domhoff talks about the differences between these groups and how one group may never know what the other group goes through. I personally think that, no one can make a group of people become wealthy after being in a pit of poverty. I think the society works together and the income of people all rise and fall together.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jessica. Looking at the second to last graph and seeing that 400 Americans are as wealthy as the rest of America combined is insane. there are extreme class differentiations in America. We go from complete poverty to extremely wealthy. We are seen as a place that dreams can happen, the American dream, but why is the percent of poverty rising and the middle class becoming smaller.
ReplyDeleteLike what Jessica said, those in the upper class tend to be having income coming from numerous sources, stocks, jobs, companies etc. This is not a realistic truth for those with a lesser income.
In the reading Domhoff really suggests that White, Anglo-Saxan (WASPs), Protestants control much over corporate America. The wealth concentration has been steady over the last century, indicating that the accumulation of wealth really seems to remain within these families. I think it was really interesting how Domhoff pointed out that America is known as the land of all opportunities, yet when we look at statistics you will most likely stay in the same class you were born into. Selective education, breeding and even mingling is practiced among the upper class. Domhoff calls this "prepping for power", to continue on the legacy of the elite and wealthy. The wealthy probably make more money in interest in weeks than many Americans make in a year. Its a crazy notion, and I would be interested in knowing any possible solutions to the inequality of the distribution of wealth in America.
ReplyDeleteI think that the numbers and charts shown are astonishing! It is crazy that such a small group of people from society own that much of the total wealth. I think the wealth is steadly growning in this particular group because no one else is making enough money to climb the ladder to where those people are. How are we suppose to make more money when those people already own it? Most times to fall into this kind of wealth or earning someone first much die or you would have to inherite a large portion of a company or sum of money to see this kind of money and that just does not happen very often. I do not think that this distribution of wealth is justifiable. Yes the people at the top have most likely worked their way up to the position they are in but most times CEO's and people of high power are just makely sickly amounts of money while those who are working for them probably only see about 1/50th of what they are making. These people are pretty much the ones keeping the business running smoothly but in most cases corporations do not feel the need to reward them with higher pay. Domhoff tells us that it is institutions that underlie the upper class that keep the wealthy and elite at the top. They have made little changes over generations.
ReplyDeleteLooking at these figures just makes me think of Africa (and other countries), and how we think we're so much better than them. They have problems with their few elite having control of the majority, while the larger mass of middle class have less say. But we are the same way, and if our elite would share with those who have less, than the United States would be a better place.
ReplyDeleteI think the main reason that only the few elite own almost all of America's wealth is because of our competetive capatalistic economy. People have to be born lucky in order to become extremely rich like the elite are. The salaries they make come from jobs that they either already had the connections for or went to some of the best and most expensive colleges they could to obtain. That sort of lifestyle is impossible for a family living off of minimum wage as they are simply struggling to keep the rent paid and provide food for their family. Lower class families can't afford the prerequisites that would allow their children to become as rich as the upper class. So as the rich continue to make more money and become richer, the poor do the opposite and continue struggling.
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