USA - The Collapse of the Middle Class

verfasst von Tierfreund, 06.09.2003, 15:41

-->USA - The Collapse of the Middle Class

9/4/03

A BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY
by Rep. Bernie Sanders

The corporate media doesn't talk about it much, but the United States is rapidly on its way to becoming three separate nations.

First, there are a small number of incredibly wealthy people who own and control more and more of our country. Second, there is a shrinking middle class in which ordinary people are, in most instances, working longer hours for lower wages and benefits. Third, an increasing number of Americans are living in abject poverty -- going hungry and sleeping out on the streets.

There has always been a wealthy elite in this country, and there has always been a gap between the rich and the poor. But the disparities in wealth and income that currently exist in this country have not been seen in over a hundred years.

Today, the richest 1 percent own more wealth than the bottom 95 percent, and the CEOs of large corporations earn more than 500 times what their average employees make. The nation's 13,000 wealthiest families, 1/100th of one percent of the population, receive almost as much income as the poorest 20 million families in America.......... But understanding the pain and anxiety of the middle class requires going beyond the unemployment numbers.

There are tens of millions of fully employed Americans who today earn, in inflation adjusted-dollars, less money than they received 30 years ago. In 1973, private-sector workers in the United States were paid on average $9.08 an hour.

Today, in real wages, they are paid $8.33 per hour -- more than 8 percent lower. Manufacturing jobs that once paid a living wage are now being done in China, Mexico and other low-wage countries as corporate America ships its plants abroad.

With Wal-Mart replacing General Motors as our largest employer, many workers in the service economy not only earn low wages but also receive minimal benefits. Further, as the cost of health insurance and prescription drugs soar, more and more employers are forcing workers to assume a greater percentage of their health care costs. It is not uncommon now that increases in health care costs surpass the wage increases that workers receive -- leaving them even further behind. With the support of the Bush Administration many companies are also reducing the pensions they promised to their older workers -- threatening the retirement security of millions of Americans..........

Kommentar: Ähnlichkeiten zur BRDDR sind sicher rein zufällig

Grüße

Tierfreund

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gesamter Thread:

• USA - Land der Reichen - Wal Buchenberg, 06.09.2003, 15:24
  • USA - The Collapse of the Middle Class - Tierfreund, 06.09.2003, 15:41
  • Re: eigenartig, dass die weise Führung der chinesischen KP noch keine - kingsolomon, 06.09.2003, 16:10
    • Re: kingsalomo, für Dich etwas Schädelkunde - Bob, 06.09.2003, 20:19
      • Und hier was für dich, Bobby, zur Aktualisierung der Phrenologie! (mL) - Pega53, 06.09.2003, 23:34