The disparity of wealth in the United States has grown substantially over the past 25 years.  In 1989, the poorest 50% of the US held a combined $1 Trillion in assets.  The top 10% held $20 Trillion.  This means, on average the top 10% held 100 times more wealth than the average in the bottom 50%.  In 2014, the bottom 50% still held $1 Trillion in assets, while the wealth of the top 10% had grown to $51 Trillion!  This brings average wealthy person to 250 times the wealth of the average poor person.  How can we address this travesty?  The solution may require a genuine revolution.

In the 1980s, 50% of households had air conditioning (presumably mostly the wealthiest 50%).  Today it is something like 85%.  In the 1980s, a telephone was attached to the wall of your house, and you couldn’t afford to call anyone outside of the town you lived in.  Now  92% of Americans own a smart phone, and don’t think twice about calling anywhere in the US.  Let’s go back a little further in time.  In 1964, a 21″ color TV cost $750.  Adjusted for inflation, that was a whopping $5,800.  For roughly half the real-dollar price ($369), we can get a 40″ 1080p Smart TV in 2017.  We drive better cars, live in bigger houses, have more toys.  All of us.  If you compare the material goods owned by the bottom 50% of Americans in the 1980s to the material goods of the bottom 50% of Americans today, it’s no contest.

Yes, the rich have gotten richer. We could even say richerer – in dollar terms, the rich have grown richer faster than the poor have.  Even so, the poor have gained a great deal more than the rich.  Compare what the wealthy have to show for their gains, and what the poor have to show for their gains.  The rich may have goldener toilets seats, and platinumer watches.  In the 80s, the rich could afford air conditioning in their houses.  Now the poor can, too.  In the 80s, the rich could afford to talk long distance on the phone.  Now the poor can too.  The rich could always afford the best of whatever was available in the world.  The poor will never be able to have the best of everything.  Still, the poor today have luxuries today that even the rich of their grandparents generation could not have dream of.

For those who genuinely believe that we must eliminate wealth inequality, they might start by comparing their own personal wealth to the average Malawian wealth.  Only 2% of Americans qualify as “poor” on the global scale.    There are many countries around the world with large populations of people who have trouble getting enough food.  People who don’t own a pair of shoes.  People who don’t have TVs or air conditioning.  Anyone who is concerned about wealth inequality can certainly see that the wealth disparity in the US is inconsequential when compared to the disparity between their own personal wealth and that of the entire population of the third world.  Even the poor in America can afford to give some of what they have to the far poorer people in many foreign nations.

This is the revolution we need: to stop comparing the poor to the rich, to stop with the class warfare, to stop with the bitter jealousy.  The rich get richer, and the poor get richer, too.

Join the revolution!  Rejoice over the amazing advances in the economy that have made you wealthier than your forebears could have dreamed.