The Curious Case of the 1%

Did you ever wonder where all the money went during the economic downturn to allow the share of income to be greater than 18% to the concentrated 1%? Or even the mysterious idea that American Government helped to produce this astonishing figure.  Hacker and Pierson in, ‘Winner-Take-All Politics’ gives us the set of clues to how the 1%, 0.1%,even the 0.01% have the biggest share of the cookie jar and the unconventional reasons that made it so.

Where did the middle go?

In order for there to be the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, a clear separation between the rich and poor evolved over time. Hacker and Pierson give one main reason; the middle class is no longer in the middle. The 1% have excelled so much that the class system is now ‘us’ and ‘them’ and no sandwich filling in the middle. It begins with the passing of the GI bill. Led by veterans of war, it enabled them to receive four years social benefits. However, what was perceived to be a rise in unions was the very problem that caused its demise. After the 1970's union representation went on the decline, people stopped championing the middle class and this meant less voters motivated to vote, to rally, to advertise and ultimately to vote. It diminished the middle to a small whisper. During this organisational transformation groups such as EMILY’S list emerged, it helped shift the concerns of society to more affluent ones, less about the traditional economic issues but more on women’s rights and environmentalism.  Coupled with this, to finance American politics’ lavish campaigns the rich was crucial. The rich were not supportive of Medicare or social security because that meant increased taxes, but they were advocates of lowering taxes on dividends and capital gains. If society focuses less on the middle and those financing ‘society’s wishes’ also shift focus, the middle fades and no-one questions why.

Did you know?

They say knowledge is power and in this case it certainly is. Voters cannot make clear judgement on what to demand and how to hold politicians accountable because they simply do not know enough. This allows the 1% to slip through cracks. People of America appear to be tolerant of inequality compared to other economies because the fact of the matter is that they THINK inequality is less than it truly is.

9 second Rule

5,4,3,2,1 – cut. The media now lasts approximately 9 seconds on the same individual talking on a topic before they are interrupted. This used to be 40, but as the media has come under increasing pressure to become ‘entertainment’ and the mass public care more about entertainment the number of people informed about the ‘hard news’ is fast diminishing.

There is this and so much more, but ultimately the erosion of the middle has led to the corrosion of society, the 1% gain more zeros in their accounts than ever before, mainly due to American Politics pushing for this change. It may not be a problem if the lower were catching up, but they are not. Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton are the face of American Politics today, to show the true faces of just some of the 1% that we are now becoming aware of and the many more yet to appear for future years to come.