Wealth Inequality in the United States

This is a great video on the inequality of wealth distribution in the United States. I already knew that the distribution of wealth wasn’t nearly what most people thought it was or even thought it should be — I have been talking to Ruurd about this for years now. Of course, when we were talking about it, my friends considered me a conspiracy theorist (whenever I mentioned the Rothschilds, for instance) and they even made me very stylish tin foil hats to rub their opinion of my convictions in. And while I loved them for making me the hats, it left a bad taste in my mouth that they didn’t even want to discuss it or even consider the possibility that matters weren’t as they thought they were.

This video hammers home the reality of wealth distribution in the United States in all its gorgeous, infographical glory. It also should finally end the cheerleading that regularly occurs when people discuss the concepts of “exceptionalism” and “meritocracy” in the United States. Obviously, those concepts haven’t been the reality for a long time, if they ever were to begin with. In fact, I believe it’s been part of the propaganda to sell this absolutely grotesque, piece of shit society to us, all over the world, not just in the United States.

Unfortunately, while it seems that according to this video 92% of the American population thinks the distribution should be more fair, those 92% of the peopl can’t seem to get themselves organised enough to actually do something about it. Secretly, everyone still believes that one day they will make it into the top 10% or 20%, to make it big on the stock market, win the lottery, get discovered in Hollywood, invent the new Facebook, be the face of Victoria’s Secret, land a record contract, etc.

Exceptionalism has taught them that they are special and can achieve great things. Meritocracy has taught them that wanting it and working hard will be enough to achieve those great things. It’s a fucking lie. The average IQ is 100 and there’s a bigger than large dose of luck involved. If that sounds bitter, it’s not; I tend to find that I’m much happier living my life with this belief than those people who are out chasing that fantasy.

2 comments on “Wealth Inequality in the United States

  1. Jim

    Unless you are talking about different friends, you are conflating separate conversations. We gave you the hats because of some of the discussions on the transit cards. I have been very aware of the wealth inequality here, and how it’s gotten worse.

    This is an excellent video, and does a great job of clearly and succinctly showing the problem. The harder part is figuring out how to fix it, though.

    1. DV8 Post author

      You may very well be right, but I was more talking about how I take (took) a lot of shit for being very suspicious of a lot of things, like the ability to abuse transit cards by authorities, or the idea that the wealth of the world lies in the hands of a few families.

      Fixing it seems trivially simple as long as you can motivate the 92% and get them to elect some leaders and not squat in Zuccotti park. :)

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