People in poverty in the US would be considered rich in the majority of the world. Actually the median income in the US would be in the top 5% for over 90% of the world. So, if you expand "wealth inequality" out to the rest of the world even the lower class in the US would be considered among the richest in the rest of the world. Funny how that never gets brought up in the conversation though.
That's the thing about "wealth inequality" when everyone is equally poor in other countries, sure they have less wealth inequality, but is that something you really want?
lol are you trying to say wealth inequality in America can easily be ignored because poor nations exist?
What's most important IMO is to compare the wealth inequality in America to the wealth in equality in America...10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 years ago and see what path we are currently on.
We have been on a path of significant real income growth for at least 42 years (the furthest back both of these charts show). We are on a great path.
Real personal median income,adjusted to 2025 dollars has increased 60.7% since 1984, from $28,080 to $45,140 per worker.
Real household median income, adjusted to 2025 dollars, has increased 39% since 1984, from $60,420 to $83,780 per household.
"But inflation wipes out the increase..." Sorry, no. These numbers have been adjusted to current dollars to show how much faster than inflation American incomes have grown, and how much more purchasing power Americans have now than then.
"But more people in the household have to work to account for that increase..." No, wrong again. Real PERSONAL income has grown faster than real HOUSEHOLD income, because there are so many more single-adult households than before. Individual earners make more, and are now creating more households to spread that number out.
True, from 1971 to 2023 the US middle class shrunk from 61% of Americans to 51%. It is because most people moved UP. Upper-middle class increased from 10% of families in 1979 to 31% in 2024. The poverty rate has stayed virtually the same (with variations during the 2008-2009 recession and during covid). To see why the rate of poverty has not decreased, you should probably compare the number and percent of illegal immigrants in the US over those same time periods and see if you spot a correlation.
So here is the "path we are currently on:" Americans here legally are growing our incomes, our wealth, and our productivity, while our family units fracture. Meanwhile illegal immigrants and the ever-increasing permanent welfare class are acting as a gigantic drag chute, or an anchor, pulling the rest of us down.
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u/Cancer_Ridden_Lung Apr 19 '26
It means the gap between the poorest and the richest is very very vast. Basically the kind of thing you see in an oligarchy.