3 ms·
> But it is a stubborn mathematical fact that, at any given time, the top fifth of the income distribution can accommodate only 20 percent of the population. Re
by skookumchuck 8y ago
> But it is a stubborn mathematical fact that, at any given time, the top fifth of the income distribution can accommodate only 20 percent of the population. Relative intergenerational mobility is necessarily a zero-sum game. For one person to move up the ladder, somebody else must move down.
The author is hung up on the idea that there will always be a bottom 20% and an top 20%. Might as well bay at the moon.
- Pfhreak 8y agoI disagree with that assessment. You are, in my opinion, being overly reductive. The author is recognizing that there is a power disparity between different income brackets, and that power disparity is used to limit upward mobility. No wealthy family wants their children to be less successful than they were, and they can invest much more time and resources into ensuring their children are successful than the bracket below them. This is at odds with the 'American Dream' that's sold to many of us -- that this is a country of limitless economic mobility if you just put in the elbow grease.
- skookumchuck 8y agoDefining the lowest quintile as poor and then complaining that there's no way to escape the math is ridiculous.