2 ms·
There is significant income mobility in the US, which is why "the one-percent" discourse consistently fails to resonate with Americans. When 73% of Americans ha
by paisawalla 4y ago
There is significant income mobility in the US, which is why "the one-percent" discourse consistently fails to resonate with Americans. When 73% of Americans have spent at least a year earning a top 20% income [0], focusing on the inherited wealth of others comes off as whining. As long people feel that the pie grows, and that they can move themselves forward, these observations are at best statistical curiosities. They feel very much of a piece with the deboonkers on Twitter who tell the truck owner/operator facing 50% higher gas prices that technically there's no recession.
[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/opinion/sunday/from-rags-to-riches-to-rags.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/opinion/sunday/from-rags-...
- whimsicalism 4y ago73% of Americans being in the top 20% of income earners for one year in their lives does not in any way diminish what I am saying. The median dollar of wealth is inherited by the wealthiest top 5% of families, not earned as income - which your statistic doesn't even address.
- paisawalla 4y agoMy point is that your statistic doesn't mean anything to the everyday reality of normal Americans. If I believe that I can achieve my goals, and the facts suggest that I'm right to do so, why should I care that someone else's parents left them their money? Banging your drum even more loudly doesn't change the fact that you are off beat.