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By Bishop John, June 19, 2012 11:22 am

Ever since the bitter struggle over raising this country’s debt ceiling, there has been an enormous amount of verbiage expressed over the 1% and the 99% as to who possesses the wealth of this country. It is referred to so frequently that it seems to have almost lost its meaning.

It doesn’t matter whether the figures are actually accurate. Do 1% of the people have the vast majority of wealth and the 99% get along with the remainder? Don’t get tied up on the math! There can be no doubt that there is an extraordinary concentration of wealth and therefore power in the hands of a very small portion of the American population. This situation existed throughout the 19th century but began to change when economic and social reforms were enacted in the 1930’s and for nearly half a century there was dramatic improvement in regards to the distribution of wealth in the United States. Regretfully, for the last twenty years we have been sliding back into that 19th century format which leaves such a sizable portion of the country in dire straits, desperately poor and terribly vulnerable while the wealthy 1% increased not only their wealth but the power that naturally comes with that wealth.

Whenever a political and economic system concentrates power and wealth in the hands of a small minority, it guarantees the existence of a permanent underclass whose members live without capacities of decent living, whether it be employment, housing, proper education and health care. In our democratic society, massive programs have been developed to respond to each one of these pressing needs, but the fact is that the concentration of wealth creates these problems and no amount or number of do-good organizations or programs are going to change that until there is a more equitable distribution of our nation’s economic production.

Regretfully, the history of the human family does not reflect many situations where the wealthy segment of a population freely steps forward to share its vast wealth with those who are in need. This usually does not happen at all and when it does, it is often brought about by a violent revolution. I thank God that our country has developed a system where we could develop a more equitable means of sharing the benefits of our extraordinary economic system, but in the summer of 2012, the scene is grim.

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By Bishop John, May 18, 2011 4:21 am

Over the last few months as unrest and rebellion have swept large portions of the Muslim world. The most frequently voiced complaint by the unhappy citizens was the lack of freedom. However, just beneath the volume generated by that complaint was the concern about the distorted economy that allowed the ruling and dictatorial families to amass vast quantities of wealth while the “trickle down” system, so often touted in the United States, has failed to materialize.

Many of us, as we watch the evening news describe the conflict and turmoil in these countries, have found ourselves instinctively sympathizing with hard working citizens whose leaders not only deny them political freedom and political choices, but fail to share the wealth generated in these consistently wealthy countries. I think most of us would share that view.

I wonder if there were many citizens in the United States who were shocked to hear that the dangerous massing of wealth in the hands of a small minority is very much descriptive of the economic reality in the United States of America today! The current issue of Vanity Fair, a magazine I have come to appreciate more and more of late, has a startlingly article entitled, “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%.” In a very detailed article, the author, Joseph Stiglitz, a 2001 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, lays out some really frightening facts. For example, the upper 1% of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation’s income every year. In terms of wealth, rather than income, the top 1% control 40% of the wealth. This figure has represented a dramatic change from a quarter of a century ago.

While there has been a massive movement of wealth and money to this tiny 1% of our population, there has been a serious and steady decline of the income of the middle class. What does this bode for the future?

Stiglitz quotes Tocqueville, following his visit here in the early part of the 19th century, in which he sited a peculiar genius of American society that he called, “self-interest properly understood.” Tocqueville considered this the mark of American pragmatism. Those canny Americans understood a basic fact. Looking out for the other guy isn’t just good for the soul but it is good for business.

Let me quote Stiglitz’s last sentence. The top 1% have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn’t seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99% live. Throughout history this is something that the top 1% eventually do learn. Too late.

In my opinion, thoughtful Americans ought to be very concerned about this terrible imbalance that already exists and is growing worse each year. When that is blended with the reality that money is an ever greater influence on our political system, as manifested by the Supreme Court decision last year that giant corporations are in no way to be hindered from exercising their rights of “free speech” by spending any amount they choose on elections.

Wow!

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