You’ve heard it since the day you where born.

“You can be whatever you want. If you work hard, you will be successful in anything you choose. Even if you start out poor.”

And that has been the way millions of Americans believe life is in the US, despite a whole lot of evidence to otherwise. We have one of the largest gaps between rich and poor for a developed nation, and the quality of living is on its way down for the middle class. Despite all of this, us Americans refuse to believe that we can’t make it on our own.

Then take this quote from the Economist:

Thirty years ago the average real annual compensation of the top 100 chief executives was $1.3m: 39 times the pay of the average worker. Today it is $37.5m: over 1,000 times the pay of the average worker. In 2001 the top 1% of households earned 20% of all income and held 33.4% of all net worth. Not since pre-Depression days has the top 1% taken such a big whack.

Has the American Meritocracy Died?

It’s quite possible it has. Because the people who amass these great fortunes do no give them back to the population which gave them their fortunes.

Oh wait, you say, what about Bill and Melinda Gates, or Warren Buffet? Well, the majority of their net worth isn’t going to the people who gave them their incredible wealth. Instead it’s mostly going to the much poorer and underdeveloped countries. Billions of dollars in value directly to developing countries. Isn’t this what we always wanted?

Yes and no.

Yes it is what we wanted because millions of people desperately need this help. It isn’t what we wanted because this help shouldn’t be coming from private citizens with enourmous power. Every year millions are given to corporate interests in the US in sweetheart deals. Because the large companies are the only ones with the resources to lobby their interests, they end up being the only ones getting their agendas served. And the people who control the companies control the future of America more so than any other American.

And that’s where Joe American suffers. The origional idea of equal votes, equal importance, equal opportunity is dead. The only people who get proper legal representation are the ones who can afford it. The same goes for education, health care, housing, and so on down the line.

What do you think is the solution? How do we reverse the trend?

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