Issues We Face in 2015 - Income Inequality

"Income inequality refers to the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population. In the United States, income inequality, or the gap between the rich and everyone else, has been growing markedly, by every major statistical measure, for some 30 years."  http://inequality.org/income-inequality/

How does this trend impact our society? There have always been rich and poor. If we could somehow re-distribute all the money equally, how long before we'd be back to rich and poor again? But, the problem now is that the entire system is rigged to make it very easy for the rich to get richer and very likely that the poor will get poorer. This inequality divides the races and separates people within races. It makes it harder for poor people to get an education and to break out of poverty. And it makes it easier for the rich to get everything they want. Here's a link that a friend shared with me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM&feature=youtu.be

If you take about 6 minutes to watch this, it will blow your mind. Then realize that it was done in 2012!  

It's time we wake up! We are like the proverbial frog, sitting in our warm tub, getting cooked before we realize what's happening. I saw this headline and article posted recently on Facebook:  

80 percent of U.S. adults face near-poverty, unemployment, survey finds  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/80-percent-of-us-adults-face-near-poverty-unemployment-survey-

I remember thinking at the time, "Oh, no! That has to be wrong!" Yet, when I research it, I find that the data supports it. How can this be happening in our country? What can we do about it? Well, the first thing we must do is WAKE THE HELL UP! and WAKE UP OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS!

After we WAKE UP, we ORGANIZE:  http://inequality.org/t/organizing/ 

We EDUCATE ourselves.  http://inequality.org/resources/  http://www.pewresearch.org/topics/income-inequality/ 

and we start to FIX the problem:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/preeti-vissa/fixing-income-inequality_b_5001075.html

And we don't fix it by teaching poor people how to live on less! That's ridiculous! Yet, I saw many articles that suggested just that.  A Forbes article says the have nots must become the do somethings!

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/maurapennington/2013/03/08/to-fix-income-inequality-the-have-nots-must-become-the-do-somethings/

The Atlantic Monthly says to fix America's wealth inequality, just teach thrift, frugality, and savings!!! 

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/03/how-to-fix-americas-wealth-inequality-teach-americans-to-be-cheap/273940/

The following article presents views that I would categorize as representing the Left and Right political views on income inequality and how to fix it or whether it can or should be fixed.  http://financesonline.com/income-inequality-views-solutions-from-experts/

If you believe it is morally wrong for wealth to be so unfairly distributed and that this unfairness is at the root of many social issues our country faces; then, I strongly urge you to become politically active this year. I believe we MUST elect a Democratic president and return the Senate to Democratic leadership. We must gain seats in the House and in state legislatures across this land. Will you do something about it? Start locally, then in your state, and finally at the National level. Support Democrats and demand action.