- The statistic on the U.S wealth disparity that I found the most shocking was “The top 1 percent own between 40 and 50 percent of the nation’s total wealth… more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent” (Parenti 29). I found it shocking as the top 1 percent are capitalists, who don’t actually work for their wealth. A majority of their wealth is created by the bottom 90 percent of workers in the U.S. And it’s not as if this hard work that the working class puts in to generate the growing wealth of the capitalist is paying off. Later in the reading Parenti states another shocking statistic that backs my previous statement, “The real income earned by the bottom 90 percent fell by 7 percent [in the last three decades]” (Parenti 31).
- An implication that can come from a society that has such large disparities in the wealth is rising prices that are more easily manipulatable. If a majority of society owns less and less wealth, their buying power is stunted, which corporations still need to remain competitive in their industries. If a companies’ sales drop, the capitalist won’t lower prices but rather raise them in order to compensate for the loss. As productivity and profits rise, as they have in the U.S, wages and salaries have not raised at the same rate. This is an example of how we see the wealth disparity affect our society today.
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