Published: July 07, 2008 01:24 pm            

Addressing inequality

All the world wants balance, from checkbook to DUI suspect trying to walk a straight line. The various American economic classes and their money are balanced, but in an unfortunate ratio: 250 people have $4 each — four people have $250 each. Each totals $1,000; multiply by millions, more poor people are becoming poorer and more rich people are getting richer. The gap (chasm?) widens each year.

America’s richest 1 percent currently hold wealth worth $16.8 trillion, 2 trillion more than the bottom 90 percent of the population. Someone earning $10 hourly would need to labor 10,000 years to earn the same pocketed by one of the 400 richest in the land in 2007.

The highest paid individual of a hedge fund earned $3.7 billion in 2007. A security guard at the hedge fund building makes $12.50 per hour, with no union or health care.

This guard, an Army veteran who served in Iraq for two years, attends college under the G.I. Bill — hopes to become a lawyer. He sees the military as the way to have a career, so he’s joined the National Guard. He has learned he will be sent back to Iraq next year.

At his present salary, the guard would need to work for 20-plus years to earn as much as the hedge fund CEO makes in one hour.

America’s 400 highest paid taxpayers in 2005 collected, after adjusting for inflation, 18 times more income than those in 1955.

The average income of America’s top five military leaders and the top five members of Congress earn a bit less than $1 million. The top five university presidents earn more than $5 million.

Earned by each of the top five corporate CEOs; 290 times that of military or congressional people, and 60 times that of university presidents. Pay of each of the top five hedge fund managers is 254 times that of university presidents, and almost 13,000 times of the earnings of top people in the military or Congress.

The American economy is lagging, stockholders watch their money evaporate, the housing market is in free fall, companies down-size, and food and fuel prices are soaring. But CEOs get raises — they aren’t winning, but they get rewarded, just as winning coaches.

The General Motors Corp. announced this month the closing of four truck plants, and posted a $39 billion loss in 2007 — its stock dropped 19 percent. Yet the CEO received a 64 percent pay increase to $15.7 million.

The 10 best paid CEOs made more than one-half billion last year while one-half of their companies’ profits shrank dramatically.

Barbara Ehrenreich, in her latest book, “This Land Is Their Land: Notes From A Divided Nation,” says, “A general rule for today; if a place is truly beautiful, you can’t afford to be there.”

Ehrenreich says the rich can bid up the price of goods and services which ordinary people also need or would like to have. Among these, housing, artworks, increasing price of admissions and college tuition. Bleachers in stadiums are cleared to make way for skybox suites. As most Oklahomans know, football fans must buy season tickets in order to attend the OSU-OU Bedlam game.

Ehrenreich says the Pew Research Center finds that 50 percent of people earning $150,000 income yearly describe themselves as very happy, compared to only 23 percent of those earning $20,000 are happy, happy.

Woody Guthrie’s song goes, “This land is my land, this land is your land, from California to the New York island, from the redwood forest, to the Gulf Stream waters … ” That was then, this is now — it all depends on …

Will all the people elected in November make an effort to change the rich-poor inequality?

Cecil Acuff is a Perkins resident.

        

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