This is one of the clearest explanations of the income and wealth disparity in American I have read.
It’s written by Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize Winner in Economics and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors for Bill Clinton…
There is so much here I want to share that I think the best I can do is ask you to click the link at the bottom of this post and read it for yourself.
It’s really worth your time to read this entire article from Vanity Fair. It’s not too long….
It’s no use pretending that what has obviously happened has not in fact happened. The upper 1 percent 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 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent. One response might be to celebrate the ingenuity and drive that brought good fortune to these people, and to contend that a rising tide lifts all boats. That response would be misguided. While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall. For men with only high-school degrees, the decline has been precipitous—12 percent in the last quarter-century alone. All the growth in recent decades—and more—has gone to those at the top. In terms of income equality, America lags behind any country in the old, ossified Europe that President George W. Bush used to deride. Among our closest counterparts are Russia with its oligarchs and Iran. While many of the old centers of inequality in Latin America, such as Brazil, have been striving in recent years, rather successfully, to improve the plight of the poor and reduce gaps in income, America has allowed inequality to grow.
via Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% | Society | Vanity Fair.
Lost in the 21st Century 
Some Thoughts from 37000 Feet
First of all, I’m amazed that I can blog from an airplane 37000 feet in the air while I’m traveling to Phoenix on a business trip. It’s so cool to be able to access the internet in flight, but I’m so thankful they still don’t let people use cell phones. This is as good as it gets while traveling….
I’m sitting here listening to Spencer Lewis on my iPod while I type this…I’ve flown cross-country and around the world with Spencer more times than I can count and he’s never known. Maybe he will now. His music makes it so easy to create my own peaceful, pleasant bubble while surrounded by travel madness.
And travel is madness now. There is no longer anything pleasant about it. Planes are packed solid and less comfortable than the old Greyhound Buses. The airlines are out to get every penny they can from you any way they can. Customer service is non-existent.
And my fellow travelers…
I frequently think of the old Noel Coward song: “Why Do the Wrong People Travel?”
So many of them complain constantly and I don’t know why. Sure, its miserable to travel, but why do people have to wallow in it? Why can’t they just make the best of it and muddle through.
I will offer them a few travel pointers:
That’s it for now. I’m going to put up the laptop and go back to listening to Spencer Lewis on my iPod with my Bose noise reduction headphones and reading my Kindle.
I’ve learned these are all necessities for my frequent travel in today’s world. They help me pretend to be anywhere but where I am. This is one moment I do not need to be in….
I just had to take advantage of the moment and the access to all this new technology.
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Tagged as airlines, Internet, Social Commentary, the south, travel