8 votes

The 9.9 percent is the new American aristocracy

4 comments

  1. [2]
    Comment deleted by author
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    1. danjac
      Link Parent
      Tying health insurance - and hence the well-being and even life of yourself and your family - to your job sounds very much like serfdom in all but name. Minus the duty and obligation your master...

      Tying health insurance - and hence the well-being and even life of yourself and your family - to your job sounds very much like serfdom in all but name. Minus the duty and obligation your master had towards you in actual medieval serfdom; the knight couldn't just "fire" his peasants and the Church admonished him to look after the widows and orphans - unlike modern American Neo-Calvinism (not sure if it counts as "Christianity" in any traditional sense) which blames the poor for their own ills.

      2 votes
  2. sqew
    Link
    Wow. That's an interesting article, to say the least. I've never really seen such a deep look at American inequality from a standpoint of the upper 9.9% being the major cause; discussion usually...

    Wow. That's an interesting article, to say the least. I've never really seen such a deep look at American inequality from a standpoint of the upper 9.9% being the major cause; discussion usually seems to drift towards the 0.1%.

    I'd really love to see more discussion about education going on in the US. The stratification between public schools in poorer areas, public schools in wealthy areas, and private schools truly scares me. As the article says, we are essentially leaving 90% of our kids behind in a way that they have almost no chance of climbing out of. Something needs to be done about education at all levels, from ensuring that kids in public schools learn what they need to all the way up to making it possible to go to college without garnering huge amounts of debt.

    3 votes
  3. dchess
    Link
    I found this a pretty compelling read about the nature of the class divide in America.

    I found this a pretty compelling read about the nature of the class divide in America.

  4. szferi
    Link
    I think this is not particularly US problem but the US welfare system makes it even more prevalent. After reading the article, I realized that I read similar discussions in the last 5-10 years in...

    I think this is not particularly US problem but the US welfare system makes it even more prevalent. After reading the article, I realized that I read similar discussions in the last 5-10 years in various places, however almost never got any suggestion what the 9.9% should do to mitigate the problem. I consider myself part of the 9.9% in my home country and I would probably be close to this state in the US as well. I try my best to be advocative to the inequality problem and I support (monetary and otherwise) groups which work on inclusion programs and help poor children as well adults to get the opportunity for good education. I volunteered many times to teach as well for example.
    I would be interested what do you think what I or in general the 9.9% should do to get this situation better?