tagged w/ Rich vs. Poor
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One of my brothers-in-law, C., is moving from Chile to America to take over a fairly large corporation. He is a highly educated, highly successful guy in his late-thirties—a big strapping guy of about 6’3”, a former rugby player, big on golf, with four small kids and a tall willowy wife who looks like a model.
Though he’s been to the United States many times, for business and pleasure, he’s never actually lived there. So over a Sunday lunch, we talked about his first impressions about daily life in America—and what struck him was the food:
“It has no taste,” C. told me. “Or rather, supermarket food has no taste: Beef, fish, chicken—it all tastes bland and watery.”
He told me how vegetables too tasted oddly bland, and on top of that, he and his wife were worried about what is actually in the food.
The reason they’re worried about American food is because of the size of American children in his kids’ new schools:
“Our kids were among the tallest in their class in Chile—but they’re among the smaller kids in their U.S. classroom. On top of that, the girls in my older daughter’s class are starting to menstruate—and they are nine years-old! That’s not normal.”
C.’s conclusion: “It’s the industrially processed foods—God knows what they’re sticking in it. But we’ve got four children—and we want them to be healthy. So that’s why we started buying all our food at organic markets. The food bill is triple what it would be, but I don’t care, I can afford it: I want my family healthy.”
That—in a nutshell—is what will begin to distinguish rich people from poor people in the XXI century, as it has for millenia before: Diet.
But what kind of diet is the issue.
If in ages past, the diets of the wealthy had more calories, in this century and the future, the diets of the wealthy will have less chemicals and hormones.
And as in the past, we will see the difference in their children.......
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http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-distinguishes-rich-from-poor-today.htmlOne of my brothers-in-law, C., is moving from Chile to America to take over a fairly... more
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WASHINGTON — The income gap between the richest and poorest Americans grew last year to its widest amount on record as young adults and children in particular struggled to stay afloat in the recession.
The top-earning 20 percent of Americans – those making more than $100,000 each year – received 49.4 percent of all income generated in the U.S., compared with the 3.4 percent earned by those below the poverty line, according to newly released census figures. That ratio of 14.5-to-1 was an increase from 13.6 in 2008 and nearly double a low of 7.69 in 1968.
A different measure, the international Gini index, found U.S. income inequality at its highest level since the Census Bureau began tracking household income in 1967. The U.S. also has the greatest disparity among Western industrialized nations.
At the top, the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans, who earn more than $180,000, added slightly to their annual incomes last year, census data show. Families at the $50,000 median level slipped lower.
"Income inequality is rising, and if we took into account tax data, it would be even more," said Timothy Smeeding, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who specializes in poverty. "More than other countries, we have a very unequal income distribution where compensation goes to the top in a winner-takes-all economy."
Lower-skilled adults ages 18 to 34 had the largest jumps in poverty last year as employers kept or hired older workers for the dwindling jobs available, Smeeding said. The declining economic fortunes have caused many unemployed young Americans to double-up in housing with parents, friends and loved ones, with potential problems for the labor market if they don't get needed training for future jobs, he said.
Rea Hederman Jr., a senior policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, agreed that census data show families of all income levels had tepid earnings in 2009, with poorer Americans taking a larger hit. "It's certainly going to take a while for people to recover," he said.
The findings are part of a broad array of U.S. census data being released this month that highlight the far-reaching impact of the recent economic meltdown. The effects have ranged from near-historic declines in U.S. mobility and birth rates to delayed marriage and the first drop in the number of illegal immigrants in two decades.
The census figures also come amid heated political debate in the run-up to the Nov. 2 elections over whether Congress should extend expiring Bush-era tax cuts. President Barack Obama wants to extend the tax cuts for individuals making less than $200,000 and joint filers making less than $250,000; Republicans are pushing for tax cuts for everyone, including wealthy Americans.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/28/income-gap-widens-census-_n_741386.htmlWASHINGTON — The income gap between the richest and poorest Americans grew last... more
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A new report by the Boston Consulting Group finds that the riches of the wealthiest North Americans grew by double digits in 2009, primarily from interest their money earned when it was invested in the stock market and elsewhere. The report found that millionaires in the U.S. and Canada saw their wealth increase 15 percent in 2009, to a total of 4.6 trillion dollars.A new report by the Boston Consulting Group finds that the riches of the wealthiest... more
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Funny is it just me or dose it look like every time the Rich people get a big tax
cut the Deficit gose up.Funny is it just me or dose it look like every time the Rich people get a big tax
cut... more
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macfan
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added this
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2 years ago
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The gap between rich and poor is getting bigger in the world's richest countries -- and particularly the United States -- as top earners' incomes soar while others' stagnate, according to a 30-nation report released Tuesday.
In a 20-year study of its member countries, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said wealthy households are not only widening the gap with the poor, but in countries such as the U.S., Canada and Germany they are also leaving middle-income earners further behind, with potentially ominous consequences if the global financial crisis sparks a long recession.
Inequality threatens the "American Dream" of social mobility -- children doing better than their parents, the poor improving their lot through hard work -- which is lower in the U.S. than countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Australia, the report found. . .
The gap between rich and poor is getting bigger in the world's richest countries... more
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Our current system is not working. Michael Moore hits another home run with his latest movie, SICKO. An absolute must see. Although I already downloaded this from the internet, I'm ordering my official copy today, to show my support for Michael Moore. Michael Moore is one of my heroes. I still can't believe Farenheight 911 didn't win an Academy Award. It was too real for people, so they had to focus on Michael's opinions presented in the movie and say, "see he's just biased!"
Focus on the facts?, oh no, let's focus on the movie makers opinion.
SICKO, like Fahrenheit 911, is ironclad, but attack away you "Richie Riches" and cronies.Our current system is not working. Michael Moore hits another home run with his... more
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