Dave Gervais – Education Committee Chairman
The Topic of our feature is income inequality. The disparity of wealth
between the classes is growing at an alarming rate and those that control the
wealth hope that you are not paying attention. But how can we not notice when a
bank gets a bailout but we lose our houses; or when a company like Hostess files
for bankruptcy and the CEO’s take home big bonuses but the employees take
home pink slips. How is it that our parents had a house, a car, a few kids, and a
savings all on one salary but many of us need two or three salaries just to live
paycheck-to-paycheck?
Thanks to the occupy movement, this issue is reaching the mainstream and
people are talking about it. From Warren Buffett, to economist Paul Krugman, to
former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and current Labor Secretary Thomas
Perez, to senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, to the President and
even the Pope. Income inequality is eroding the fabric of this nation and a lack of
upward mobility is tarnishing our image around the globe.
Pope Francis said “We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient
golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and
the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking truly human purpose.” And
“The grave financial and economic crises of the present time…have pushed man
to seek satisfaction, happiness and security in consumption and earnings out of
all proportion to the principles of a sound economy. The succession of economic
crises should lead to a timely rethinking of our models of economic development
and to a change in lifestyle.”
President Obama said in his speech at THEARC
“The American people’s frustrations are rooted in their own daily
battles – to make ends meet, to pay for college, buy a home, save for
retirement. It’s rooted in the nagging sense that no matter how hard they
work, the deck is stacked against them. And it’s rooted in the fear that
their kids won’t be better off than they were. That fear is a dangerous
and growing inequality and lack of upward mobility that has jeopardized
middle-class America’s basic bargain – -that if you work hard, you have a
chance to get ahead.
The Topic of our feature is income inequality. The disparity of wealth
between the classes is growing at an alarming rate and those that control the
wealth hope that you are not paying attention. But how can we not notice when a
bank gets a bailout but we lose our houses; or when a company like Hostess files
for bankruptcy and the CEO’s take home big bonuses but the employees take
home pink slips. How is it that our parents had a house, a car, a few kids, and a
savings all on one salary but many of us need two or three salaries just to live
paycheck-to-paycheck?
Thanks to the occupy movement, this issue is reaching the mainstream and
people are talking about it. From Warren Buffett, to economist Paul Krugman, to
former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and current Labor Secretary Thomas
Perez, to senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, to the President and
even the Pope. Income inequality is eroding the fabric of this nation and a lack of
upward mobility is tarnishing our image around the globe.
Pope Francis said “We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient
golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and
the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking truly human purpose.” And
“The grave financial and economic crises of the present time…have pushed man
to seek satisfaction, happiness and security in consumption and earnings out of
all proportion to the principles of a sound economy. The succession of economic
crises should lead to a timely rethinking of our models of economic development
and to a change in lifestyle.”
President Obama said in his speech at THEARC
“The American people’s frustrations are rooted in their own daily
battles – to make ends meet, to pay for college, buy a home, save for
retirement. It’s rooted in the nagging sense that no matter how hard they
work, the deck is stacked against them. And it’s rooted in the fear that
their kids won’t be better off than they were. That fear is a dangerous
and growing inequality and lack of upward mobility that has jeopardized
middle-class America’s basic bargain – -that if you work hard, you have a
chance to get ahead.
Read more »
