The gap is getting bigger.
Plutocracy..a country that is ruled by the richest people..
Take Care..
There is no single direction to point in. Nor is there any indication that this development was in any way intentional.
The same thing happened in the old Roman republic in the century before it became an empire. The nobility amassed more and more power, turning just about everybody else into 'plebeians'. The main exception being people with a special skills like Doctors or the Star Gladiators.
If it is any consolation the number of "growing upward rich" is also falling. There are fewer and fewer hands in 'control'. And the American 'dream' of an individual gaining a major fortune through skill and perseverance is becoming rarer and rarer.
The mega-rich of course. They have all the power and are accumulating more. We have no means to stop them.
Here in Australia, the ability to own one's own home on an average wage has become a thing of the past. Rents are so high that suddenly we are experiencing homeless people everywhere.
We used to be the "lucky" country, where everyone had a fair go and homelessness was almost unknown.
It will bite the rich in the bum eventually because no one will be able to afford to buy what they want to sell. It's already started happening. Consumer activity at an all time low for the longest period on record.
Not a 'who', a 'what'. The 'what' being too much money in politics.
It's more complex than that of course, but if you really want to get politicians to work for the people who elected them rather than spending half their time raising money for the political hamster wheel (and in the process beholden themselves to their largest donor's wishes), first you have to take the money out of politics.
Envious people who call for high taxes.
The rich avoid taxes through corporate structures and an army of tax attorneys. Knowing it won't touch them, the rich manipulate the poor into voting for high taxes that hit the middle class. In this way the rich can keep everyone else suppressed and stay on top.
If taxes were low and flat rate the rich would have to compete on a level playing field and a large middle class would rise up. The poor would have a much batter shot at becoming middle class. Though because of envy, we are stuck in a system that a tiny elite minority will always dominate.
Couldn't agree more.
Make all donations to campaigns illegal, including self-funding.
Budget an equal amount for each candidate to fund a modest campaign - just sufficient to ensure that everybody gets the necessary messages at least once.
Let the campaign specify certain data only: the qualifications of the candidate and the policies proposed along with reasons (not slogans) as why and how they would work.
Let there be formal televised debates between opponents on each policy issue, conducted by the classical rules of debate.
Let false accusations of candidates carry an obligation of the state to sue for libel with disqualification for office as consequence.
