Why 99% are Angry at the Rich
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The 99% are Rightfully Angry at the Mega-Rich. Here’s Why.
A mega-rich person in the upper 1% makes more in one year than someone in the bottom 20% would make in 150 years.
Occupy demonstrations against the richest 1% of the world’s population are worldwide. Why are we 99%-ers so fed-up and angry?
[There’s some confusing statistics here, so please try and stay with me. If you think this is hard to read, imagine how hard it was to write.]
On her radio show on November 2nd, Randi Rhodes presented graphic evidence as to why those of us at the bottom 99% of the earning scale are so angry at the rich.
Want to upset your conservative friends who deny there’s an inequality problem in America? This is the graph for you. Of course, they’re also partly right…
As Derek Thompson of The Atlantic recently published, the income inequality in America isn’t a myth, as some on the right think it is. As Thompson points out about our current income inequalities, “The upshot is that the average 99th percenter makes more in a year than somebody in the bottom quintile would make in 150 years.” His chart reflects an uncomfortable reality most conservatives would rather ignore.
Rhodes cited Thompson, who notes, the top 1% of the rich pays four times more than the bottom forty percent in federal income taxes
If you sympathize with the Occupy movement, the first graph will almost certainly raise your already intense indignation against the rich. The graph depicts the earnings of each economic group in America—from the poorest 20% to the richest 20%.
The second graph indicates that the rich pay more taxes than the other 99% of us.
The truths in the graphs are entwined. The rich have much more money, so they pay more in federal income taxes. Right?
Wrong. As Mark Twain wrote, There’s lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Thompson writes, the 1% pay much more in federal income taxes. This sounds perfectly obvious. But I’m struck by how many times I hear one of those two facts without hearing the other.
The richest 20% make so much more than the other 80%—and the 1% make so much more than the rest of the top quintile—that the statistics require a breakdown of the richest 1% versus the richest 0.1%.
Graphs often make more sense than a bunch of numbers spouted around. The richest 1% has accountants to explain loopholes, tax ambiguities, and how to divert money so they don’t need to pay as much money as you and me.
The first two graphs obscure the economic facts: the rich do not pay more taxes than the poor. They pay far less.
The average income of the top 1% is not exactly the same as the income of those rich, because those rich at the top of the 99% who hold wealth includes mega-millionaires and billionaires who all belong to the top 99.9% of all U.S. earners. The average 99th percenter makes more in one year than somebody in the bottom 20% would make in 150 years.
The third graph of this story clearly demonstrates that 99% of Americans are shouldering the tax burden in this country. The third graph measure includes federal income taxes, payroll taxes, and excise taxes..
Nearly half the country does not owe federal income taxes—that figure includes 7,000 millionaires. Some investors pay a lower effective tax rate because capital gains and dividend taxes are handled differently than regular income.
When capital gains and dividends are added to the tax equation, rich people pay less tax than the rest of us. That means that America has a progressive tax system in place that favors the rich.
The following two graphs show the share of income by quintile. The first graph illustrates the tax burden of the rich, which is significantly lower than then the other 99% of us. Those in the top 60-80% of earnings pay 20.5% share of income demonstrates—compare that to the top 1% who pay 13.9%.
Take a look at the 0.1% of the richest people in the country: they pay 9% in taxes. Is that what Cain’s Revolution #9 tax code means—that the top 0.1% of the wealth in this country only pay 9% in taxes?
The reality is America has a progressive tax code in place that favors the rich.
The second graph illustrates the share of federal income taxes by quintile. Once again, the upper 1% actually pay more taxes than the upper 0.1%—but about half of what the 60-80% of earners pay.
Now you that you know that not only are the bottom 99% are paying most of the tax burden in America, but the 0.1% pay more than the top 1%.
Please make sure you remember that fact the next time someone asks you why you support the Occupy protests. But, as Randi Rhodes wrote about Occupy supporters, It’s still good to know you’re right though, isn’t it?
Or is it?
Mad Mike’s America thanks Randi Rhodes, The Atlantic, and Derek Thompson.
Why aren’t the 0.9% of the wealthiest people in this country revolting against the richest 0.1%?
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And by the way, it’s not about “wealth” and “accomplishment.” It’s about self-improvement (ever hear of evolution?) and the human race is stagnant because of hatchlings like doctors and lawyers spawning in the muddy waters of the human race, diverting our attention to material wealth. Every human should be given the opportunity to EVOLVE LIKE THE GOOD ANIMALS WE ARE. Humans are here to EVOLVE not to ACCOMPLISH and COLLECT MERCEDES’. Abraham Maslow and Self-Actualization my friend, concern for the race as a whole, more that the self, more than the “me.” The point of the race is to self-improve. The 1% sit on the wealth and force the 99% to work and never reach their full potential as the GOOD EVOLVING CREATURES THEY ARE. Humans are not meant to have B.S. titles like doctors and lawyers with B.S. respect and B.S. credentials. HUMANS ARE ANIMALS AND ANIMALS ARE MEANT TO EVOLVE, NOT COLLECT SHINY TRINKETS LIKE CARS.
Also, regarding Mr. “Kevin” and his negative comment about “lefties,” perhaps a one party system is just what the doctor ordered. After all, if there were no “lefties” then there would be no “righties” and the U.S. would be a totalitarian regime. Conflict of opinion and the power to do something about it is the reason we have compromise. If the nation were simply a one party system as “Republican” as Mr. “Kevin” desires, it wouldn’t remain Republican for long. What Mr. “Kevin” is advocating is that everyone become doctors and therefore millionaires. But as soon as that happens, the “gazillionaire” is created and we are right back to where we started. The question is, how long will the human race tolerate “rule by the few.”
“… iatrogentic damage (defined as a state of ill health or adverse effect resulting from medical treatment) is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer.”
http://chriskresser.com/medical-care-is-the-3rd-leading-cause-of-death-in-the-us
Actually, medical care is a profession like any other and doctors make money when they perform surgery or prescribe drugs. If a cure for cancer was found tomorrow the medical industry would be out billions of dollars. Doctors are not skilled, they are skilled at making money. My father was crippled by doctors, and won a lawsuit. I harbor no ill-will against them, I only object about the motivation they have to practice medicine. It’s not about helping people, medicine is about helping themselves.
I LOVE the assumption that the only ones in the country work automatically become quite wealthy. Clearly, those who are not in the top 1% just don’t try! What truly bothers me is the number of people who are willing to accept the blame for not being “lucky”. If you don’t make hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, there is clearly something wrong with you! And yet, some of the smartest people I know, some of the hardest workers I know, just aren’t in that top 1%! And some of the laziest but most conceited ones are. And it’s clearly just our own fault… (shakes head)
You lefties love to confuse simple folks and twist the truth to further your agenda. The top wage earners (top 25%) in this country currently pay the lion’s share of the income tax that is used to power the goverment. The bottom 50% pay virtually nothing. This is NOT want the founding fathers had in mind. My brother and I worked our butts off to graduate from medical school and operate private medical practices. We pay enough in taxes to get angry about the wasteful goverment spending and welfare recipients who were partying while we studied on Friday nights for years. All you whiny crying occupiers should think of the wealth divide in practical way-if all the plastic surgeons and professional athletes and movie stars and technology geniuses all fell into the deep blue sea would you suddenly inherit their wealth? No. Would you magically be able to work as a plastic surgeon or star in a movie or play for the Yankees or run Apple computers? Of course not because you are not talented enough to be in the top level of wage earners. America is the easiest country in the world to make a fortune in. In America no one (aside from liberal goverment officials) is stopping you from developing skills or inventing a service or a product to generate wealth. Nothing is stopping you from being wealthy except yourself. Vote Republican because they believe in Americans doing things for themselves, not coveting from others as the liberals and communists do. Stop worrying and grabbing at the wealth and accomplishments of other people and get to work if you want success.
Thank you; that’s a useful breakdown and description!