An Effective Democracy Requires a Large and Active Middle Class

Based on the title of the post, you’re probably expecting me to point out that the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and that our society is served very badly by the erosion of the middle class. All that is, by the way, quite true — and I’m hardly alone in my concern here, whether it’s on moral or practical grounds. Anyone with a heart — or a brain — objects to the ever-expanding discrepancy between the rich and the poor.  According to a recent study, the wealthiest 20% of Americans own just over 85% of the nation’s wealth — a figure than continues to climb, leaving the other 80% growing steadily more impoverished, uninvolved, apathetic, and disenfranchised.  I don’t see any long-term winners here — rich or poor. 

But actually, this isn’t my point.  Check out this survey, apparently orchestrated by a professor at Harvard. Do you mean to tell me that a valid survey of Americans showed that we think that wealth should be distributed such that the richest 20 percent own just 32 percent of the wealth? In other words, distribution of wealth should be roughly equal between smart, motivated, accomplished people — and idiots, neurotics, drug addicts, and sloths?

I don’t believe it. Or, better said, if that’s true, we’ve become even more stupid than I had supposed.