Unsustainable: Disappearance of the U.S. Middle Class

Last Friday was the anniversary of the publication of the Communist Manifesto in 1848. Of course, communism isn’t regarded very well in the world today as a workable political philosophy.

But here’s something that also seems broken: 

The owners of Walmart, the Walton family, has a net worth of over $150 billion, equivalent to the poorest 42% of Americans combined.  The largest single group of recipients of food stamps, Medicaid, and public housing is the employees of Walmart (our nation’s largest employer), who make an average of $8.88 per hour.  Viewed from a certain perspective, the tax-payer is subsidizing the Walton family, who refuses to pay their people enough to enable them to buy their own food, health care, and shelter.  By contrast, in the 1950s, the nation’s largest employer at the time, General Motors, paid their employees an average of (in today’s currency) $37.50 per hour. 

But the alarming numbers don’t stop there:

• 95% of the new wealth generated in the last five years went to the top 1%. 

• The median income in the U.S. declined by 38% in the years 2007 – 2010.

The middle class is rapidly disappearing, and it’s hard to imagine how anyone can think this is a sustainable course for America.