by Tyler Durden, 6/7/2024
Capital concentration and mass impoverishment are among the mega-trends of the era, as are the despair and political weariness of millions. The unemployed and the “working poor” are among the steadily growing “occupational groups”; the psychosocial health of an entire nation is at an all-time low. How long can this go on?
Ahead of the social explosion
In the US, the gap between rich and poor is wider than ever – frustration is reaching dangerous levels
Donald Trump wanted to make America “great again”; however, the incomes of Americans shrank under him and his successor Joe Biden. For decades, the media have been complaining about the ever-widening gap between rich and poor. A lot has happened since then – it has gotten even worse. Capital concentration and mass impoverishment are among the megatrends of the era, as are the despair and political weariness of millions. The unemployed and the “working poor” are among the steadily growing “occupational groups”; the psychosocial health of an entire nation is at an all-time low. How long can this go on? The answer is: not for much longer. Social revolts born of pure desperation could break out very soon.
by the Manova Global Editorial Board
by Tyler Durden
[This article posted on 6/7/2024 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://www.manova.news/artikel/vor-der-sozialen-explosion.]
Have you ever felt like no matter how hard you try, you just can’t get ahead? If so, you’re definitely not alone. The gap between the ultra-wealthy and the rest of us has never been wider, and more wealth is transferred to the top of the pyramid every day. Unfortunately, our economy has become a highly centralized system designed to extract wealth from those who don’t own profit-yielding assets and transfer it to those who do.
Sadly, the elite have even turned most of our homes and vehicles into profit-making assets. With every month that you pay off your house or car, you make the rich even richer. The whole system is designed to get you deeply in debt and paying off that debt until you die.
As we have seen in the last few years, the system’s administrators will do everything to protect the wealth of the elite.
The Federal Reserve has pumped trillions of dollars into the system to maintain the value of financial assets – and it has worked. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently hovering around 40,000, giving shareholders a life of luxury.
But who owns most of the stocks?
According to the Federal Reserve, the wealthiest Americans have never held such a large share of the stock market; the wealthiest 10 percent now own a record 93 percent of all stocks.
On the other side of the coin, central bank data shows that the poorest 50 percent of all Americans hold just 1 percent of all stocks and shares in investment funds in the third quarter.
Of course, stocks are just one form of wealth.
However, if all other types of wealth are added, the bottom 50 percent of the US population still owns just 2.6 percent of all assets.
Tens of millions of Americans have lost faith in the system and are becoming increasingly restless, while our politicians try to appease them with handouts.
Today, a whopping 42 million Americans receive food subsidies every month, and a large portion of that money is spent on junk food…
An alarming study shows how 42 million recipients of food subsidies spend their social assistance on heavily processed junk food.
Coca-Cola, Sprite and other soft drinks are among the most popular items purchased with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which total $135 billion a year, according to a new study. Candy, potato chips, frozen pizza, ice cream, cookies and other highly processed foods are among the top 20 most popular items, according to a report by the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC).
Many of those receiving government assistance are currently working. But the cost of living has become so oppressive that even people working for the largest companies in the U.S. can no longer afford the basics…
Five years after Amazon.com.Inc. raised hourly wages to $15, half of the warehouse workers surveyed said they were having trouble affording enough food or an apartment.
In the national study, which was published on Wednesday (May 26, 2024) by the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois, Chicago, surveyed U.S. workers about their economic well-being — including whether they skipped meals, went hungry, or worried about whether they could pay their rent or mortgage.
Fifty-three percent of respondents reported experiencing one or more forms of food insecurity in the three months prior to the survey. 48 percent reported experiencing one or more types of housing insecurity. Researchers found that workers who reported taking unpaid leave after an on-the-job injury were more likely to have had trouble paying their bills.
Today, about 40 percent of the total U.S. population is either in poverty or is considered part of the “working poor.”
The average U.S. family now needs to earn an additional $12,000 per year to maintain the same standard of living as in January 2021. If your income has not increased by $12,000 since January 2021, you are falling behind.
And now that economic conditions are deteriorating at an alarming rate, Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the economy.
After a brief period of optimism, Americans are once again somewhat more downbeat about the economy.
A closely watched index from the University of Michigan – a gauge of Americans’ economic sentiment – shows a six-month low in consumer sentiment and the sharpest decline since 2021. It reflects the continued strain on household budgets from inflation and fuels fears that rising prices, unemployment and interest rates could worsen in the coming months.
This pessimism is changing consumer behavior. McDonald’s, Home Depot, Under Armour and Starbucks recently reported disappointing earnings as people cut back on fast food, kitchen renovations, sneakers and afternoon latte macchiatos.
Dissatisfaction with economic conditions will be a big issue here in the US over the next few years.
Of course, the whole world is struggling with a system that leaves far too many people behind. According to Oxfam, the majority of the world’s population has become poorer since 2010…
Oxfam’s latest report, Inequality Inc., examines the gap between the super-rich and the rest of society. Since 2020, five billion people have become poorer, while the world’s five richest men have more than doubled their wealth at a rate of $14 million per hour.
As in the U.S., the gap between the rich and the poor worldwide is reaching unprecedented levels. Hundreds of millions of people struggle to keep pace with the cost of living, while billionaires grew richer by 3.3 trillion compared to 2020, according to Oxfam. This is no coincidence. When analyzing the world’s largest companies, we found that in 7 out of 10 cases, a billionaire either runs or is the main shareholder of the company.
This is not a sustainable system.
When the majority of the world’s population is continually getting poorer and a tiny minority of the world’s population is getting fabulously richer, it is only a matter of time before the whole system collapses.
Hundreds of millions of people are becoming increasingly angry and frustrated, and in the period of great chaos that is now dawning, riots will break out in all major cities around the world.
Today, the world is ruled by ultra-powerful governments, ultra-powerful banks and ultra-powerful corporations.
The little man is literally being crushed, but it won’t be long before the deeply corrupt system the rich have created implodes before their eyes.
Editor’s note: This text first appeared under the title “The gap between the rich and the poor is wider than ever, and frustration is growing to very dangerous levels”.