Not to get all political on ya, but this 6:24 video was so eye-opening that I had to share it. It looks at three things:
- How we think wealth in the US is distributed
- How we’d like wealth to be distributed
- How wealth is actually distributed
The video’s connection to BargainBabe.com’s mission to help people save money is this: You and I are spending a lot of time saving money and spending wisely, but it is getting us ahead? Are we really changing our futures? Improving the prospects of our children?
Via Shutterstock
We could do a lot of damage by racking up credit card debt, but aside from that obviously bad idea, I have to ask.
Is our frugal lifestyle truly making an impact?
This video screams NO! It implies that the rich get richer because they control nearly all the chips, the poor stay poor, and the middle continues to strive without much change in fortune.
How depressing is that?
Keep reading:
- What to Buy (and Avoid Buying) In March (Wise Bread)
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price.
This seems like propaganda to me, especially when I see the references/organizations posted at the end of the film. America is the land of opportunity but none of us are born with the right to have what everyone else has. I think it’s important to note that the top percent of the wealthy pay the most taxes while the bottom percent pay few or none. Sure, I’d rather be one of the wealthy people and pay more of my fair share in taxes. However, I’m not wealthy nor do I think that most of the rich people are the evil-doers that the media portrays. Just my opinion. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this. I hope you don’t get a bunch of nasty remarks from people who see everything as a political battle.
I totally agree with Mindy on this one. It is the land of opportunity, but these days we really have to work for it. There are people who will not be stopped by any roadblock, and those are the ones that succeed. And I don’t think that rich people are inherently evil – they worked hard to get where they are. The Big Corporations as a whole are what people are pissed off about. I don’t know what the answer is, but part of it is that inflation through the years has made our dollar worth practically nothing. Everything is out of whack. Don’t really know what to do about it though. We’re just doing the best we can and saving what we can so that my husband and I won’t have to resort to cat food when we get older and are on fixed incomes.
I saw this before, and thought it was a real eye-opener. As for having to work hard for what one has… that is nothing new. I was raised with a strong work ethic as a child of the 40s and 50s, and passed that along to my own children. I don’t find the wealthy individuals inherently evil, but I do find the corporate raiders and thieves reprehensible. I didn’t feel that this graphic presentation was particularly political, but rather a representation of how wealth is distributed in this country. I do tend to look at these things with a somewhat jaundiced eye, rather than jumping to errant conclusions.
I was taught that wealth is earned, not “distributed.”
I agree with Mindy also. The highest earners pay most of the tax and provide jobs. Wealth should not be distributed.