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US wealth by wealth percentile group. 50% of households own 2.5% of the nation’s wealth. (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world
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Source: Federal Reserve

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[–] 42 points 1 year ago (9 children)

The weirdly comforting thing here is that more than half of the wealth is still in the bottom 99%. That means the masses still have economic power. The problem, of course, is that they cannot deploy it with the same coordination as the smaller group.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I don't think it's comforting at all.

    If you remove the top 1%, the remaining wealth is concentrated in the top 10%. This group of people is highly invested in the status quo; their wealth and power is usually used to prop up the current system.

    These people are reffered to by many names: petit bourgeoisie, professional managerial class, small business tyrants, etc.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Power that can't be deployed is by definition not power at all though, right?

    Odd observation

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Yes, but "the masses" are able to deploy concerted power, like in the instance of the harm done to Tesla sales lately. It's just more difficult to coordinate it.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Oh good, our dollars can go to another massive corporation that will do the exact same thing. Sometimes choice really isn't choice at all.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Eh. If you're just not buying any new car, you've already paid off the one you have, then that is a choice - and no corporation is getting any more money from you as a result of it. But I feel the pain of what you're saying. The case you're describing really rears its head for things like groceries where you actually do need to just keep buying them forever, and you may not have a farmer's market around. But I think people could truly cut down on their car consumption a lot. Some Americans are getting new cars every three years or so.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Totally agree, I have never purchased a new car and probably never will. We try to car pool whenever possible as well. If public transportation was better I would consider using it more often.

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