> A lot of comparisons are being drawn, for example, between the 1920s and today. While the income distribution curves look startlingly similar, the concentration of wealth is very different. Most of today's 1%+ are "working rich," i.e., they receive the bulk of their income from salaries and bonuses -- not from ownership or direction of capital.
This is something that I don't know if so many people completely understand. For instance, my wife and I combined put us well in the top 1%[1] of the US based on our salaries, but there is no way we are "rich". And b/c we are trying to be smart with our money, we don't live like most would expect from our combined salaries. The issue, as I see it, is that our salaries are obviously not guaranteed.
Now, I fully recognize I'm in a privilege situation regardless, but we're not living a jetset lifestyle by any means. Sure, we are technically in the top 1%, but it isn't the lifestyle most people would envision when they think "top 1%". Though don't get me wrong, as I said, I DO recognize we are privileged and am not complaining, just saying we aren't living like those robber barons of old.
[1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affluence_in_the_United_States
This is something that I don't know if so many people completely understand. For instance, my wife and I combined put us well in the top 1%[1] of the US based on our salaries, but there is no way we are "rich". And b/c we are trying to be smart with our money, we don't live like most would expect from our combined salaries. The issue, as I see it, is that our salaries are obviously not guaranteed.
Now, I fully recognize I'm in a privilege situation regardless, but we're not living a jetset lifestyle by any means. Sure, we are technically in the top 1%, but it isn't the lifestyle most people would envision when they think "top 1%". Though don't get me wrong, as I said, I DO recognize we are privileged and am not complaining, just saying we aren't living like those robber barons of old.
[1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affluence_in_the_United_States