The top one percent controls nearly 40% of the wealth in the United States. Globally, eight men -- and yes, they’re all men -- now own the same amount of wealth as 3.6 billion people.
What. The. Heck.
It’s not just ridiculously rich individuals who are taking advantage of the system. Corporations are not sharing the prosperity, either.
Corporate profits are at all-time highs, while most Americans don’t have $1,000 in savings.
Has it finally come to this -- do we just accept this behavior as “just how the economy works”?
Only a few people are really benefiting from today’s economic gains. That must change.
We’re not talking about creating a purely equal society. We’re simply suggesting that the prosperity needs to be widely shared.
We’re not simply making a moral argument -- we’re making an economic one.
Our economy will grow much faster if more Americans are included in the economy. When people have enough money to not go shopping for new shoes, or go on a vacation.
Right now, due to corporate greed, people are living paycheck to paycheck. And guess what? They don’t buy as many things! When a large number of people are excluded from the economy as consumers, growth slows down and the economy weakens.
It’s ultimately in the best interests of all of us -- working class, middle class, and yes, businesses -- for people to be paid more.
That’s why you need to support a higher minimum wage, paid paternity and maternity leave, and time-and-a-half pay for every hour worked over 40 hours.
These are policies which empower Americans up and down the economic ladder.
The engine of our economy is you -- not some corporation.
Remember that. Remember that every time a politician tells you that small businesses drive an economy. Or when they prioritize policies that place profits above your economic well-being.
You are the economy. It’s time our politicians prioritize your bank account, not corporations.
Let’s re-imagine what a “successful” economy looks like.
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