Ultimately, the disproportionate wealth distribution in America is the fault of working Americans:
It's no secret that America is a competitive society economically: it is based upon contention.
But since the 1980s, working Americans stopped fighting for their fair share of the wealth - they agreed to take what was given and not fight for a cent more.
For a competitive society to work, there has to be contention - everyone must fight for everything they can get - that's the only way everything balances.
Collective bargaining is just a manifestation of the free market system.
Unfortunately, Americans have accepted credit in lieu of pay - this has screwed up our economy royally. Now, instead of recieving the wealth that they have earned (Americans produce 24% of the worlds wealth), we're competing with the Chinese!
It's disgusting!
G.W. Bush once said "The American people are the hardest working people in the world".
He was right! Now if we were not only the hardest working people, but the best paid people as well, we wouldn't be in the current economic mess.
Doesn't that make sense? The hardest working people in the world should be the best paid people in the world?
Not number 12th in the standard of living...the bottom of the barrel of the industrial world.
And what is it that the Swiss do that makes them the number one in standard of living?
Make Chocolate?
But we ARE the highest paid people in the world.
Our "poor" are among the richest 5% of people in the world.
Our people are the wealthiest in the world. That is not in question, it is fact.
Standard of living is a term that is the eye of the liver, for lack of a better term.
I'd prefer to live the working grind of the American mid class than that of the Swiss. I enjoy working hard. I enjoy the reward of getting through a struggle. I enjoy being in the country with the greatest military in the world, the greatest entertainment sector, the greatest athletes, the greatest of anything and everything is here. In my humble opinion. For some the standard life of the Swiss is more enviable. To me, it's not.
However, I caution everyone to be careful staying in this thread. A left winger literally just advocated murdering by means of bullets all conservatives. Seriously. Look up at it.