Poverty and Boats

Imagine our nation and the economy as a three-masted sailing ship. Then give the people at the top of the tallest mast a lift to an even higher position. Did that help the people in the hold of the boat who are still below the water line? A recent article in The Nation by Katrina vanden Heuvel discusses this issue in our nation.

Our economy today with the Bush tax cuts concentrates wealth in the nation in the top 1% of people to a degree not seen since 1928. The theory of trickle down economics by which tax cuts for the highest wage earners has not brought any measure of real benefit to the middle and lower class wage earners. Robert Greenstein, Executive Director of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities said,

Never before on record has poverty been higher and median income for working-age households lower at the end of a multi-year economic expansion than at the beginning. The new data add to the mounting evidence that the gains from the 2001-2007 expansion were concentrated among high-income Americans.

The article continues to discuss the falling numbers of Americans without health care. This change is a direct result of more people being covered by Medicare and Medicaid along with children taken under government programs. The change is a good one but not an indicator of improved status in our nation.

In conclusion Ms. vanden Heuvel says

Unless (and until) we tackle the gap between the very rich and the rest of America--including the growing number of people falling into poverty --it will be increasingly difficult to confront the major challenges of our time.

The truth is, lifting the boats at the bottom has historically been good for all Americans.

The time for lifting from the bottom of the boat is now. We are late already. If we fail to begin to change course today we will lose even more ground in the future. The time to take a new direction in our nation is at hand.

Peace.