Those making a living by going on and on about “the unfairness of it all” can’t stop. Mostly, the people in the 99% are upset that the three million people in the 1% have so much more. When we look back 90 years, we see a remarkable consistency:
Table 3: Share of wealth held by the Bottom 99% and Top 1%
in the United States, 1922-2007.
| Bottom 99 percent | Top 1 percent | |
|---|---|---|
| 1922 | 63.3% | 36.7% |
| 1929 | 55.8% | 44.2% |
| 1933 | 66.7% | 33.3% |
| 1939 | 63.6% | 36.4% |
| 1945 | 70.2% | 29.8% |
| 1949 | 72.9% | 27.1% |
| 1953 | 68.8% | 31.2% |
| 1962 | 68.2% | 31.8% |
| 1965 | 65.6% | 34.4% |
| 1969 | 68.9% | 31.1% |
| 1972 | 70.9% | 29.1% |
| 1976 | 80.1% | 19.9% |
| 1979 | 79.5% | 20.5% |
| 1981 | 75.2% | 24.8% |
| 1983 | 69.1% | 30.9% |
| 1986 | 68.1% | 31.9% |
| 1989 | 64.3% | 35.7% |
| 1992 | 62.8% | 37.2% |
| 1995 | 61.5% | 38.5% |
| 1998 | 61.9% | 38.1% |
| 2001 | 66.6% | 33.4% |
| 2004 | 65.7% | 34.3% |
| 2007 | 65.4% | 34.6% |
Sources: 1922-1989 data from Wolff (1996). 1992-2007 data from Wolff (2010).
In almost every year, for the past ninety years, 1% of the people have owned a third of our nation’s assets. During this time, the United States was the richest nation on earth. Americans had more cars, air conditioners, bigger homes, better medical care, plumbing, phones, vacations, washers, driers, dishwashers, higher incomes, and prosperity than any nation in history. We were the first nation to be immunized against polio and a dozen other once-fatal diseases.
Still, those making a living by going on and on about “the unfairness of it all” can’t stop. Never overly bright, but brimming with envy, jealousy, and rage, the bitter and angry endlessly point to wealth inequality and chronically complain.
Those who make a living by by going on and on about “the unfairness of it all” can’t stop. They cannot let themselves see that during times of the greatest prosperity in history, the same degree of inequality in the distribution of wealth has existed. They cannot even consider that the inequality may be what led to the prosperity. They are unable to even comprehend that systems which allow smarter, harder-working people to amass capital they use to lower production costs makes everyone wealthier. Lacking the ability to understand such basic economics, those making a living by going on and on about “the unfairness of it all” can’t stop.
What makes them want to dismantle the greatest prosperity-machine in history? Why do they worry because some own more than others? Those making a living by going on and on about “the unfairness of it all” can’t stop because they are possessed.
Too lazy to work, and having had their analytical skills too disordered by hate to be successful in any free market enterprise, those making a living by going on and on about “the unfairness of it all” can’t stop. They are possessed by demons of pride and envy.
Those demons lead lost souls to conclude in every age, “I have reached a high point of intellectual evolution. I am very upset because some people have more than other people. While I, personally, only want a little bit more, those with less than I should have much more. If they will do as I say, I do everything I can to get that for them. First, I do want the tiny bit more that I need to go on serving those with much less.”
Thus do demons of pride and envy dominate so completely that those making a living by going on and on about “the unfairness of it all” can’t stop. America’s previous century of prosperity staring them in the face only impels them to find equality by lowering those above rather, than letting them elevate those below.
Demons multiply among the disaffected, the bitter, and the angry. How to get rid of them? All evil spirits fear God, Mary, saints, and angels. We should, but rarely do, ask them to drive such demons to the dark pits that their chosen homes. Our refusal to ask our spiritual betters for help is a manifestation of our own pride. “I/we can solve this on our own.”
We who do not ask for God to help in dealing with the depredations caused by those making a living by going on and on about “the unfairness of it all” can’t stop them on our own. Only God can do so. He cannot grant requests He does not hear.
The powers of Heaven shake their heads sadly each time some political figure announces that “We are going to make things better.” Those above have seen the horrors that follow such announcements. They know what’s coming to those vain enough to think they have the ability to fix things by themselves.
