Class Conflict

how much more can we take before the lid blows off the bottle?

Wealth inequality is measured in terms of how total wealth is distributed throughout the population. The more wealth at the top rungs, the more inequality there is because there isn’t enough left to go around for everyone else.

The gap between the rich and the poor is now a yawning chasm. Although incomes rose rather evenly for a number of decades after World War II, the 1970s saw a dramatic increase in wealth at the top. Some experts attribute this to shrinking union membership, and they are probably correct.

This inequality is in part manifested by executive compensation. CEOs make roughly 1100 times more than they did in the mid 1970s. Workers have seen a paltry 25% increase since then, much of it eaten by inflation. The fact is that workers’ wages have been stagnant since around 1970, soon after Richard Nixon took office.

Since 1979, the top 1% of earners enjoyed an increase in income of some by 180%. The bottom 90% saw wages grow by 44%. The upshot is that the concentration of wealth at the top of the income ladder is at Gilded Age levels.

Even worse is the difference in overall wealth between rich and poorer households. The bottom half of households have an average net worth of around $50,000. They own around 3% of family wealth. The top 10% of households have an average net worth of nearly $7 million and command more than two-thirds of household wealth.

A component of this situation is racial inequality. For every $1 that white families own, Black and Latino families possess less than 25 cents. This is unconscionable.

Class warfare comes about when the tension between classes reaches a point of intolerability. The interests of the classes are entirely opposed. The result is resentment which at some point will boil over into rage. This happened several times during the financial crises of the late 1800s.

In January, Donald Trump was inaugurated with a retinue of multibillionaires standing behind him. If it isn’t obvious by now, this is untenable and represents a grave threat to democracy.

We are seeing the effects of this oligarchy on a daily basis, as Donald Trump hands over the keys to the kingdom to Elon Musk. Hundreds of thousands of federal government employees are losing their job to a gaggle of faceless, heartless gnomes. None of them are held accountable. They and the Republicans play without rules or restraints while the Democrats insist on decorum and rules. They are losing the battle and the American public as well. Recent polling indicates that fewer than a quarter of respondents view the party favorably. That is dangerous in the extreme. For all of its faults, the Democrats are the only organized entity capable of doing something about our worsening condition. In fact, the concentration of wealth at the top has had a profound effect on all of our institutions, notably the corporate media which has bent the knee to Trump.

People in different income brackets supported Trump in 2024. I would hazard a guess that he would lose badly if the election were held today. It is becoming quite clear in two months that Trump has declared war on the working class and the poor.

This is unsustainable, and it will end badly unless the Democrats wake up and realize this truth. People will take only so much, and when they reach the point of having nothing to lose, will take to the streets. We aren’t there yet, but Trump’s savage and unbelievably swift actions are bound to hasten the day of reckoning. We will have unrest unless things change dramatically, and how that manifests will depend in large measure on whether the working class and the poor find a champion and are able to challenge their anger into constructive political activity.

Listening Democrats?