Core Issue: Wealth Redistribution or Revolution.

Photograph by Gilbert Mercier
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If you click on the title, it will take you to a fascinating document.

This academic document presents details on the wealth and income distribution in America and explains how wealth & income are crucial power indicators. Further, it explores the critical underlying question of what and who rules America.

I just want to highlight a few critical points contained in this document.

In 2004 the top 1 % of the US population, in terms of income & assets, controlled 42 % of the total financial wealth. On the other hand the bottom 80% controlled a meager 7 %.

Another stunning example of this obscene social inequality is the pay of CEO's compared to the salary of production workers. From 1990 to 2005, CEO's pay increased 300 %(adjusted to inflation) while workers gained a scant 4.3 %.

The slippery slope of this extreme gap between the " haves " & the "have- nots ", while always a factor in America's social makeup, took a dramatic turn for the worst from 1983 on.

It is not a surprise that it corresponds with the Reagan era and its promotion of wealth concentration and systematic deregulation of the financial market. The very concept of the "trickle down " economy. The Clinton administration did absolutely nothing to reverse this dangerous trend.

In good economic times, this type of system can be sustainable, at least for a while as long as the "little guy" stays happy with the few crumbs coming his way. However, the global economic crisis and financial meltdown has changed the equation. The trickle of wealth has dried up.

Historically, there are only two outcomes of such a situation: A Revolution or a peaceful wealth redistribution from taxation.

From 1789 on, all revolutions and/or social unrest had the same root cause: Namely concentration of wealth & power among an aristocracy or an elite. This applies for France in 1789, Russia in 1917, China in 1949 & Cuba in 1959. The only way to avoid such violent events is by voluntary reforms of the system.

This would entail a drastic income tax increase for the top 1% of the US population, but more importantly a reform of the "death tax" ( estate tax). In Europe, it is the key tool for wealth redistribution. Some countries tax as much as 60 %. It seems that it is the only fair & logical way of leveling the social "playing field".

This position is not about ideology, it is about sound government looking after the majority's common good, as opposed to our current system run by the elite, strictly for their own benefits and the one's of their children.

So what is it going to be: Peaceful reforms or a Revolution?