Wealth distribution in the US

My Grandfather made a fort out of the dead bodies of his fellow soldiers on the beach at Tarawa as he fought his way forward.  He was paid virtually nothing by today's standards.

He came home from the war and built a family business and raised 9 children who spawned 47 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Nobody ever heard him complain one time about his lot in life.

Wow!!!  Capitalism!!

Indeed.   And my thought was: "Why should I listen to this guy, when he doesn't know the difference (or at least doesn't want to explain the difference) between wealth and income?

19k is the paycheck.  plus housing.  plus medical care.  plus educational and vocational benefits for themselves and their spouses.  plus pretty significant tax and retirement benefits.

not too shabby for an 18 - 22 year old kid.

also, kind of an unfair comparison cause your 1%ers are either from super wealthy families, or older/educated/started somewhere else, where your average private has a high school diploma and no skills (until his/her military training provides them...yet another benefit without a $ sign attached)

That was cool!  I love stats and knowledge.  However, I'm sure the author got exactly the opposite reaction from me.  I wasn't upset at all.  We got some super rich folks in this nation!  Props to them.

The reason I'm NOT upset?  He said that something like 80% of the nation only has 7% of the wealth?  That's somehow unfair?  I say, BIG DEAL.  Because that is enough to live, and live comfortably for many.  Now if 80% of the nation couldn't afford bread and only the rich could eat, there might be a problem.  But since the MARKET needs to provide goods and services to everyone (not just the top 10%), the prices will accommodate that.  So most everyone can survive.  So let's take all the money from the rich and distribute it to the poor.  Well, now the poor have millions (as all of us now do).  Guess how much a pizza is going to cost.  Probably about 200 bucks...

The only thing this really tells me is that the upper 10% with 40% of the wealth (or whatever they said) have SO much, they really can't do anything with it anyway other than "have" it.  A billionaire doesn't live any better than someone who has 100 billion.

The whole concept of distribution of wealth seems so fundamentally flawed to me, I'm surprised that so many seem to push for it.  I would like a dialogue with someone that would have a logical argument for it that could make me rethink.

As a side note.  It looks like if you just took the 10% of the population (with 40% of the wealth) out of the equation the graph would be very close to what people think - (and a normal distribution).  It's just like the 10% of students in a class that ace EVERYTHING, but everyone else is a normal distribution.  A teacher may kick those results out to establish the curve for a passing grade for the masses.

^^^This.

I looked into joining the military. The pay is just a portion of the money they get. For a kid right out of high school to make $20k is pretty dang good around here. Tack on the housing allowance and all the other benefits and they are doing better than a lot of college graduates around here. 

MY nephew is doing failry well thanks to the service.  4 years in the army, finished up his undergrad on the GI Bill now workig on his masters.  An education he would not have been able to afford otherwise.

Actually... I did. Nukes entered as E-3 and got E-4 out of school. You got a $30,000 bonus for graduating. After your 6 years, starting salaries for nukes were $60K in the 80s. I don't work at a nuke plant (nor want to), but am one of the highest paid blue collar jobs. Us and elevator repair people usually trade #1 and #2. I am one of the highest paid positions in the country that does not need a degree. Pilots are usually #1, and they make a good bit more.

During the wars, signing bonuses were as high as $20K for some jobs. Retention bonuses were the same. The GI bill was increased, and so was pay. We could not have fought the wars if people did not join for the money.

My Grandfather, my dad, both of my uncles, and I all served in the Marine Corps...........we've all barely been able to survive in the world.   

Salary while serving is only a small part of the benefits.....and doesn't last nearly as long as the rest.

Although... we used to figure out our hourly wage. Since we were "on the job" 24/7/365... I think I made .11 cents an hour when I started. 

.... but since our room and board was taken care of... that was all beer money. 

LOL...... we always had beer, and never had money....and nobody cared.   

Let's be honest here....if you're broke there is no better way to spend the day than shooting and blowing chit up.

Honestly, I feel sorry for people who didn't serve in the military....some of the best years of my life for sure.

I honestly did not care for being told what I could and could not do... go figure. But yes, looking back it was an incredible experience. Nothing else can come close... and I served in peace. I can only imagine being in combat with my brothers.

We got a new Captian in the middle of a cruise. He would drill us all the time... we sucked. Over 10 minutes to battle stations in the day. One night, 2:00 in the morning, general quarters sounded. First thought was I can't believe this fool is doing this to us... but there was just something in the air that this was not a drill. He later came on and said a plane was low and inbound and not ID'ing or diverting. This was right after the Stark. The missiles were on the rails and waiting for the order. We nearly shot down an airliner that was out of bounds.... but he said we made it from sleep to battle stations in 1:45. After that he cut us some slack. When we knew he had our backs, we worked harder for him. 

One of those deals.... if I only knew then what I know now.... 

I believe that the point of the video is that the middle class no longer is the middle class.  They are now the working poor.

I am fortunate to be either in or near the top 20%, but only because I married a really smart, hard-working woman.

Posts like them make me wish BT had a "LIKE" button.

Thanks for serving, Daniel.

Well ya, I was not making great money, but I was making a great INVESTMENT. I certainly was not living high on the hog in the Navy., but we had other benefits. The Navy sort of sucked for that, because being single we didn't get housing. So we would pitch in on apartments out of our own pocket. 

A co-worker had a kid in the war. Did everything right it seemed. Saved his money, got bonuses, came back and put $30K down on a new SS Camaro. I can't even get a $50K car and I make good money. 

I just graduated, and my parents were moving ironically to where I am now. But I didn't want to go, and I didn't think I could support myself right out of HS, even though I was a hard worker. My Dad was in the Navy and alway talked it up, and I was always pro military to some degree. MY best friend joined the AF to be a pilot. College was not an option. So I sort of had nothing better to do, but I was not starring at poverty and no hope for the future. I thought the Navy would be a good "job". Turns out, it was kind of a crappy "job"... but it gave me a great career.

And no, I did not do everything right. And those that did... like you it seems... ya, they did really well for themselves. And that still holds true for today.

I would love to talk about what you do...