Walmart Heirs Have As Much Wealth As Bottom 40 Percent Of Americans Combined

[MindMover]

Last year, Sylvia Allegretto, a labor economist at the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics, found that as of 2007, the Walton family — heirs to the Walmart fortune — had a net worth equal to that of the bottom 30 percent of Americans. And due to the effects of the Great Recession that ratio has gotten substantially worse.

New Federal Reserve data analyzed by both Allegretto and Josn Bivens at the Economic Policy Institute shows that the Waltons now hold as much wealth as the bottom 40 percent of Americans combined:

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/07/17/534591/walmart-heirs-wealth-combined/

[RKP5637]

1. I bet a fair number of the 40% would rush to the defense of Walmart, free

capitalistic system, free enterprise, all of that BS not getting the fact they are pawns in an extremely egregious system destroying their chance of upward mobility and those of their offspring probably for several generations or way into the future. Such is the dumbing down of many Americans. US = United Stupidity.

[LongTomH]

6. I keep seeing these notices pop up on Facebook: 'What's his face like Walmart!'

Whenever I can find something that tries to tell the truth about Walmart, I post it to my 'wall.'

[Progressive dog]

2. But didn't they earn it?

And look at all the great jobs they created. Hey you guys who didn't inherit a fortune, just retroactively get rich parents.

[RKP5637]

5. Yep, the job creators, creating jobs for all those

people too stupid to rip off the country on their own and F over everyone else. Such is the pyramid of wealth, and then one day it will topple when more people wake the F up as to what is going on ...

Except this time around the fortresses are so great many will lead their entire lives on the bottom rungs of society without barely a chance of moving upward, and these might well be the best of times as we head for a theocratic dystopia.

[raccoon]

3. That's obscene. Rec'd. nt

[Meiko]

4. and what exactly

should we do about it?

[RKP5637]

7. That, is an excellent question. I'm beginning to think there is not

much that can be easily done to restore some semblance of balance and fairness to the economic system. It never was really fair in many ways, but it does seem it used to be far more balanced.

Since most politicians, anymore, are in bed with big-money as much as they can, I doubt many politicians are going to lift a finger to do anything, other than a bunch of false rhetoric at election time to garner votes.

Money talks and has power, the rest of us just talk.