Major Underlying  Cause
The distribution of wealth and opportunity in the United States has become unfair and  unbalanced

Evidence
(1) The spread of the “Occupy” movement
(2) Two-thirds of Americans believe there are “strong conflicts” between rich and poor in the U.S. [source: Pew Research Center, poll dated 12/6-19/11]
(3) The financial services industry grew from 5%-6% of GDP in the 1980’s to 16%-17% in 2006. The top 1% of earners accounted for 24% of all income in 2011.
(4) Based on the 2010 census, personal consumer debt is about $2.4 trillion, or $7,800 for every adult and child in the U.S..  70% of the GDP in the U.S. is from consumer spending.

Moral Relevance of the Situation

(1) Fairness is a basic and universal moral principle, which concerns equal sharing of benefits and pains, within culturally variable limits. But the principle of fairness is violated when there is no sharing of the pain of an economic crisis. An example is the housing crisis where the lenders have little pain (because they do not modify the mortgages and can sell the foreclosed houses), and the borrowers have all the discomfort.
(2) Another example of unfairness is the reduced opportunity for upward mobility in the U.S. in comparison with Europe, because parental economic difficulties carry over to the educational access of the next generation.
(3) These problems lead to a reduction in public trust in government.

What  to Do

(1) Keep informed. Read the IPPA website (www.ippa.us). Do not be passive.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 5:14 pm and is filed under distribution of wealth and opportunity, persuit of knowledge. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.