According to CNN on March 8, a viral video showing the wealth inequality in the U.S. has gone viral, achieving over 4 million views to date.
The video demonstrates the difference between how Americans THINK wealth is distributed in the country, versus what they think the IDEAL distribution of wealth should be.
And though those two distributions are quite different, showing that they believe that wealth is distributed quite unfairly in the country, that is not what is so shocking about the video.
The shock comes when you see how far the ACTUAL distribution of wealth is from how you think it should be.
The wealthiest 20% of Americans have more wealth than the bottom 40%.
The wealthiest 1% of Americans actually have more wealth than the top 20% should have, under the Ideal scenario.
The video is staggering, when you see these numbers in visual form. The top 1% of Americans has 40% of the wealth in this country, and the bottom 40% has only 7%.
The video is based on the work of Michael , a professor at Harvard Business School, and Dan Ariely, professor at the Duke University business school.
As the video points out, “We don’t have to go all the way to socialism to find something that is fair for working Americans.”
Take a look at the video and see the wealth discrepancy for yourself. And think about how our government’s policies are working to either continue or reduce this incredible inequality.
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