Is an outdated self-image keeping Americans in denial about the growing economic divide in the United States?
Even though President Bush’s tax cuts will leave greater numbers of us peering across a chasm-like wealth gap, some of our ideas about America–the land of equality and the “level playing field,” self-made wealth and meritocracy–can keep us from recognizing changes in the landscape. I’m not saying we’re naïve. Sure, we noticed over the past couple of decades that the economic equation of the American dream seemed to be changingbut not to what extent. The final years of the twentieth century saw the fortunes of Americans grow apart, in dramatic contrast to the three decades following World War II, when families in every income bracket saw their incomes double. But in the years from 1979 to 1998, those in the top fifth of income gained 38 percent while the bottom fifth lost five percent of real income. Today, the financial wealth of the top one percent of households in America exceeds the combined wealth of the bottom 95 percent. We’ve responded to record-breaking income disparities by
