No Money, Mo' Problems

There's been a lot in the news lately about income equality, or really the extreme inequality in the United States. Just last week the Huffington Post published an article regarding a study showing that the US has the worst income inequality in the developed world. This result echoed another study done by the the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that showed the US followed only Chile, Mexico and Turkey among all nations in income inequality. Anytime we can say "but at least we're better than Chile, Mexico and Turkey" is a sad day indeed. What happened to "the Greatest Nation?" Who let this happen?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/income-inequality-wall-street_n_3762422.html

Wallstreet and the politicians who love them, that's who.

Thankfully, President Obama supports raising the minimum wage, which would help correct some of the inequality. Many left-leaning political organizing groups have recently taken the minimum wage issue on as one of their biggest causes. I'm seeing a lot of internet memes and quotes about how appalling it is that we subsidize corporate profits by allowing them to pay their workers peanuts and let public safety nets like foodstamps and Medicaid pick up the slack.

Pope Francis (the best Pope ever) recently called out global capitalism by saying:

Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “Thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality.

And in the words of the late President Nelson Mandela, "Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom."

I'm grateful that there seems to be some national movement and mobilization on this issue. I hope something can be done on it before Obama's term is up. To conclude, here is an amazing video that really drives home why this is so important.