Income Disparity: Social Injustice or Socialist Jealously?

On a recent MSNBC "Morning Joe" program, former President Carter's National Security Adviser, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, claimed that the United States is one of the most socially unjust nations in the world (Click here to See the Story and The Video). To prove this, he pointed to our ranking in something called the GINI coefficient where we were clustered at the top of the most "unjust" country's list along with countries like Brazil, Mexico, India, and China. Simply speaking, the "Gini" is a measurement of the disparity between the rich and the poor in any given country. It was developed by a socialist, for socialist propaganda, and the results are generally skewed to make socialism look better than capitalism because it favors countries that have little or no individual exceptionalism and countries where the government dictates salaries. Lastly, Brzezinski claimed that Europeans are more upwardly mobile than Americans.

There's a reason that Jimmy Carter wears the "worst President ever" crown. He basically hired idiot socialists like Brzezinski.

Once again, we have a another leftist -- in concert with Obama -- playing class warfare. People like Brzezinski seem to think that income disparity is the only measurement of a society that counts. But, what they ignore is that fact that Americans enjoy one of the highest standards of living; including our supposed 30 million poor. Many of the so-called poor of this country enjoy a more comfortable lifestyle than the poor of hundreds of other countries. According to a study conducted by our own Department of Energy on energy consumption by social class, 99.7% of those defined as poor have refrigerators and 95% have stoves and ovens. Nearly 98% have TV's. Most have cars and nearly 75% have home air conditioning. In Europe, even some of the most posh apartments don't have air conditioning because energy prices are too high. That's why over 5000 people died in 2003 in France when they had several days of 100 degree heat.

I'm not saying that people aren't hurting in America but, we have several safety nets to help those people survive who have little or no income. 1.2 million of our poor live in some form of low rent or rent-free public housing. 40 million receive food stamps. 57 million Americans receive health care support through Medicaid. We have free school lunch programs in support of the poor. Additionally, people, having low incomes can actually file an income tax return, pay no taxes, and get paid in the process through something called the Earned Income Tax Credit. And, list goes on.

When it comes to income disparity, the only thing that comes to my mind is social jealousy and not the lack of social justice. Does it really matter if Jay Leno has a warehouse full of expensive rare cars? Does his having those cars prevent anyone else from having a car? Not hardly. What really matters is that almost all Americans who "need" a car have one.

It also amazes me that Brzezinski used Europe as an example of a more upwardly mobile society to live in than the U.S. Aside from Germany, Europe is in a mess and either partly or wholly teetering on collapse. The social unrest is unbelievable. Brzezinski is just totally off his nut. Again, it all comes down to standards of living and the purchasing power of Americans versus Europeans. The average new home being built in the U.K., for example, is just under 800 square feet; the worst in Europe (Click here to See Story). In the U.S., that number is over 2300 square feet. Even in the more affluent country of Denmark, the average new home size is still nearly half that of the U.S. The average American household owns 2.3 automobiles. In Europe, the statistic is half that and Europeans depend heavily on public transportation. But, there's a reason for this and it all has to do with the fact that Europeans have less disposable income than Americans. That's why the average age of an automobile in Europe is 13 years compared to only 9 years in the U.S.

Over and over again, liberals love to hate America. If Brzezinski thinks Europe is such a great place, then move there and take his daughter, Mika (Joe Scarborough's Co-Host on "Morning Joe"), with him. If the "Gini" is so important, he should think about moving to a country like Botswana, where there is such "low" disparity of income. A place, where so many people get to enjoy all the amenities of a one or two-room, dirt-floor house or hut that has no running water, no electricity and, certainly, no air conditioning. Yes sir, that "Gini" is fine way of measuring social justice.

Declining Graduation Rates and the Disparity Between The Rich And The Poor

America's political left wants us all to believe that the rich are getting richer off the backs of the poor. But, that argument simply makes no sense. Using that kind of logic is the same as saying that, if we had no rich, we would then have no poor. In reality, if we had no rich we would look more like some of the poorest, 3rd world, countries on this planet. When it comes to the rich versus the poor argument, I think John F. Kennedy said it best: "A rising tide lifts all boats". Meaning that, as a country becomes more wealthy, even the poorest of the poor will benefit.

To me, the progressive/liberal argument is totally ignorant of reality. Did Steve Jobs, in becoming a millionaire, take money away from those who were poor in this country? Not hardly. If anything, his wealth, his company's profits, and the personal incomes of the workforce that he created have only helped pay for all of the government programs that support the poor; such as food stamps and even the earned income tax credit where that poorest of our tax payers pay no tax and actually get money back.

In my opinion, the real reason that the poor are getting poorer in this country has do with a decline in the value of our human capital. By that, I mean, that our workforce has become less educated and less dedicated and, as a consequence, less able to get the kind of jobs that produce a lifetime of good earnings.

In the 1960's, the average high school graduation rate was 82%. Today, that national average has declined to 70%. Worse yet, in our 50 largest cities, the rate stands at only 53%. Conversely, this means that 47% percent of the people in our highest population centers are without the discipline and motivation to finish high school and, subsequently, are without the education needed to obtain a quality, high paying job.

Based on a March 2011 report from the Bureau of Labor And Statistics titled "Education Pays..," the unemployment rate for those without a high school diploma was, at that time, just under 15%. Also, those with a diploma were nearly 50% better off with an unemployment rate of 10.3%. But, for a college degreed worker, the unemployment rate was only 5.4%; three times better than the non-high school graduate.

So, obviously, those who don't finish high school are a real drag on the economy when it comes to the unemployment rate. More importantly, a worker without a high school diploma will, on average, make 41% less money over his/her lifetime than a worker with one. And, that's the the crux of our increasing rich/poor disparity problem. With declining high school graduation rates in America, our overall workforce is becoming less educated and poorer. It's also the reason the middle class is in decline. Its no coincidence that 47% of us pay no taxes and 47% of high school students in our major cities don't graduate.

The rich aren't responsible for this. Yet the Democrats still insist on playing the class game. Just recently, the Government Accounting Office released a set of statistics showing that the top 1% of all wage earners have had their salaries jump by 270 percent in the last 30 years while the bottom 20% only saw a gain of 18%. Of course, to a liberal, this just proves that the rich are getting richer at the expense of the poor. But no. This just proves my point that we have an education problem in this country. And, despite decades of effort and billions of dollars being spent on liberal programs like increased teacher's pay, smaller class sizes, preschool and after school programs, etc., the problem has only gotten worse. But, you see, education still all comes down to the student wanting to learn and work hard for that degree. Instead of condemning the rich, we should encourage our nation's students to look up to them and want to emulate them by working hard to get a good education. Maybe then, the disparity between the rich and poor will start to narrow again.