Wealth

I know no class of my fellowmen, however just, enlightened, and humane, which can be wisely and safely trusted absolutely with the liberties of any other class.

- Frederick Douglass

Sojourners

$50 hamburgers.
$700,000 inkpens.
$10 million dollar homes.
Private submarines.
Welcome to Richistan, U.S.A.

As a proud member of the working class, I read with interest an article by Paul Harris reprinted in yesterday's Alternet about the growing income disparity in the United States.

"In 2005 the top one per cent of earners in the US gained 14 per cent in income in real terms, while the rest of the country gained less than one per cent. The situation is especially bad for the severely poor -- those living at half the poverty level -- whose numbers are at a 32-year high."

So-- is Frederick Douglass' quote true for me, who is on the receiving end of the lack of liberty? (Think: the freedom to live without the fear of dire poverty and homelessness.) You bet. If it were within my power, the wealth of the truly rich would be distributed to reshape our communities, and the rich would have to live like the rest of us.