America is going through financial trouble, while the 1% possesses 40% of our wealth. Is that about accurate?

Wealth is not a stagnant amount. It varies, and it grows when someone makes it grow. Middle class labor does not make it grow, but that labor is required to produce what the factory owner wants produced. It was his capital that built the factory, and his idea or an idea he bought or an old idea he put his money into producing.

When capital is invested this way, then sold, it creates NEW wealth, called profit. In the process the middle class earn the supply-and-demand value of wages. As the wages drop, so will the profit, eventually, because there will be less money for them to spend on products.

Because profit is produced (when it is done honestly) the profit is THEIRS, not "ours". I don't the exact numbers--1% owning 40$ of the wealth may or may not be correct--but it isn't "ours". It is "theirs" just as what you have is yours--if you worked for it, as they worked for it.

Phoenix tells you the short version of this http://www.working-minds.com/money.htm , and it also answers Lloyd's concern that "The thing that is troubling to the rich is the possibility of the whole system crumbling, leading to food riots etc."

Yes,that is accurate and already updated data.In fact, there is no relation between financial trouble and inequalities.The financial trouble is concerning the fake demand.It might due to the fixed exchange rate, or the subprime. The inequalities have been predicted as a reason for social riot.

Explaining economics to a Liberal is like teaching Calculus to a chimp.

America is going through financial trouble but the money possessed by the rich is irrelevant because money is just a symbol for wealth, not wealth itself.

Wealth is the ability to produce actual product.

It doesn't matter how many symbols you vrs your neighbor have,

If a farmer can grow food, that's wealth.

If we make his neighbor a millionaire does that change the ability to grow food?

What if we make his neighbor a billionaire?

Look at all those unequally distributed digits in bank computers, do you think that affects the rain for this years harvest?

Moronic Marxists & Liberals think all those symbolic dollars create hardship if not equally distributed.

The poor don't have money because the rich took it all. If we just spread it around wealth will return.

Like I said....Chimps & Calculus.

Wealth is created when the Rich organize the poor to produce real products.

And the symbol of money is how its done.

Money is the promise of value to be returned in exchange for real wealth generated.

Steal the money through 'redistribution' you break the promise & you kill the wealth.

And all you are left with is useless symbols.

Capitalism is unequal wealth.

Socialism is distributed poverty.

YES!

for most of human history we lived as small family bands sharing good times and bad

maybe 10,000 years ago with settled agriculture there was surplus. that lead to specialization, and hierarchy

for most of modern history the only way some could be wealthy was to get the surplus of others

we had kings, high priests barons aristocracy etc

all wealth was based on human muscle work, slavery in one form or another .

from the 1800s we have the industrial revolution and energy from burning coal and oil. a human slave is worth less than $0.50 a day in electric power. there is plenty of production of goods and service to go around but the old idea of GREED, more for me due to less from you is ingrained

from 1950-1970s the GAP in America between the very wealthy and average was small and shrinking

from 1970s the wealthy and powerful have tried to return to the "good old days"

that is the core of our modern economic problem

read Richard Wolff and Robert Reiche

it is not wealth that is a problem, it is unfair distribution

Capitalism works well to produce wealth but it concentrates the wealth," money runs up hill"

No that's not accurate.

It's not "our" wealth, it's their wealth. Much of the financial trouble we find ourselves in is due to that simple misconception.

"Some see private enterprise as a predatory target to be shot, others as a cow to be milked, but few are those who see it as a sturdy horse pulling the wagon. "

Churchill

The thing that is troubling to the rich is the possibility of the whole system crumbling, leading to food riots etc. They are very troubled by this. Do they lack for money right now?... no. Do the poor lack for government programs right now?... no. The real problem is the 1.4 trillion dollar annual deficit that is propping up a failing system. This debt will surely lead to a sad ending for us all.

I wouldnt be surprised they have much more than that, and/or you have much less. THEY probably have most of their wealth in off-shore, overseas and underground investments so you dont make good on that "our" bit. fotie bit gigabite ram

Typical class envy, repeating the mistakes of Communism.