Dear Jesse,
Here is a chart that will help keep hope alive. On the top line it tells what the actual wealth distribution in the US is. The middle line shows how wrong a cross-section of Americans is in how they think the wealth distribution plays out.
And the third line is a grand-slam: what this cross-section of America--which reflects the country's ideological, economic and gender demographics--thinks the wealth distribution should be.
The chart is part of a study, Building a Better America, by Michael Norton and Dan Ariely.
What do you think they think it should be? Here's a hint from the study: "All demographic groups -- even those not usually associated with wealth redistribution such as Republicans and the wealthy -- desired a more equal distribution of wealth than the status quo."
To the extent that this is accurate, there is a 30 year-old cross-class, cross-ideology, cross-gender majority consensus on what kind of America we want.
This leaves us with a strategy question: how do we give voice to that consensus?
Read the report. It is short, powerful, and has two other rich charts.
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