Income inequality in a number of Nebraska counties is increasing, and it is increasing in the counties with the highest and fastest growing incomes. The counties with the fewest college graduates and the lowest income levels also have the most income equality. I learned this from a report by David J. Peters in the Fall 2011 issue of Great Plains Research.
I’m grossly oversimplifying a sophisticated scientific study, but Mr. Peters notes that the inequality tends to worsen when a county develops the high-end service sector (think computer techs) and low end service jobs (think Wal-Mart). Counties that have low inequality are rural and somewhat stagnant, which means almost everyone is at the low end of the income scale.
Couple those findings with a study cited in today’s Allentown Morning Call. Martha Bailey, an assistant economic professor from the University of Michigan, found that 54% of students from wealthy families obtained college degrees, but only 9% of low income students received their diplomas. She defined wealthy as students from households bringing in at least $87,000 annually; low income as less than $26,000. Since a college degree is a ticket to higher mobility, the poor are falling further behind.
What both of these studies suggest to me is that the U.S. is evolving into a three-tier society. First, we have the extremely rich--the 1% who rake in gobs of money and do not pay their fair share of taxes. Secondly, we have the comfortable segment whose kids get college degrees, who have low unemployment, and who, if not super-rich, are not exactly hurting. They probably identify upward. The last tier includes the people who are not making it, who are working dead end jobs if they can find employment, and who are not really part of the political system.
Political philosophers from Aristotle to Ben Franklin to Franklin Roosevelt have noted that a community is strongest when most of the citizenry are firmly middle class. A society with wealthy people confronting poor people is in trouble. I think we better start a dialogue on this topic. Perhaps it will be discussed at the next Republican debate, the same day pigs fly.
Pigs can usually be found at the trough. It's time to stop filling the trough. Let the pigs wallow in the mud for a while. Maybe they will come to their senses. However they are nowhere near the runway, so flying won't happen.
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