What's Wrong With Too Much Money

The American dream promises that if we work hard, we can build wealth to support ourselves and our families, and benefit our nation.

But our current political and economic system is rigged to reward a wealthy few at the expense of the American dream for the rest of us – the ultra-rich keep getting richer at the expense of hardworking Americans.

Why is excessive wealth a problem for shared economic prosperity, democracy, and civil society?

Illustration of social disparityWealth can be a positive thing when it improves education, protects health, creates new businesses and jobs, and improves our quality of life. Unfortunately, the United States has become a plutocracy where a few ultra-rich individuals and families control almost all of the wealth and power.

Individuals who build excessive wealth for themselves dodge paying their fair share of taxes and pull strings in Washington so that they get richer, even in times of crisis. They take advantage of legal loopholes they created to hoard trillions of dollars in wealth while leaving us with less public money to pay for our public schools, roads, bridges, healthcare, and many other things our communities need and our taxes fund. Some break the law and many escape law enforcement because the IRS doesn’t have enough resources to oversee and ensure they pay what they owe.

Extreme wealth inequality is correlated with poor outcomes on virtually all social indicators, such as life expectancy, incarceration, and education. It also distorts our democracy and leads to slower economic growth. Our nation is struggling to address the myriad problems created by a growing gap between the wealthy and the poor.

During COVID 19, almost one million Americans have died and tens of millions have lost jobs. But 700 US billionaires have watched their collective wealth skyrocket by 70% to more than $5 trillion.

It doesn’t have to be this way. In the early 20th century, the very wealthy paid their fair share in taxes, CEO pay was reasonable in relation to other workers’ pay, and our nation was thriving. But over the past 40 years, the ultra-rich have recruited teams of lawyers, lobbyists, and tax consultants to exponentially increase and protect their wealth with special laws so they can hoard more of it.

We can get rid of excessive wealth and help our communities thrive once again. The solution lies in policies that tax the excessively wealthy so that we can reinvest in critical public services like healthcare, education, and climate change mitigation.

Our government is responsible for managing our economy and can correct laws so that we put an end to excessive wealth building – but public pressure is needed to make these changes happen.

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