The income gap between the ears

[_subgenius]

In 1820, 94% of the world’s population was living in extreme poverty.
By 1910, this figure had fallen to 82%
By 1950 the rate had dropped yet further, to 72%.

However, the largest and fastest decline occurred between 1981 (44.3%) and 2015 (9.6%).

The weekly hours worked by the average American are now 25 hours less than they were in 1860. At the same time, people enter the world of work later in life, retire earlier and live longer after retirement.

A study of 180 countries over four decades shows that the increase in income for the poorest in a society is primarily due to growth rather than redistribution: 77% of income growth for the poorest 40% of a population are directly linked to the average growth of a country.


So yes, the "wealthy" have gotten wealthier, and often it has been at a greater pace than the millions of people who are not "at the top".
But not starving and not being unemployed is a significant accomplishment for capitalism over the almost 200 years.

So, why is income so easily politicized among people who proclaim themselves as being led by facts and science?

[_Chap]

But not starving and not being unemployed is a significant accomplishment for capitalism over the almost 200 years.

By and large, and on the whole, large parts of humanity have made great progress over the last two centuries. Of course it is naïve to pretend that things have got better for everybody on a uniform basis. The industrialisation of chattel slavery in the southern US during the rise of cotton was not so great for large numbers of African people. But on the whole, seen over the long term, things have got better. Only ignorant people would deny that proposition, with appropriate reservations.

However, if one focusses in on a narrower timescale for the US, have things continued to show a steady upward grade for everybody?

One might start with this recent Pew report, for instance:

Trends in income and wealth inequality

Household incomes have grown only modestly in this century, and household wealth has not returned to its pre-recession level. Economic inequality, whether measured through the gaps in income or wealth between richer and poorer households, continues to widen.

These are not reassuring developments for US middle-class people. Central assumptions about the way of life that many Americans have come to expect are now subject to change.

And now we have COVID-19 ...

[_honorentheos]

The fastest decline in global poverty levels corresponded with the industrialization of China, India, and Africa?

Huh.