{"id":23679,"date":"2017-04-18T19:33:25","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T00:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=23679"},"modified":"2017-04-18T19:33:25","modified_gmt":"2017-04-19T00:33:25","slug":"usa-2017-vs-france-1789","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=23679","title":{"rendered":"USA 2017 vs. France 1789"},"content":{"rendered":"

USA 2017 vs. France\u00a01789<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Most people are familiar with the story of the French Revolution: When the poor revolted against the unfairness and wealth inequality imposed by the aristocrats, they overthrew the monarchy and beheaded more than 40,000 people, mostly clergy and noblemen, as punishment for their crimes and injustices.<\/p>\n

The days of using a guillotine may be behind us \u2013 but the anger that led to that revolution is similar to the growing anger at economic inequality in the US today, and could lead to the same kind of unrest.<\/p>\n

In France, there were three classes<\/a>: The First Estate, made up of clergy; The Second Estate, made up of the nobility; and the Third Estate, made up of everyone else. Even though the first two Estates were made up of just 3% of the population, they owned 35% of the land, paid almost no taxes, and held virtually all the political power in the country.<\/p>\n

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Where are we in America today?<\/p>\n

Wealth distribution<\/strong><\/p>\n

If they were around today, heads still attached, French aristocrats would be mightily impressed with the wealth accumulation of America\u2019s rich. The top 1% of the country owns 35% of the wealth; the top 10% owns 77% of the wealth. The bottom 40% owns 0% (here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Perhaps the best summary of where we are on wealth inequality can be found in the video below:<\/p>\n