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Unless you've been living under a rock for the last several weeks; you've been exposed to the latest battlefront in the class warfare between the haves and the have nots commonly referred to as "Occupy Wall St." If for some reason you haven't been paying attention; here is the closest thing I've found to a mission statement from www.occupywallst.org.
"Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future."
I've read that gibberish several times now, and I'll be damned if I can find anything in that word salad that even remotely resembles anything that isn't a jingo laden talking point, but what I take away from it is essentially that the entities that have the wealth are the ones who can effectively peddle influence and power within society. Upon putting this thought from virtual pen to virtual paper; two questions arise:
1.) In exactly what developed and generally wealthy society has this NOT been true?
2.) What exactly would you suggest we do about it?
The answer to the first one is largely rhetorical, because in the history of Western Civilization I cannot think a single instance where wealth and power were not highly correlated (which is why my PERSONAL ideology is one based in individual people developing their OWN wealth and power base, but that's another blog for another day). However, the answer to question two; once all is said and done has only one solution*...the mass redistribution of wealth.
Let me be clear, when I say "mass redistribution of wealth" I mean exactly that. You see; have nots have been pissed off at haves ever since the first cow farmer traded for a long horn. There is a lot of money and power to be made by continually pointing out that there is always someone who has more than you; and despite what your mother told you when you were seven "It's not fair" IS a valid argument when the issue at stake is microeconomics.
The Raw Data
From www.usdebtclock.org as of this writing:
- M2 Money Supply: $9,435,272,000,000
- US Gross Domestic Product: $14,979,449,000,000
- US Total Debt: $54,562,973,000,000
- US Population: 312,471,569
- US Households: 82,384,689
For our purposes, we'll consider M2 Money Supply to be the liquid dollar value of all Cash-Cash equivalent assets held within U.S. borders, and Gross Domestic Product as its usual income/standard of living corollary. Both numbers are rounded (along with Total Debt) to the 1 millions position for calculations purposes.
Economic Reset Button:
Now that we've pulled our data, lets redistribute some wealth. Let's start with the fun stuff; the cash!
M2$S/USPop = $9,435,272,000,000/312,471,569 = $30,195.62 per person.
M2$S/USH = $9,435,272,000,000/82,384,689 = $114,527.00 per household.
Now, with these to simple equations (which BTW, are effective corollaries for individual and household GROSS worth), we have already determined our own inequality. Households are defined and determined from Census data; and as most know, my household consists of only myself...do I get a check for $30,195.62 or do I get a check for $114,527.00? Meanwhile, a household with 4 or more persons; presumably some of them under the age of 18, and thus not legally adults, meaning the "head of household" could feasibly end up with custodial custody of $30k*number of persons within the household.
Now, if we're going to socialize our assets, we must also socialize our liabilities. After all, we're all in this together.
USTD/USPop =$54,562,973,000,000/312,471,569 = $174,617.40 debt per person
USTD/USH = $54,562,973,000,000/82,384,689 = $662,295.07 debt per household
Wow, this shouldn't surprise me (since I did a whole series on the major debt problem in this country on the macro level, but I had NO idea that there was such a discrepancy at the microlevel). Again, these calculations are corollaries for per capita averages; meaning if your personal/household numbers are BELOW the above, congratulations, you're better than average.
So we now have our new GROSS worth per person/household, and our debt per person/household; lets calculate our new NET worth (Gross worth - debts).
M2/Capita - Debt/Capita = $30,195.62 - $174,617.40 = -$144,421.78 per capita net worth.
M2/Household - Debt/household = $114,527.00 - $662,295.07 = -$547,768.07
Doing the math this way, are you better off? Lets run the checklist:
Who Loses in our Robin Hood Game?
As an individual, is your gross worth more than $30,195.62?
Is your household gross worth more than $114,527.00?
As an individual, is your debt LESS than $174,617.40?
Is your household debt LESS than $662,295.07? (this number still blows my mind)
And finally...
Is your personal net worth more than -$144,421.78 (BTW, if you have a job and a car, it probably is)
Is your household net worth more than -$547,768.07 (if you own the computer you are reading this blog on, it is essentially mathematically impossible for you, your household, and your entire EXTENDED FAMILY to have a net worth of NEGATIVE A HALF MILLION DOLLARS COMBINED!)
But wait, there's more!
Notice the mathematics above only considers fixed assets; we're not considering income. So let's do that really quickly.
USGDP/Capita = $14,979,449,000,000//312,471,569 = $47,938.60 per person
USGDP/Household = $14,979,449,000,000/82,384,689 = $181,823.21 per household.
Now, this is more than likely where movements like Occupy Wall St, gain their steam and following; because I know several people who live in households not earning 181k, and several individuals not earning 48k. It's that evil 1% who is skewing the data upwards; real people don't make that much money. So lets reconsider what effects our redistribution of wealth with have on the income situation in America:
USGDP*/Capita = $0/312,471,569 = $0.00 per person
USGDP*/household = *0/312,471,569 = $0.00 per person.
Some of you out there are surely screaming loudly at your monitors at my calculations above. Allow me to enlighten you. Producers need resources to produce goods to bring to market. However, we have literally just reallocated every cash equivalent resource in America; this means that the producers will only be able to sell the goods they currently hold in inventory; and hopefully they can earn enough from those sales to meet their payroll at the end of the week to keep the employees producing the NEXT batch of inventory to sell so they can meet another payroll; and so on and so forth.
The Tank Says This...
So let's consider what "Occupy Wall St" is actually clamoring for. Stealing from any one person who happens to have more than 30,000 in the bank or family with 115,000 in nominal terms; burdening EVERYONE with numbers that ensure every single person will get slapped with 176,000 in individual debt and over a HALF OF A MILLION dollars in household debt. This of course, by definition means that the net worth of every person/household in America will be decimated, but not to worry because every American company will have to shut down because they have no cash to pay their workers with. Sure everyone will essentially be bankrupt, but at least the crushing grip of poverty is "equal"
I propose this. Our founding fathers boldly declared that "All men are created equal". That statement means only one thing to me; we all come into the world cold, naked and screaming; after that what we do with it is up to us. Rather than standing out on the sidewalk holding a sign and tweeting all day, invest in yourself, go to trade school; develop a skill. If you lack the skill set to be a productive member of society in the year of our Lord 2011; then that is unfortunate; but the law of the jungle has always been to weed out the weak; and the day is fast approaching when you chomp down entirely too hard on the hand that feeds you; and the response is going to be for that hand to make a fist...then for you it's all downhill from there. You'll have a choice to make, evolve or perish.
Because after all, life isn't fair.
