If Barack Obama accomplished anything during his presidency, it has been to popularize the term one percent. In doing so, he has revealed his true political leanings byinjecting classic Marxist class warfare rhetoric into political discourse. Who among us has not heard the phrase bandied about over the past six years? What is it supposed to signify? Marxist doctrine tells us that the one percenters are those ultra rich folks who are the top one percent of the income level. In turn, they are the wealthy elite who run the country and exploit everyone under them on the economic ladder. They are evil, and we are to fear them, and ultimately dislodge them from their lavish estates so they can no longer control the rest of us.
But who exactly are these one percenters we are told to distrust and despise? Are they money-grubbing, profit mongering, cigar chomping ruthless capitalist barons as leftists would have us believe? Are they members of an exclusive club whose membership is severely restricted?
The University of Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics decided to investigate. Their finding were eye opening, to say the least. The study completely obliterates the notion that the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and that everyone in between is in a perpetual state of economic stagnation from which there is no escape. Here is what the study found:
By age 60, almost 70% of the working population will spend at least one year in the top 20% of income earners; 53% will have at least one year in the top 10% of earners; 11% will spend at least one year in the top 1% of earners. And to dispel the idea that the one percenters have exclusive membership in a highly restricted club, only a microscopic .06% remain in the top 1% for more than a decade.
What these numbers show is that income status in the US is quite fluid. People go up the ladder, down the ladder, back up the ladder, and so forth. The idea that the top 1% is a private club is demolished. People come, people go.
What doesn't change is the left wing's attempts to instigate class warfare, where the rich devour the poor, and people are forever locked into their economic status like medievil serfs. In truth, upward mobility is the hallmark of a free market society. All that is required is hard work, dedication and goals. While success is not guaranteed, failure is not pre-ordained by some ruthless elite hiding in their mansions.
