This Labor Day, a reminder that the USA ranks worse than Russia and China on economic inequality—without immediate change, we all but ensure economic catastrophe
I have no doubt that wage theft is a terrible problem, perhaps to the extent you argue, which I would not doubt. However, the article you rely on is 12 years and isn’t reflective of life today, so as support for your position, I believe it’s quite weak.
This is a great article, Qasim. Sheer frustration has me thinking that only a serious economic crash would awaken most people in the US out of their dream-state, sadly. What you point out here is so obvious, and yet.. I listen to APM's Marketplace ever day and keep hearing the same lullaby. Stock Market's never been better!! Jobs are picking up!!! Inflation will likely ease in the next few months (hm I heard THAT a few months ago!). True, Ryssdal does keep warning about that DEBT-and-its-interest-rate. And Trump is rebuilding all of DC on our money. No one seems----worried?
Thank you, Qasim, a good reminder of many things past and possible paths to the future. My dad was anti-union...unless it was his union, the Airline Pilots Association, which lifted our family into the middle class. I've seen both sides and as a small business owner, use today as a small reward and thank you for my staff's labor.
Regarding dictators providing better economic justice, this has a parallel in Mesopotamia, where kings instituted periodic debt forgiveness in order to maintain social order. That policy did not get transferred to Rome, which is why the Roman Empire collapsed into the Dark Ages.
Interesting! In "End Times: Elites, counter-elites, and the path of political disintegration," Peter Turchin analyzes the historical and global pattern of societal collapse. Thumbnail of the book: when elites stop caring about everyone else, that society is on the path to destruction. Turchin's research concludes that there's only about a 25-ish percent chance of a society averting destruction. One way the British relieved the pressure was to send overseas the supernumerary elite next generation. The youngsters who grew up in great comfort become a source of trouble when the system cannot provide them with the lifestyle to which they were accustomed. We can't do that anymore.
The 'best' solution is when prosocial elites realize that if they don't seriously modify elite behaviors, civil disturbance will follow, which will also cause the elites to lose a lot of what they value most. Their money and possibly their lives.
Who'd have thought that Mesopotamian society was smarter than high-tech America? Thank you for the insight!
The earliest record of debt forgiveness is 2400 BCE in the Sumerian city of Lagash, so it actually goes back to the Bronze Age. Human brains were larger during the Bronze Age, so maybe that explains it.
While working as a change nurse in Illinois, I was getting groceries at the neighborhood store and chatting with the kid packing my groceries. I had been taking care of his Granny, it's a small town. He was commenting on the low pay for nursing in the area and I asked him if he was better paid and why. He showed me his Union button, URCofA! When I finally was forced to form a union where I worked, I called the Retail Clerks Union, because no one in Illinois was willing to help health care workers.
Yes, it is astonishing and disorienting that we fell so far so fast, but I guess it shouldn't be. Breaking things takes no time or thought really. I hope, and send my earnest prayers to the All-There-Is, that something good will remain after all this destruction.
Well said and absolutely true Qasim. Thank you for sharing.
"Unions the folks who brought you the weekend".
Solidarity!
I have no doubt that wage theft is a terrible problem, perhaps to the extent you argue, which I would not doubt. However, the article you rely on is 12 years and isn’t reflective of life today, so as support for your position, I believe it’s quite weak.
This is a great article, Qasim. Sheer frustration has me thinking that only a serious economic crash would awaken most people in the US out of their dream-state, sadly. What you point out here is so obvious, and yet.. I listen to APM's Marketplace ever day and keep hearing the same lullaby. Stock Market's never been better!! Jobs are picking up!!! Inflation will likely ease in the next few months (hm I heard THAT a few months ago!). True, Ryssdal does keep warning about that DEBT-and-its-interest-rate. And Trump is rebuilding all of DC on our money. No one seems----worried?
Thank you, Qasim, a good reminder of many things past and possible paths to the future. My dad was anti-union...unless it was his union, the Airline Pilots Association, which lifted our family into the middle class. I've seen both sides and as a small business owner, use today as a small reward and thank you for my staff's labor.
The irony of it all....
To be polite and share, it is so easy to hurt someone, don't'
Well said, labor creates all wealth. Solidarity forever!
Regarding dictators providing better economic justice, this has a parallel in Mesopotamia, where kings instituted periodic debt forgiveness in order to maintain social order. That policy did not get transferred to Rome, which is why the Roman Empire collapsed into the Dark Ages.
Interesting! In "End Times: Elites, counter-elites, and the path of political disintegration," Peter Turchin analyzes the historical and global pattern of societal collapse. Thumbnail of the book: when elites stop caring about everyone else, that society is on the path to destruction. Turchin's research concludes that there's only about a 25-ish percent chance of a society averting destruction. One way the British relieved the pressure was to send overseas the supernumerary elite next generation. The youngsters who grew up in great comfort become a source of trouble when the system cannot provide them with the lifestyle to which they were accustomed. We can't do that anymore.
The 'best' solution is when prosocial elites realize that if they don't seriously modify elite behaviors, civil disturbance will follow, which will also cause the elites to lose a lot of what they value most. Their money and possibly their lives.
Who'd have thought that Mesopotamian society was smarter than high-tech America? Thank you for the insight!
The earliest record of debt forgiveness is 2400 BCE in the Sumerian city of Lagash, so it actually goes back to the Bronze Age. Human brains were larger during the Bronze Age, so maybe that explains it.
Oh maybe that does explain it!
And just think, our brains are shrinking with “information technology.”
Thanks Qasim these facts speak for themselves. That's why the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. FACTS MATTER!
While working as a change nurse in Illinois, I was getting groceries at the neighborhood store and chatting with the kid packing my groceries. I had been taking care of his Granny, it's a small town. He was commenting on the low pay for nursing in the area and I asked him if he was better paid and why. He showed me his Union button, URCofA! When I finally was forced to form a union where I worked, I called the Retail Clerks Union, because no one in Illinois was willing to help health care workers.
Yes, it is astonishing and disorienting that we fell so far so fast, but I guess it shouldn't be. Breaking things takes no time or thought really. I hope, and send my earnest prayers to the All-There-Is, that something good will remain after all this destruction.
$79 Trillion stolen from the bottom 90% and redistributed to the top 1% will do that.
Thank You for the data points. I will happily share this to my contacts. It is pathetic that these stats exist in a country as wealthy as the USA
Labor Day Wealth Gap Map: 1,000 billionaires, Republican lackeys and struggling Americans
https://thedemlabs.org/2026/09/07/labor-day-wealth-gap-map-billionaires-gop/