Six Waltons have more wealth than bottom 30%

I recently read with great interest an online Forbes article titled, “Six Waltons have more wealth than bottom 30%.â€

Sadly, I found this article to be a typical example of “blame the victim†although the victim is the 30% and not the Waltons.  As you probably know, the Waltons are the ultra-rich founding family of the retail behemoth, Wal-Mart.

I had hoped that the author, Tim Worstall, would have taken a much different POV in this article.  He seems to avoid, dismiss, or ignore the most blatantly obvious point that was never made— income inequality and the disproportionate wealth enjoyed by a tiny few has reached a hideously and dangerously unfair level.  Period.

This story, and so many more like, tells us about 6 folks who are ridiculously rich while a huge number of people (their customers?) suffer on a daily basis.  The Waltons, just like any other member of the elite 1% use the political and legal mechanisms of police protection, inheritance, and lobbying to insulate massive amounts of wealth for themselves.  These folks have more “wealth†than 90-100 million folks.  This is not a word game, nor is it something to be abstractly obfuscated.  This is only one story of many, yet it is one more example of the absurd injustice that occurs daily in the USA.  Folks are in pain, in fear, and with no hope.  That is the fact, while others have nearly all of the wealth and the power to keep and horde that wealth.  The writer of this article seems to whitewash the problem of wealth and income disparity entirely, only to take the ultra-conservative (most common to talk-radio) approach by questioning whether or not the poor folks on the wrong end of this equation are really suffering or really poor at all.  Skewing the discussion in a way that casts doubt on the poor, on the unemployed, or the ex-middle class who now find themselves to be welfare recipients (those tricky rascals!) is a shrewd move to deflect our attention from the real issue —that we are oppressed by a system of economic and social injustice in the USA.  To blame the victim is a typical tactic that protects the oligarch and the tyrant from accountability.  The working poor or the poor of any kind or description are not the problem.  The problem rests entirely within a system that protects the few while marginalizing the majority.  Opportunities are scare or bleak at best, contrary to the Reaganite mythology that we are fed by the mainstream media.  Stay in line, shut up, and like it is the mantra that is expected of workers in this society.  It is amazing to me how docile and blank we are in the face of such a lopsided and unfair deal.

The article can be accessed at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/six-waltons-more-wealth-bottom-172819426.html