Are We the Most Unequal Society in the Developed World?

[Figaro]

[The dane]

Yes, you are, and I don't think it's even close.

Any time someone tries to talk about this issue, you get instant cries of "class warfare !", not just from the opposition, but from the media as well. The actual class warfare is the tricle down economics and deregulation that started under Reagan, and it's been a fairly onesided slaughter.

[Philly]

I think we have put a lot of focus on income inequality which is certainly important, but if you compare it to a lot of European countries, the income alone leaves out a big difference.

European welfare states (the nice northern ones that are still nice, not the dumpsterfire former empire part of Europe) seem like a much better place to be a low income earner. Just for one very obvious example: true universal healthcare puts all workers on equal footing in that realm, while in America the low income hourly workers aren't getting healthcare but salaried white collar employees usually do, on top of the larger income. Of course not all European countries are the same, but you see a lot of various government programs or publicly funded services which aren't available to the poor here. These programs make economic sense and would be properly utilized by the vast majority of recipients but our strange politics tends to obsess on the occasional instance in which someone who doesn't need help gets it, rather than the millions who need help and aren't getting it.

And not entirely off topic: America has such an insanely high incarceration rate and poors are far more likely to be locked up, just another reason that America is a bad place to be poor.

Before anyone comes in talking about BUT SECTION 8 AND SNAP AND WIC, yeah we subsidize the existence of poors because they can't afford to live and social mobility is becoming a joke so we'll continue to do it forever if we don't focus on solutions for these people rather than just dismissively speculate that they have enough help.

[Mr. Shaman]

[Mr. Shaman]

[Decypher]

America has such a huge population that it perhaps doesn't make sense to compare it to the developed countries of Europe, Denmark for instance only has a population of 5 million so there isn't massive income disparity, social programs are effective and social mobility is very possible. If the US is compared to countries of a similar population like Brazil or Indonesia, then it preforms well.

[Mr. Shaman]

[Philly]

[Mr. Shaman]

[Philly]

A welfare state is a concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_state

Again, you're adopting the negative connotation toward the term "welfare" that conservatives promote.