Power in America: Wealth,Income and Power

[Mike]

CEOs' pay as a multiple of the average worker's pay

The Wealth Distribution
In the United States, wealth is highly concentrated in a relatively few hands. As of 2001, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 33.4% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 51%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 84%, leaving only 16% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers). In terms of financial wealth, the top 1% of households had an even greater share: 39.7%. Table 1 and Figure 1 present further details drawn from the careful work of economist Edward N. Wolff at New York University (2004).

Table 1: Distribution of net worth and financial wealth in the United States,
1983-2001
Total Net Worth
Top 1 percent Next 19 percent Bottom 80 percent
1983 33.8% 47.5% 18.7%
1989 37.4% 46.2% 16.4%
1992 37.2% 46.6% 16.3%
1995 38.5% 45.4% 16.1%
1998 38.1% 45.3% 16.6%
2001 33.4% 51.0% 15.5%

Financial Wealth
Top 1 percent Next 19 percent Bottom 80 percent
1983 42.9% 48.4% 8.7%
1989 46.9% 46.5% 6.6%
1992 45.6% 46.7% 7.7%
1995 47.2% 45.9% 7.0%
1998 47.3% 43.6% 9.1%
2001 39.7% 51.5% 8.8%

How does this play out in the world of education in America?

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[Mike]

Daniel.... hi and happy new year!!!

Your web site map and resources really are a great way for community members and leaders to "SEE" what it is and where it is that "WE" can help with-in a community!

This map from your site very much hit home for me.... as well as your written expression..which i will quote for others:

" This last map shows Christian, Catholic and Baptist churches in this district.
As faith leaders committed to social justice, what could they be doing to connect the rich people in this district with the poor people?" ( Daniel Bassill )

I am an idealist at heart, and i still, after decades of work, have a strong belief that people...given the right information and some tools want to help.....

Thanks for the work that you do.... be well.... mike

[Daniel Bassill]

Mike, thanks for taking a look. This is one of many maps that illustrate where people can get involved, and who should be getting involved because they are already involved in the area. Now we need to educate people in business, churches, leadership, colleges and others to look at the maps and decide how to use them. I hope you and others will be the people who help build these connections.

While we map Chicago, these types of maps could be created for any city, using the same ideas and strategies we have piloted in Chicago. Most major universities have a geography department, as do many businesses. If you show people what we're doing in Chicago it may be easier to convince them that it's possible to do the same elsewhere.

[Ian Carmichael]

Thanks for this map, Mike - I'm struck by the number of Baptist churches in the highest poverty areas. Jus to clarify my ignorance, are they independent or Northern Baptist? And, if not independent, is the denomination committed to social justice - that's a strong suit, historically, for Baptists and still is, at least in the UK and metropolitan Australia.
If there is a strong commitment to social justice, there's the local grounds for appeal. "Here's a part you can play in educational justice for your parish..."
I don't want to get particularly polemical, but it's often the case that high-crisis denominations (extreme poverty, war and so on) are not committed to much here-and-now response or engagement, but focus their thinking, singing and hope on the world to come being perfect, not on transforming the structures of the the world around.
What I'm saying practically is that any appeal for church engagement may need to remind the church of its full mission - that there are at least "signs of the kingdom" to be established in the here and now.

[Daniel Bassill]

Ian,

We created maps for most of the major faith denominations in Chicago. You can view them here.

All it takes is one person, one church, or one leader to invite others to look at this information, reflect on it, then act to help tutor/mentor programs grow in one or more neighborhoods.

Do any of you know of anyone creating maps like this for other major cities in the US, UK, Europe, Asia or elsewhere?

[Ian Carmichael]

No, I don't. I must connect with Dave Andrews of the Waiters Union - he's likely to either know, or start!

[Ian Carmichael]

I've at last sent some material off to Dave, Daniel. If anyone wants a snapshot of him, here's some bio notes, but better to chase up the Waiters Union information on his side link. Hope the idea connects.

[Daniel Bassill]

I skimmed through some of the links on Dave's page and found a pdf titled "youth facilities planning". Perhaps you could forward this link to him, illustrating the variety of supports for youth that might be available through a facility. This also illustrates the continuity of age-appropriate supports that should be available from preschool to first job, which is a 20-25 year continuous stream of service.

When communities begin to look at this as a range of supports available in a variety of locations, for a common goal, my hope is there will be a more consistent flow of resources, sustained over many years, to support such a system. For that to happen people need to be thinking in marketing terms, not just in formal education concepts.

[Mike]

Waldorf Negro Elementary School, Maryland (1941). Image courtesy of the National Archives.


Hi All.... a taste of spring weather here in southern new jersey!!

Maybe it was my eight graders assignment last night concerning reconstruction after the civil war....maybe it was actually looking around at our uraban schools in nj for years, or the schools in my county here in Southern NJ... maybe it was reading Rothstein... Kozol...Kohl....maybe it was getting the latest list of schools in the "restructuring phase" of NCLB in NJ...... maybe it was the fact that i had off on Martin Luther Kings Birthday and that it is Black History Month.....

But it seems our country is really not interested in really looking and "seeing" who it is we are "doing" our educational reform on!

Below... a look at Chicago...but pick a major city anywhere in America and you will find the same picture.

Chicago Segregated African American Elementary Schools which could have faced reconstitution at the end of the 2008-2009 school year

1. Bass (1140 W. 66th St. 60621); 508 total students; 99.8 percent African American students.
2. Bethune (3030 W. Arthington 60612); 353 total students; 99.4 percent African American.
3. Bontemps (1241 W. 58th St. 60636); 393 total students; 98.7 percent African-American.
4. Bradwell (7736 S. Burnham 60649); 770 students; 99.9 percent African American.
5. Brunson (932 N. Central Ave. 60651); 806 students; 96.4 percent African American.
6. Copernicus (6010 S. Throop 60636); 346 students; 99.4 percent African American
7. Curtis (32 E. 115th St. 60628); 470 students; 97.7 percent African American
8. Doolittle (535 E. 35th St. 60616); 431 students; 99.1 percent African American.
9. Dulles (6311 S. Calumet 60637); 429 students; 99.8 percent African American.
10. Dumas (6650 S. Ellis 60637); 382 students; 99 percent African American.
11. Earle (6121 S. Hermitage 60636); 394 students; 100 percent African American.
12. Fermi (1415 E. 70th St. 60637); 239 students; 98.7 percent African American
13. Fuller (4214 S. St. Lawrence 60653); 283 students; 99.6 percent African American
14. Fulton (5300 S. Hermitage 60609); 654 students; 82.3 percent African American; 17.5 percent Hispanic American.
15. Harvard (7252 S. Harvard 60620); 519 students; 98.7 percent African American
16. Henderson (5650 S. Wolcott 60636); 461 students; 98.7 percent African American.
17. Hinton 644 W. 71st St. 60621 421 99 percent African-American.
18. Holmes (955 W. Garfield Blvd. 60621); 462 students; 99.6 99 percent African-American.
19. Howe (720 N. Lorel 60644); 540 students; 99.4 99 percent African-American.
20. Johnson (1420 S. Albany 60623) 281 students; 99.3 99 percent African-American.
21. Kershaw (6450 S. Lowe 60621); 273 students; 98.9 99 percent African-American.
22. Key (517 N. Parkside 60644); 389 students; 98.5 99 percent African-American.
23. Lathrop (1440 S. Christiana 60623); 322 99.1 99 percent African-American.
24. Lavizzo (138 W. 109th St. 60628); 506 students; 98.6 99 percent African-American.
25. Lewis (1431 N. Leamington 60651); 813 students; 86.1 99 percent African-American; 13.5 percent Latino (110 students who are minorities but are not black).
26. Libby (5300 S. Loomis 60609); 569 students; 92.8 99 percent African-American; 7.2 percent students who are Latino (41 students who are minorities but not black).
27. May (512 S. Lavergne 60644); 588 students; 98.8 99 percent African-American.
28. McKay (6901 S. Fairfield 60629); 1,052 students; 89 99 percent African-American; 11.1 percent Latino (116 students who are minorities but not black).
29. Medill (1301 W. 14th St. 60608); 147 students; 100 99 percent African-American.
30. Morton (431 N. Troy 60612); 284 students; 94.7 99 percent African-American.
31. Nash (4837 W. Erie 60644); 584 students; 99.1 99 percent African-American.
32. O'Keefe (6940 S. Merrill 60649); 675 students; 100 99 percent African-American.
33. Park Manor (7037 S. Rhodes 60637); 378 students; 99.7 99 percent African-American.
34. Parkman (245 W. 51st St. 60609); 156 students; 87.8 99 percent African-American; 11.5 percent other minorities (18 students this school year).
35. Reed (6350 S. Stewart 60621); 297 students; 100 99 percent African-American.
36. Ross (6059 S. Wabash 60637); 411 students; 100 99 percent African-American.
37. Schiller (640 W. Scott 60610); 190 students; 99.5 99 percent African-American.
38. Sherman (1000 W. 52nd St. 60609); 584 students; 99.1 99 percent African-American.
39. Smyth (1059 W. 13th St, 60608); 592 students; 98 99 percent African-American.
40. Wentworth (6950 S. Sangamon 60621); 427 students; 98.6 99 percent African-American.
41. West Pullman (11941 S. Parnell 60628); 424 99.5 99 percent African-American.
42. Yale (7025 S. Princeton 60621); 294 students; 99.7 99 percent African-American.

Total 19,097 students in the 42 schools that could have faced 'turnaround'

97.7 percent African American

This list consists of Chicago public elementary schools (42) that could have been subjected to 'turnaround' at the end of the 2008-2009 school year because of 'academic failure.'

Kinda sad who we choose to "do" school reform on.

Will America ever want to speak about this secret hidden in plain sight!

be well... mike

[Daniel Bassill]

Mike, here's a map that supports your argument. Read the blog article that goes with it.

Until we get more people who do not live in poverty personally connected with children, youth and families who do, in on-going interactions, which is what a volunteer-based tutor/mentor program does, we don't have a strategy that builds the personal connections, and commitments, to change this picture.

Public and private sector funding on education focuses on teachers, principles, charter schools, etc. with very little focused on building, and sustaining, long term programs like Cabrini Connections, which is just one example of a place that builds these connections.

Turn your 8th graders into evangelists who educate their parents, neighbors, community members, and their friends so more people become directly involved as volunteers, donors and leaders in one or more tutor/mentor programs in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York or other cities where these statistics are the norm.

[Skip Zilla]

Tonight's (2/20/2009) broadcast of Bill Moyers Journal features a wonderful interview of Parker Palmer. Here's a link to the PBS page where a video of the interview can be found. Mike, I suspect that you're going to appreciate listening to what Palmer has to say about himself and how to recover from the various kinds of "brokenness" Americans are experiencing in their lives and from the various cultural illusions that have diminished us personally and socially.

[Mike]

Skip.... hope this finds well!!

Thanks for this.... and your suspesion was correct!!!

I enjoyed it very much and found his take on our collective need to give up illusion right on:

Palmer on Illusion:

"Who didn't know that housing was over-evaluated? That stocks were overpriced? Who didn't know that a system the makes the rich richer while the poor get poorer will someday face a curtain call? We all knew that at some level, just like we know we're going to die. And yet our capacity to deny reality is huge. And I think that we don't want to know what we really know because if we did, we'd have to change our lives. And now we have to change our lives because the whole thing is crashing down around our head. "

WONDERING WHAT OTHER ILLUSIONS OUR FRIENDS HERE ON FIRESIDE ARE AWARE OF?


Palmer on the "Tragic Gap"-

Tragic in the sense that the Greeks talked about it. Tragic in the sense that Shakespeare talked about it. The tragic gap is the gap between what's really going on around us, the hard conditions in which our lives are currently immersed, and what we know to be possible from our own experience.



Palmer on Possibilities:

But a new habit of the heart would allow us to take that broken-hearted experience in a new direction, not towards the shattering into a million pieces but toward a heart that grows larger, more capacious, more open to hold both the suffering and the pain of the world.

I think that's teachable stuff. I think that if our schools and our religious communities worked on that, that we would have a greater capacity individually and collectively to do it.

I too...think this is teachable stuff!!!! May be the most important teachable things we could do!

Wonder what others think?

Thanks again Skip..... be well... mike

[Daniel Bassill]

I think it is teachable stuff too, but without making a personal connection between other people's kids, and other people's problems, we don't create the personal bonds, or glue, to make the lessons stick, so people not only get involved to a much greater degree, but they stay involved and grow their commitments over time.

Thus, like any other good idea, what's the plan that spreads this idea from one, to two, two four and ultimately to thousands of places where the idea is really being taught?

I'm afraid this might be one of the "Tragic Gaps" Palmer is writing about.