Thanks to the Great Recession, how many below the poverty line are also "first generation" poor? It doesn't change the fact that, all other things being equal, it's better to be a winner of "the lottery of birth" than a loser of that lottery.
That still doesn't change the original premise of this thread, which is --- there's a huge productivity/creativity gap which is also responsible for the huge wealth gap. The idea that most wealthy people are born into wealthy families has been debunked numerous times, so there's no need to cling on to that excuse for dear life. Let's stick to the FACT that productivity amongst your average person is simply mediocre.
What's "mediocre" productivity today was yesterday's big improvement. I can and do directly influence and improve the productivity of "average persons" regularly. If they get a compensation increase as a result, and I do not, then the wealth gap has closed, but if I get an increase and they do not, the wealth gap has widened. Which, if you look at graphs for productivity and compensation, you'll see quite clearly that they are no longer rising in tandem. Differences in ownership patterns account for much of this.
John Merline at Investor’s Business Daily reported Monday that the hot media topics of income inequality and immigration are “are wildly out of touch with the American public, according to the latest IBD/TIPP Poll.” When asked which should be a top priority of the president and Congress, 49 percent said the economy and jobs. Another 16 percent picked the national debt, and nine percent named national security. Just 6 percent picked either immigration or income inequality: Among independents, immigration ranked even lower as a priority, with just 3% putting it at the top of the list. Not even Democrats think income inequality or immigration should be a top agenda item. While 47% put the economy and jobs first, just 12% put income inequality at the top of the list, slightly ahead of immigration at 11%... Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-gr...wns-over-immigration-inequality#ixzz2sOk6lbrO
Which supports my premise that there's a segment of people in America that are trying their hardest to push victim-hood and kill the idea of the American dream.