There are probably many more than a thousand words that can be written about this chart, but I will offer only a few. You probably have many more to offer.
The periods following the peaks shown here show the periodic busts of a typical capitalist economy, which are followed by periods of growth where workers are needed. What is startlingly clear from the chart is that since 1967 dramatically fewer and fewer workers have been required to maintain this type of an economy.
A capitalist economy requires growth to maintain profits for those who "own" it--and it has indeed grown in terms of GDP during this period due to the system's promotion of huge expenditures for military arms and wasteful spending on unnecessary items of convenience and those which seem to enhance self-image. Of course, this growth is causing lethal long term damage to the earth's ecosystem, but that doesn't seem to bother those in charge of the system who benefit from the rewards that accumulate to them in terms of wealth and power.
The ruling class in charge of this system believe that wealth is money and the things that money can buy which, besides commodities, includes influence. Thus their system is based on the private ownership of this wealth and over all the activities that can produce money. The latter includes economic enterprises such as farms, mines, and factories where working people engage in such activities. But the labor of working people has also been transformed into a commodity that can be rented by these "owners" to transform raw materials and ideas into things that can be bought and sold for profit to the "owners".
The reason, of course, for this trend of fewer workers is simply because of the enormous contributions that workers have made through their creativity and labor over the many generations of humanity. Thus, the efficiencies produced by these many generations of workers should be a legacy handed down to us as a society, but unfortunately under the existing system only the "owners" really benefit from this legacy.
People in increasing numbers are now beginning to question the legitimacy of such a system whose rewards are going to such a small number of people, people who are currently labeled as the "one percent" (actually they are much smaller), and not to the rest of us, the "ninety-nine percent". The latter group is now once again seriously questioning the justice and legitimacy of such a system.
