Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Chart of the Day: our ruling class and ownership of the government

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Chart of the Day: our ruling class and ownership of the government

from article entitled "Why Hasn’t ~~Democracy~~ [Managed Elections] Slowed Rising Inequality?" published in Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 27, Number 3—Summer 2013—Pages 103–124

Notes: The red line tracks the share of campaign contributions in all federal elections donated by the top 0.01 percent of the voting age population. The number of donors included in the 0.01 percent share of voting age population grew from 16,444 in 1980 to 24,092 in 2012. During the same period, the minimum amount given to be included in the top 0.01 percent grew in real terms from $5,616 to $25,000 (in 2012 dollars). The shaded line tracks the share of total income (including capital gains) received by the top 0.01 percent of households.