Reply #64: You are confused about the point I was making [View All]

[daleo]

I merely said that your claim about a fairly equal distribution of wealth within U.S. society was incorrect, because you were mistaking primary family residence with net wealth, which is the proper measure for determining how equally wealth is distributed within a society. As to how that distribution comes about (i.e. your claim that the poor spend and invest unwisely), that wasn't relevant to the point that I was making, which was strictly a factual one, based on the tables you supplied.

I happen to agree that the poor and middle classes often do spend and invest unwisely, for a lot of complicated reasons, some that are under their control and some that are not. Personally, I don't believe this has a large effect on the overall distribution of wealth. It has been my experience that saving money is mostly a function of making money - the more you make, the easier it is to save.

I certainly would not deny that the upper income groups pay more income tax than lower income groups (although you should look into payroll taxes to get a full picture of the tax load on respective income groups).

As for referring to your confusion of primary residence assets with net wealth as a right wing talking point, that was probably an unfortunate choice of words.