I was reading some article about the growing gap between rich and poor, and was thinking that it’s not sustainable. Not necessarily a recipe for revolution just yet, but certainly an important trend that will shape global policy over the next 50-100 years.
1. Finance
- One percent of the population owns 83% of the stock in U.S. companies.
- Two-thirds of the country lives paycheck-to-paycheck. Retirement savings? Haha.
- Two-thirds of the income growth this decade went to the richest 1%.
- 20% of mortgages are underwater.
- The government is so broke, they’re taking donations!
- Globally, billions live on a $1 a day. So that should put some perspective on our shrinking middle class.
Plus, poor people have a much higher birth rate than rich people. The wealthy are outnumbered and while money can buy a lot of things, they still only get one vote. Can you picture the angry mob outside Mr. Burn’s mansion? It might not be so far-fetched, and if you’re a politician, it might not be a bad time to be a populist. Is the American Dream dead? Convince people your opponent killed it but you know how to bring it back and you’ll do well.
2. Education
- Huge tuition bills and college debt discourage entrepreneurs from taking risks.
- We’re better educated than ever before, but most don’t have much to show for it.
- Surprisingly, the average American adult does not have a college degree.
Education and birth-rate are negatively correlated, meaning the least educated people have the most babies. Education and progressivism are positively correlated, meaning the least educated people are the most likely to vote conservatively, even when it’s against their own best interest. It’s a numbers game. Can enrollment rates outpace birth rates? Has our collective level of education has peaked? Or, more interestingly, will alternative avenues of education (MIT courses on YouTube for example) become accepted by the mainstream?
3. Religion
Religious people have more babies than non-religious people. Very religious people have 3 times more babies than non-religious people. And since religion is heavily influenced by family, the non-religious sect may be an endangered species. Has reason peaked in America?
The last two trends obviously favor Republicans, but the first probably favors Democrats. It will be interesting to see how it plays out over our lifetime. Or maybe we’ll see some drastic changes to the whole system. Who knows. It seems pretty negative to foresee a nation of poor, uneducated, religious folks, but I guess that’s how we started out.
And as a marketer, I have to think about what I can do to benefit from these trends. We found the parade, as explained in Zag, now just have to figure out how to get in front.
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