I think the tea party folks might be interested in this poll, but something tells me we won't be hearing about this on FOX News or even MSNBC. Here's a good pie chart for you, since what you think is probably wrong:
"All demographic groups -- even those not usually associated with wealth redistribution such as Republicans and the wealthy -- desired a more equal distribution of wealth than the status quo."The report (pdf)... shows that across ideological, economic and gender groups, Americans thought the richest 20 percent of our society controlled about 59 percent of the wealth, while the real number is closer to 84 percent.
More interesting than that, the report says, is that the respondents... believed the top 20 percent should own only 32 percent of the wealth. Respondents with incomes over $100,000 per year had similar answers to those making less than $50,000. (The report has helpful, multi-colored charts.)
The respondents were presented with unlabeled pie charts representing the wealth distributions of the U.S., where the richest 20 percent controlled about 84 percent of wealth, and Sweden, where the top 20 percent only controlled 36 percent of wealth. Without knowing which country they were picking, 92 percent of respondents said they'd rather live in a country with Sweden's wealth distribution.
Update: A Republican friend asks:
"And the problem?"
Well, not everyone thinks they're going to be a billionaire when they grow up, my friend ;-)
If we are to remain a capitalist country (I think we agree on that), we need a strong middle class to buy things. This post may help explain.
And this article has some good graphs.
More graphs from Slate, they ran a 10 part series on "The Great Divergence" recently.
Income inequality, and especially the loss of a vibrant and large middle class, could spell our economic doom! From Robert Reich:
"Here’s the point. Policies that generate more widely shared prosperity lead to stronger and more sustainable economic growth -- and that’s good for everyone.
The rich are better off with a smaller percentage of a fast-growing economy than a larger share of an economy that’s barely moving. That’s the Labor Day lesson we learned decades ago; until we remember it again, we’ll be stuck in the Great Recession."