The rich are getting richer and the poor getting poor ??
468629
The word rich is an attitude thing, I was orphaned at 9 and now over 50 years later would be considered poor by some and rich by others. The real measure is not how much you earn each week, it is what you do with it that counts and rich to me is making a decision about what kind of life style you want. I now do not need to work as I have enough income from savings, investments and properties i own to generate a modest income and am happy with that. If you have a lifestyle that only needs $200 a week to maintain and you earn $201 without having to work you are rich, if however your lifestyle demands $250 and you only earn $201 then you are poor. Simple really.
378680
No I think the US ignores it's 'lower class' people...richness has far more than money to it
473674
the gap between the rich and the poor...
885234
you have a great point. you could consider anyone in the middle class(which is disappearing) a slave b/c the national cost of living is exceeding the value of our printed money. everyone knows that the middle/lower class works for the upper class to get rich, history hasn't changed that and i don't think anything will.
933651
Huge gap between rich and poor. Pervasive corruption.\n\nThe USA is getting there too: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/27/business/27richer.html\n(archived at: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.politics.bush/browse_thread/thread/e8f33ae36180e01f/f12c6599d1a5d2d9 )
711972
Republicans think that rich people don't have enough money, and poor people have too much money.\n\nDemocrats think the opposite.
429381
I believe that globalization affects all, so in that regard I disagree with you. However, i believe that it is the rich people (haves) that are benefiting form the trend of globalization therefore marginalizing the poor (have nots). The reason for this belief lies in the fact the system of globalization is based on the fact the world is at different stages of development, what this means is that the disparity between the rich nations and the poor nations is so large that it is worth a Multi-National Corporations(MNCs) while to invest and "exploit" the population of a lesser developed national because they simply charge less for their labour. The rich people continue to have and get more while the poor people continue to rely on the rich (west) for handouts.
22096
There really is no Black or White answer to this question.  Even though, I am sure there are many "rich" people in the world who are nice, I've seen many more who are not so much.  In my experience, money has a tendency to change people, even when that person has the best intentions at heart.  Although I would love to have more money, I would never wish to be "rich", only comfortable enough to be able to support myself, with no loose ends.  I may be going agains the grain, here with my answer, but I think I lean more towards "poor".  Those who are poor, or live from paycheck to paycheck, tend to appreciate the small things as we all should.  "Poor" people do not care about having extravagant houses or 5 cars, one for each day of the week; they are content with a roof over their family's head, a meal for each night, and an old dependable clunker to get around in.
774079
Nope, never had that happen. Poor people tend to stay poor. Rich people tend to be stingy!
118726
The cost of living has gone up tremendously. The living wage has not. So, overall, I would say most are really struggling to afford to live A very elite few are getting by, actually paying their way without using credit. Very few!
87543
From where I see it most of it has disappeared into one or the other of the two.  We have very little middle ground anymore.  While many people  may be making the trip upward an awlful lot of the middle class has disappeared into the poorer class and have never moved anywhere so they do not even realize that they have done it.  The gap between the Rich and Poor is getting larger and larger with each new day.  Too many people have felt like they are from a throw away economy the way different job's have just disappeared with nothing to replace them with.  We live in a two income economy and wihout two incomes most families are not making it unless they are from the upper half of the scale.  As for me I am retired and have not figured out where I fit in yet.
707740
The common conception is that stingy people are that way because they have no money - because they have to be.  Some of the cheapest people you'll ever meet are rich folks though so in reality it can go either way.  At first it doesn't seem to make sense that a rich person would be stingy but then you have to figure there's a reason they are rich in the first place.  They probably didn't get there by being casual about money.
109127
No, we are not doing fine. Maybe America is on it's way out. The average government lasts 200 years. Do the math. However, Bush is doing fine, as are the other rich people in the nation. The gap between upper class and low class is widening and middle class is disappearing. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
744776
... surely social Darwinism would suggest that the poor will elevate themselves through hard work to become the middle classes, while the current rich will either stay where they are (and breed with the expanded population), or become the landed gentry and breed among themselves!
558497
money grubing rich a*s holes.
688448
No. They are the working poor which covers a lot of things.
767569
That is simple the more people working. The more people making a living and as they gain seniority at work they make more money. Thus they escape poverty.