Robert Wauzzinski

Social inequality is the few having more than they can use while the many lack basic needs. To say it differently, inequality is the theft of power and money from the poor and middle class by the "one percenters."

This theft occurs chiefly, but not exclusively, when family-sustaining wages are unjustly withheld while big banks are bailed out, oil companies are given money by "free market" advocates, and the Supreme Court says money talks (more about this in a moment).

This inequality results in the shredding of the fabric of our nation's democracy. This shredding occurs when Congress is bought and thus money mutes poorer voices, families collapse because 40-50 hours of weekly work can't pay all the bills, and impotent unions are blamed for jobs being shipped overseas.

Less money and power means greater inequality.

Grievous injustices spawn inequality and thereby undermine democracy. When the Supreme Court said that money was speech and thus to be protected by law, power shifted to those whose voices were raised because of the megaphone of money. When poor voters find it hard to vote because they do not have proper identification for places where voter fraud is not a concern, then freedom and justice are cheapened.

Democracy: that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, economically and morally mutates into plutocracy: which is government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich, when money and power are not shared.

Doubt this lament? Consider these reliable numbers. Forty-two percent of our children are stuck in poverty. In 1978 the average worker took home approximately $48,000 while the top one percent took home $390,000. In 2010 the average worker took home $33,000 while the top one percent took home $1,100,000.

The top 400 people in this country control more wealth and power than the bottom 150 million people combined! These verifiable figures, which can be multiplied many times, come from the Standard and Poor's and the International Monetary Fund's research. Figures likes these reflect rising global inequality, additionally.

We have lived through an eight-year recession and yet are told to "get a job." Wages have been nearly frozen for more than five years while we are told to tighten our belts. The House votes ad nauseam to turn back the Affordable Care Act while doing nothing for the country. No top bank executives have been jailed for breaking laws, while possession of mere ounces of pot earns jail time. (I am not for the legalization of marijuana). Labor has helped multiply wealth, as the stock market testifies, yet it is not allowed its fair share of the increase.

The effects of inequality can be better understood when we look at the unnecessary length of this recession. The slump has lasted too long because the poor and middle class have been cheated. Money and power have been circulated poorly.

The economy is like the body's need for circulating blood. If not enough blood is circulating, anemia and diseases result. Our economy is taking much too long to recover because the wealth is not being shared. We need and can afford higher wages, more public-private partnerships for jobs, and student debt relief so we can celebrate again the freedom and equality that once made America great.

Robert Wauzzinski lives in Muncie.