The clichéd phrase that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer is actually proving true these days.
Two posts this week — one on wealth gains by rich and another on rising state poverty rates — struck a nerve with Life Inc. readers.
The post on poverty looked at how many states made gains in the war on poverty during the economic boom times, but have since backtracked.
Some readers saw themselves in that data.
“I've lived under the poverty line my entire adult life. Paycheck to paycheck, no savings. I can't imagine what it would be like to have more than $50 or so disposable income a month. I'd feel rich. I'm not sure I can comprehend it,” one reader wrote.
On the other side of the spectrum, another post this week looked at how the vast majority of wealth gains between 1983 and 2009 went to the richest Americans.
The post prompted a wide-ranging discussion on everything from whether our country has lost its knack for innovation to whether we need to raise taxes on the rich.
In a separate post, the vast majority of our readers said, they would be in favor of raising taxes for wealthy people and corporations. That’s in keeping with what Gallup found in a recent poll.
Even some who might have to pay more said they'd support it.
“I won't stay wealthy unless there is a solid middle class, I should be willing to pay for that,” one reader wrote.
We do like to ponder these weighty topics on Life Inc., but in the end it’s the little things in life that make a big difference.
Our readers this week also were pretty excited to learn that a new, larger ketchup packet is going to be available for a larger audience.
“I've been reading about this mythical bigger ketchup packet for a few years now and have yet to encounter them. I hate having to rip open 10 packets just to eat my fries,” one reader wrote.