New Gilded Age – Psychology behind the Aspirational Rich

A couple of weeks ago a survey of the ultra-rich by Fidelity Investments showed that most of these millionaires did not feel rich unless they had $7.5 million. Keep in mind that one out of three Americans do not have one penny to their name, not even stashed in the beat up mattress. It is also the case that the average per capita income in the United States is $25,000 so it must be odd to hear millionaires saying that they don’t feel wealthy until they reach the $7.5 million mark.

The top 1 percent already have over 40 percent of all financial wealth in this country but apparently this is not enough. What the survey found implicitly is the wealthy want even more from an already shrinking pie and they are more than willing to sacrifice the American middle class to achieve their benchmark of wealth. Why aren’t people on streets revolting against inequality that resembles that of the Great Depression? We didn’t have a Gilded Age because the working class enjoyed this period. So why the continued silence on behalf of the public? Part of the reason stems from many in America believing that someday they will wake up and have $7.5 million in the bank and they want to make sure the government doesn’t touch any of their hard earned money. Once again, one out of three don’t even have a dollar to their name and the average per capita income is $25,000.

Many have bought into the aspirational propaganda and in fact are protecting the same Wall Street investment banks that have robbed their homes, crushed American jobs, and are stripping away the rights that working and middle class Americans have fought for over the last century. Apparently some are not aware that we are living in a new Gilded Age. Instead of railroad tycoons we now have the master’s of the universe on Wall Street

.http://www.mybudget3…nancial-dreams/