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America's Wealthiest Religions
by Tom Gallagher on Feb. 24, 2010
It's no secret that the distribution of wealth is inequitable in the United States across racial, regional, and socio-economic groups. But there is a distinct variance among and within America's faiths as well.
This transparency takes a look at the income levels of America's major religious groups, as compared to the average U.S. income distribution.
Read more: Transparency: America's Wealthiest Religions





Actually, income is
Actually, income is distributed based, generally, on a variety of factors, including work ethic, ingenuity, entrepreneurship, creativity, education, etc. It has been my personal experience that every person I know who could be considered "wealthy" have worked very hard for what they have. Either that, or they have been genuinely creative and inventive in their efforts.
Oh, and just one other point. Income is NOT distributed (as if it was all located in a single place and allocated to individuals by some super organization; that's how Communism and, to a lesser extent, socialism, works). Income is earned.
That's funny. The wealthiest
That's funny. The wealthiest people I know (and I used to work for one of wealthiest men in the nation) all gained their riches merely by being born into wealth. There was no earning involved on their part. And their children will enjoy great wealth as well -- not by earning it, but by pure luck of birth.
And are you suggesting that those who lack wealth are simply too lazy, uncreative or non-entrepreneurial? Check out who is unemployed in this economy -- not exactly slackers, but hard workers who earned middle class incomes before greed tore down the economy. Sometimes it's the system that's rotten, not the victims.
we are now feeling the
we are now feeling the effects of global warming season that use to be smooth and calm are now more hostile we should act now before it is too late great site really informative i learned a lot great stuff keep it up
I must agree with 'moving on'
I must agree with 'moving on' and disagree with Mr. Green. The Bible tells us that the poor will always be with us, not to say forget about them, but rather to say that we must always take steps to help them.
The economic system we have and to some extent enjoy, is not endowed by God nor is it in some way a creature of natural law. Rather it is the outgrowth of legal systems interacting with private endeavor. As for what some call the 'invisible hand' of the market, of late it has been raising the middle finger to the country while continuing to pay obscene bonuses within the companies that gave us this crisis with their derivatives and credit default swaps, a sort of pyramid scheme that collapsed when finally it was perceived that the king wore no clothes.
I too have met obscenely rich people, some of them quite nice personally, others rather stuck up about it, whose income is from investments made by a father or grandfather. I have seen some of those so endowed lose everything they have by stupidities their ancestor was not guilty of. But the point of it all is, that every bit of existing wealth does exist because government fostered its being earned and government tolerated what was done with the earning.
The average citizen has no remedy against the employers of most of us, and no bargaining power at all. Business feels it has no moral obligations to anyone other than the managers and owners of the business. That the man who sweeps out or vacuums out the dust in the chip factory is necessary to the production of working chips makes him as essential to the operation as the designer of those chips and the owner of the plant. Their decisions and work will come to naught, or worse, to litigation and further loss if the cleaners fail to clean.
No one in the economy should earn more than a given multiple, say a hundred times, what the least paid employee (direct or indirect) in the operation does. Thus if the cleaner is paid $14,000 a year, the top earner can't take home more than $1,400,000 ... that's quite generous to be sure -- but I bet the rule would make some folks at the top really squirm ... how about a 90% tax on gross income in a bracket above $1,400,000 .... as a modest tribute to the nation whose military, rule of law, and general favoring of initiative made it all possible.
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