Astounding Stats on how few Americans are Rich

Mother Jones magazine/website has created these 11 charts that explain the gross inequality in the United States today, a big shift from how things were 30 years ago.

It's the Inequality, Stupid

Eleven charts that explain everything that's wrong with America.
In Colombia, it was obvious that the vast majority of people are poor, and a small percentage of wealthy people run the show.  In America, it is far less obvious, because so many people have homes. But we work all the time to keep them. I was really shocked to see that 1% of Americans own over one third of our country's wealth, and that the next 9% of the richest people own another third, with the rest of us 90% owning the last third, and these 90% have an average income of $31,244.
So I checked the GINI index at the CIA World Factbook. The GINI index measures how evenly the GNP is distributed among the population of each country. The higher the number, the more concentrated the wealth is, in the hands of a few.

Yes, Colombia has an even more unequal income distribution than the USA. But geez,  a few of the countries with a more equitable distribution than us are Cameroon, Iran, Nigeria, Kenya, Guyana, Thailand, Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia, Ghana, Burkina Faso...not just the obvious like Sweden and Norway.
So what income qualifies you as part of the middle class? It seems that America will soon have only the upper classes, and the working class and poverty levels left. A sure sign of a decaying economy.

In Colombia, a sugar cane cutter's house

abandoned home in Detroit, USA

back from Colombia

quick suggestion: tell your congress people to vote NO to the Colombian FTA (Free Trade Agreement). Clinton and Obama and backing free trade, but this will be as bad as NAFTA.
Here is a letter from the Washington Office on Latin America to Congress with more details.
Wondering how was my trip?
I've been home nearly two weeks now, but I feel like I absorbed so much that I have had difficulty summarizing it. I nearly filled a notebook with notes. Compared to the problems and injustices that so many of the people we met are facing, any concerns of mine seem trivial. Although I feel physically safe with enough income to live in a big comfortable house, I saw a richness in spirit, and communities so tightly-knit, which I admire and even envy. The people I am closest to (including myself) spend more time at computers alone in rooms than with other people. Of course we do make many connections with friends in this cyber-world. But the contrast of spending 10 days with 12 people in close quarters, talking, listening, sharing experiences, meeting so many fine brave people, this was really different, both fun and challenging. I wished I could have rewound and edited a few things I said, but, oops, in RL we just have to blunder on.
About half the people in this photo are our Witness for Peace delegation, and the rest are Colombians who have lost family due to state violence by military, paramilitary, or police.

I can see how common dire straits can deepen a community's bonds. Also, it makes sense that life threatening situations cause trivial concerns to slip away, and bring people in close touch with what is of real value in their lives. But returning to the USA has been an adjustment. I am so busy, running from errands to half-planned tasks. So much of American lifestyle (meaning United Statesian) is filled with trivial pastimes that promise self-satisfaction..... shopping, the latest gadget, TV, movies, the prescription drug which will fill that need you didn't know you had until the ad "educated" you. Not to mention all the illegal drugs consumed by US citizens which keeps up a high demand for cocaine, of which 90% comes from Colombia.

This line of thought about consumerism and profit vs an enlightened loving healthy planet of people and all living beings co-existing in peace reminds me of the "Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium" (which I highly recommend). It seems clearer than ever to me that the USA with it's tax dollars and many powerful Americans working within trans-national corporations are perpetuating a system that is harming the planet, and directly causing misery to the majority of people on earth.

Here is a painting by Jafeth, an internationally acclaimed but humble Colombian artist, who is working to build a better world within a violence torn rural area. This painting shows planting Seeds of Corn, which is the name of a school he founded, which teaches children art, dance, ecology, theatre, and ethical values. It was so healing to meet this wonderful artist after having heard of many atrocities throughout the week.

 Photo op: Susan with Jafeth :-)

So I don't want to rant on in generalities. Over the next few weeks I will try to squeeze in the time to blog about the various people we met, and places we saw.

  But if you have read this far, Thank You!

Here are more pictures of Jafeth's School, community murals and the Magic Pathway to the mother nature  goddess called Pachamama.