Never before in American history have so few had so much wealth and power. Today, the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93%. One person, Elon Musk, worth $805bn, owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of American households. And that inequality is getting worse. Last year alone, after receiving the one of the largest tax breaks in history from Donald Trump, 938 billionaires in America became $1.5tn richer. Since he was re-elected, Trump and his family have become $4bn richer.

Never before in American history have we had such concentration of ownership. While profits soar, a handful of giant corporations dominate virtually every sector of our economy, charging higher and higher prices for the products they sell. Four Wall Street firms combined – BlackRock, Vanguard, Fidelity, and State Street – are the major stockholders of more than 90% of American corporations.

Never before in American history have so few billionaires controlled what we see, hear, and read in the media – both legacy media and social media. Never before in American history have we seen a ruling class, within a corrupt campaign finance system, wield the kind of political power it has today. In the 2026 midterm elections, just 50 billionaires have already spent over $433m to influence political campaigns and buy candidates who represent their interests.

Bottom line: the richest people in America have never ever had it so good.

That is one reality. Here’s the other reality.

The American working class has been under savage attack for years. Over the last many decades there has been an explosion in technology and a huge increase in worker productivity. Despite that, the average American worker is making almost $20 a week less today than he or she did 53 years ago, after adjusting for inflation.

According to the Rand Corporation, over the last 50 years, $79tn in wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90% to the top 1%. Almost all of the gains in worker productivity........

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