"Obscene Wealth” with Greg Godels & Pat Cummings

In this podcast, we discuss Greg's article "Obscene Wealth" from MLToday, based on Gabriel Zucman's research on U.S. wealth inequality. Zucman reveals that in 2024, the wealth of the top 0.00001% (19 households) increased by $1 trillion, surpassing Switzerland’s GDP. The top 10% possess 67% of the wealth, while the bottom 50% hold just 3%, leading to economic and political marginalization. The article argues that capitalism inherently concentrates wealth, reinforcing class divisions between capital owners and workers.

A few topics we cover in our conversation include:

• Why wealth inequality is worse than income inequality—and how it strangles democracy.
• The death of the middle class: From thriving factory towns to hollowed-out economies.
• Cold War secrets: How post-WWII prosperity was a fluke (and why it collapsed).
• Why both Democrats & Republicans serve the ultra-rich (hint: lobbyists, gerrymandering, and media control).

• Possible answer: Replacing capitalism with socialism is presented as a viable solution.

Article in MLToday: https://mltoday.com/obscene-wealth/

Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/about

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