Monday, December 17, 2018

COTW: Where the Poor Are

The holy market has had two significant drops recently, wiping out the year's advance.  401K watchers might be interested in this map courtesy of Visual Capitalist:


The red dots congregate in the Deep South.  No surprise there.  There is also a significant concentration in the southwest where there are large Native American populations, and in Appalachia where unemployment is endemic.  What the chart does not reveal is that these regions invariable vote for Repugnant politicians who support economic policies directly opposed to their interests.  It is the paradox of 'Merican politics: socially conservative poor whites voting for white plutocrats whose main interest is perpetuating the widening social inequities.  Contrast this delusional disconnect to the Gilete Jaune movement in France were the leaderless 99% have risen up via social media and taken to the streets to protest the unfair share of the welath claimed by the 1% that rules. (In 2008 French motorists were required to have a yellow vest in their car for roadside emergencies.)  Will this grassroots movement it lead to permanent change, or will it muddle its way to oblivion like the Occupy movement? Unknown. But at least the working French are making it clear they are as, "mad as hell, and are not going to take it anymore."  Louis XVII got the message too.