What the 10 percent have

Now here's an astonishing chart that I offer for your meditation. It's from the New York Times: "Where the 1 Percent Fits in the Hierarchy of Income."

The top 1 percent is made up of 3.5 million families. They have incomes starting at about $400,000. Average income is about $700,000, and they have about 11 percent of total income. The top 10 percent of families have about 25 percent of total income.

What do the rest of us have? The 90 percent have 53 percent of total income.

It is hard to get our heads around this inequality.

And while we are digesting it, an old Heritage Foundation study is being brought forward again. It concludes that the poor have it pretty good when you add up rent subsidies, food stamps and medical care. The medical costs, of course, distort the picture. If your child has leukemia and runs up a $400,000 bill, that's not money in your pocket, whether you have insurance or are eligible for Medicaid.

Even with a population of 7 billion, we have a world of riches. We'd still be rich if we shared better.