[george_george]

The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer... but only in relative terms. In absolute terms, we're all getting richer.

It's pretty hard to argue that the lower classes are getting poorer when you compare what we had 50 or 100 years ago with what we have now: our houses are bigger, they have plumbing and electricity, they're filled with God knows how many gadgets and appliances, cars outnumber people, sugary and fatty foods that used to be considered luxuries are eaten in excess even in (or especially in) the lower classes.

We're definitely better off. If the middle classes are suffering it's because their own prosperity meant they never learnt to live within their means.

[pmb]

Not true. Income in the bottom 3 quartiles has remained constant or fallen slightly (adjusted for inflation) since the 1970s. We have better tech, but we have also had the rich getting much much richer.