Asheville Citizen-Times article highlights “economic deprivation” of the non-wealthy
Update July 7, 2008–A recent article in the Asheville Citizen-Times, “Economic deprivation of non-wealthy Americans continues” by George Yates, highlights the growing divide between the rich and the rest of us in the U.S. today. Yates’ article, though sobering, serves as an important reminder of the urgent need for living wages and economic fairness, and the necessity of work like ours that seeks to remedy the “economic deprivation” that’s affecting more and more Americans.
Highlights from Yates’ article include:
* The wealthiest 10% of Americans now own 63% of the U.S.’s total family assets, 80% of publicly issued U.S. stock, and they receive 90% of all dividends and capital gains, while the bottom 50% of Americans own about 2% of total family assets and no stock.
* The annual ‘real’ income of American families, compared to what it was eight years ago, has decreased by $1,224.
* 65% of Americans report that they live paycheck to paycheck.
* Following the real estate bubble “burst” in mid-2007, non-wealthy Americans switched to credit cards to obtain necessary cash–Total household debt over the last seven years has about doubled to a record $14 trillion.
Yates perfectly sums up the current state our our economy, and the need for economic justice work like ours, “The massive diversion of income to wealthy Americans during the last 7 years must be reversed to rescue non-wealthy Americans from deeper economic deprivation, and to prevent the United States from moving still closer to a despotism of the rich.”
Click here to see the full article.
Living Wage Certification “picking up steam!”
Update June 24, 2008– Asheville-area employers continue to sign up for Living Wage Certification. Since its launch just three months ago, forty-three businesses and non-profits have been certified, and new applications are submitted almost daily.
Most recently, Highland Brewery, one of Western North Carolina’s favorite beer makers, was certified. Other popular certified employers include–West End Bakery, Laurey’s Catering, and Asheville Wine Market, among many others.
Be sure to look for the “Living Wage Paid Here!” sticker in the store window of the businesses you patronize, and check out our Living Wage Certified Employers page for a full listing of certified employers.
And, if you haven’t seen it already, don’t miss the recent Mountain XPress article on the LW Certification program, “Living wage issue picking up steam.”
The Justice Tour a huge success!
Update April 23, 2008–Thanks to those who came out to support Just Economics and enjoy what was an incredible day of action and concert with Tom Morello and the rest of the Justice Tour gang!
The Justice Tour’s stop in Asheville helped elevate the work of Just Economics.
It also connected us to new folks in our community that care about economic justice and are motivated to make change from the bottom up, the kind of social change Tom Morello talks about in his music.
Almost 400 of you signed the new Living Wage Pledge, and all of the concert proceeds will go to support the work of Just Economics.
Click here for a link to Tom Morello’s blog post about the Asheville stop of the Justice Tour.
Press Releases
Justice Tour Press Release
Living Wage Employer Certification Launch Press Release
News Archives
2008
Living wage issue picking up steam (Mountain X-Press 5/28/08)
Report: NC families struggling (Asheville Citizen-Times 5/10/08)
Report: Poverty negatively affects 20% of NC children (Asheville Citizen-Times 4/22/08)
All the “Rage” for a living wage (Mountain X-Press 4/16/08)
Living wage focus of Just Economics program (Asheville Citizen-Times 3/14/08)
Living wage gets legs (Mountain X-Press 3/6/08)
2007
Living wage badly needed here (Mountain X-Press 8/1/07)
Up from poverty (Mountain X-Press 7/18/07)
Living wage ordinance won’t mean doom, gloom (Asheville Citizen Times 4/30/07)
Living wage plan gets momentum (The Asheville Citizen-Times, 3/18/07)
Asheville City Council preview: March 13 (Mountain X-Press 3/12/07)
2006
Asheville, Buncombe would benefit from living wage (Asheville Citizen-Times, 8/5/06)
Family struggles as momentum builds for living wage campaign (Asheville Citizen-Times, 7/16/06)
Living wage campaign arrives in Asheville (Asheville Global Report, 5/29/06)
Campaign calls for living wage (Asheville Citizen-Times, 5/11/06)
Children in poverty on rise in NC (Asheville Citizen-Times, 4/27/06)
Arguments against minimum wage hike won’t hold water (Asheville Citizen-Times, 4/27/06)
Making ends meet: minimum wage war (Asheville Citizen-Times, 4/24/06)
Living wage seminar sparks desire to act (Asheville Citizen-Times, 3/1/06)
