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According to Statista, in the second quarter of 2023, 69% of the total wealth in the US was owned by the top 10% of earners while the lowest 50% of earners only owned 2.5 of the country’s total wealth. When you read the news about how much money some companies and already rich people already have and what they earn each year, it can make you feel enraged and powerless. However, being constantly angry is no way to live either.
Our team here at Bored Panda has traveled all across Reddit to bring you some of the most mind-boggling facts about billionaires and the wealth gap. Scroll down to check them out. But keep in mind, some of them are so shocking that you might want to skip work today and work on some protest placards.
Bored Panda wanted to learn about envy and why people tend to think that having more money will make them happier, so we got in touch with Glenn Geher, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the State University of New York at New Paltz and a published author. He was kind enough to shed some light on this. Read on for our full interview with the professor.
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#1
Put the blame where it belongs
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Megan Curl Megan Curl Community Member Follow
This is the most depressing BP list ever. We’re poor, and don’t need reminding tyvm.
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"Humans are a deeply social animal—and this fact has been true across our entire evolutionary history. So valuing relationships and connections with others makes a lot of sense," Dr. Geher, from the State University of New York at New Paltz, told Bored Panda via email. Despite the fact that many people would choose love over wealth if they were forced to choose, money still plays an important role in our lives. "This said, at some point in our evolutionary history, money entered the scene. And money allowed people to differentiate themselves from others—often securing power along the way. And people like power!"
#2
"8 vs 4 billion"
Canabinoid Report
Final score:
267points
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Jeremy James Jeremy James Community Member Follow
I often have customers who wear MAGA gear and pay for their groceries in food stamps. The mental gymnastics involved must be amazing.
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#3
"Sounds too complex"
Maxonsdad Report
Final score:
258points
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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) Community Member Follow
But think about all the people working for those insurance companies whose jobs would become instantly obsolete! Oh wait, nobody did that when they invented self checkout so screw it.
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Dr. Geher explained that money can lead to outcomes such as having power and high status. Ironically, the professor said, these things are "likely valued because these features are helpful in advancing in social contexts." He said: "In some ways, money and human relationships are actually related to one another—they are not completely independent facets of the human experience. And this connection may help us to understand why there is often tension in people’s lives when it comes to balancing fiscal versus social issues." ADVERTIsem*nT According to the professor, it would be "a questionable stance" to assume that someone is a "bad" person just because they're rich. "I personally don’t think that people come in 'good' versus 'bad' varieties. A lot of research on the importance of situational factors in shaping human outcomes backs this point up," Dr. Geher explained to Bored Panda.
#4
"Look up, not down"
DavidYankovich Report
Final score:
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FakeOptimist FakeOptimist Community Member Follow
This was written in 2017 : I wonder what the numbers are now.Oh, oopsie : not sure I réally want to know...
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#5
"How true"
Redditer_F23 Report
Final score:
229points
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potato dictator potato dictator Community Member Follow
Didn't the person that published that stuff get car bombed?
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#6
"This is the best wealth inequality analogy I’ve come across"
anon Report
Final score:
203points
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FakeOptimist FakeOptimist Community Member Follow
I'll take the elevator : less depressing
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"That said, money may create situations that cultivate such questionable attributes as greed, status-seeking, and perhaps arrogance—none of which is a good look." However, he added that "wealthy people, like all people, show extraordinary variability from one another and we need to really appreciate this fact (regardless of our own financial situation)." ADVERTIsem*nT The psychology professor noted that money and power "famously go hand-in-hand" with social features like envy. "The tendency for people to envy what others have goes back deep in evolutionary time. And just as arrogance and greed are not exactly a good look, envy is really not much better," Dr. Geher said. "As I see it, striving to become rich in love and relationships and in 'the good life' in general is the best way to divert someone from focusing energies negatively on such things as envy of others," he suggested. "At the end of the day, love and social connections are what matters. And truly understanding and appreciating this fact can go a long way toward fending off the beast that is envy."
#7
No words describe this.
[deleted] Report
Final score:
193points
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Alfonsothenerdyalpaca Alfonsothenerdyalpaca Community Member Follow
The rich get a shorten the jail time pass
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#8
"Capitalism will end you"
K1nsey6 Report
Final score:
178points
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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) Community Member Follow
He was part of the team that discovered that neutrinos come in more than one "flavor".
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ADVERTIsem*nT
#9
A billionaire bottle of wine could pay a year of my rent
sushidecarne Report
Final score:
172points
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Monkey Monkey Community Member Follow
Worse. $10,000 would change your life forever and they donated $10 million to fight to get better tax breaks and have the budget balanced by reducing benefits for the poor and veterans. So they actually paid millions more to ensure that you get less.
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Research conducted at Purdue University in 2018 found that there’s a certain point where more wealth doesn’t make you significantly happier. ADVERTIsem*nT “It’s been debated at what point does money no longer change your level of well-being. We found that the ideal income point is $95,000 for life evaluation and $60,000 to $75,000 for emotional well-being. Again, this amount is for individuals and would likely be higher for families,” the lead author, Andrew T. Jebb, said. These sums also vary depending on the part of the world. For example, in wealthier countries, they’ll be higher than in poorer regions. How you take care of your health, the sense of purpose you have, and the quality of your relationships have a huge impact on your happiness and quality of life, too. However, one of these factors is far more important than the rest.
#10
"No More Billionaires!"
zzill6 Report
Final score:
163points
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potato dictator potato dictator Community Member Follow
America should try dictatorship. All you need to do is brainwash millions, lower taxes to get the aristocracy to support you, convince everyone that different types of people are the problem and then you can do anything you want. You can keep state secrets in your private home, weasel out of prosecution for fraud and incite riots and violence against your political opponents. Its a time tested process! America, try dictatorship.
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#11
animatedhenry Report
Final score:
138points
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Peter H Peter H Community Member Follow
If I suddenly started making $11,000 a day, I’d retire in five months. Six if I decided to be greedy.
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#12
"Public Relations"
BrendanCharette Report
Final score:
125points
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Gavin Johnson Gavin Johnson Community Member Follow
Donating water? The PR cost is ridiculous but donating water? Why are we still having to donate something that our governments should have sorted by now. Look at the wanton waste of taxes by global governments and ask what that could’ve done for water purification/ supplies around the world. It’s WATER FFS. This stuff actually makes life possible, not better, not a nice thing to have, it’s literally an essential to life.
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As reported by CNBC, an 85-year study conducted by Harvard unequivocally found that it’s our positive relationships that keep us happier and healthier, not our career achievements, money, or diets. ADVERTIsem*nT It’s perfectly normal to feel infuriated when you read about wealth inequality and injustice at home and abroad. It can make you feel as though no matter how much time, energy, and tears you put into your job and side hustle, you’ll never have the kind of financial stability that you dream of. Owning a family home is still a pipe dream for many families. Others, with middle-income salaries, as CNN notes, can’t find property to buy even if they could technically afford it.
#13
'THE BILLIONAIRE PATH CRUSHES EVERYTHING IN IT'S PATH'
Sensitive-Jury-1456 Report
Final score:
104points
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Peter H Peter H Community Member Follow
“If you don’t like it, go to North Korea!” say the defenders of this system, little realizing that NK is the ultimate example of a place where a tiny elite owns and controls literally EVERYTHING.
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#14
8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, 2025 years (the gospels don't actually say Jesus' birth date but apparently it's 4-6 BC). $2000 an hour does in fact check out to be $8.39904B. I was sceptical at first but not only is the maths correct but you would actually be the 59th richest in America and about 205th in the world. Stupid to think that $2000/h is a ridiculous amount to regular people but Jeff Bezos makes that in about 2/3 of a second.
hikethearrow Report
Final score:
102points
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Mavis Mavis Community Member Follow
And the sick thing is, the more money you have the more money you make. Billionaires don't have to actually do anything but sit back and watch their fortune grow like an out of control fungus.
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ADVERTIsem*nT
#15
_____MW_____ Report
Final score:
100points
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Alfonsothenerdyalpaca Alfonsothenerdyalpaca Community Member Follow
👏 Bravo 👏
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Though becoming extremely rich depends a lot on luck and perseverance, you can still live a high-quality, comfortable life without being a billionaire or even a millionaire. We don’t write that in an off-hand kind of way, either. Of course, having money provides you with more opportunities, power, and clout in life. You can eat better food, save your precious time by hiring experts to do many things for you, afford a better education for your children, and fund the worthwhile causes you personally care about. However, with riches comes a lot of additional pressure. For one, whether you’ve inherited your family’s company or started up your own, you now have a literal business empire to run. That means making tough decisions, worrying about investors, and managing hundreds or possibly even thousands of employees around the globe.
#16
"Nationalize it"
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Chris Landrum Chris Landrum Community Member Follow
If the government would guarantee they would not censor any of it.
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#17
"Jeff Bezos wealth. Seems very true but would like to know the math behind it"
Audge3841 Report
Final score:
93points
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Miki Miki Community Member Follow
Hmmm according to my calculation it's totally not true. This move woulc cost him 87% of his money. But I may have miss a zero somewhere... (150B wealth, 1.3mln workers)
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#18
"Billionaires should not exist"
DependentRapper167 Report
Final score:
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Bob Brooce Bob Brooce Community Member Follow
This may be the biggest problem with wealth inequality. Not only do rich people disproportionately screw up the environment and negatively impact the health of everyone, they inflate the cost of many (most?) resources so that the rest of us have to pay more
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While some people would embrace this kind of responsibility, this sort of entrepreneurial and corporate rat race isn’t for everybody. If you’re earning millions and billions, then it’s likely that you’re also sacrificing something to focus on your work, whether that’s your health, spiritual needs, or time spent with the people you love. It’s easy to envy billionaires and assume that all of them are ‘lazy’ or ‘evil’ or take advantage of their employees or don’t deserve their wealth. It might be true in some cases and it’s vital to call this sort of behavior out, but not everyone who’s rich or inherits wealth is automatically a bad person. Some folks really do deserve what they’ve built up, they donate to charitable causes and treat others with respect. Others do not. It all depends on the individual and their values. Generally speaking, many people would probably agree that they’d love to see their efforts rewarded. And they’d also like to leave what they’ve built up over their lifetimes to their children and grandchildren.
#19
Wealth Inequality in America.
politizane Report
Final score:
70points
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Peter H Peter H Community Member Follow
And still there are people (many of whom are NOT in the top group) who think the real problem is that the top 20% still don’t have enough money.
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#20
There is a finite amount of resources in the economy. For one group of people to have so much money they have to be able to prevent the other group from getting more. In the past decade 7 trillion dollars has been transferred to the top wealthiest of Americans out of the hands of the workers. Meanwhile, 64% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and 15 million children live in food insecurity. And it's only getting worse. Billionaires aren't just people who make a lot of money, they are actively the cause of so many families going hungry in the wealthiest country in the world.
TheBestYou5632 Report
Final score:
67points
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afia kooma afia kooma Community Member Follow
What would happen if we collecticly stopped bying anything but groseries from our local providers for just one month? 🤔
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#21
"How long it would take to get one billion dollars from a job earning $100 an hour"
Gameprince999 Report
Final score:
63points
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TomasL TomasL Community Member Follow
How long would it take if I started a company selling books online.
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It’s not just running a business empire that’s stressful. When you become rich (especially when this happens quickly), your relationship dynamic can change quite a bit. Suddenly, it becomes difficult to distinguish between your real friends and people who cozy up to you because they expect gifts and a fancy lifestyle. You can also become the target of scammers and con artists. Meanwhile, others, who feel envious of what you have, might talk behind your back, even if you’ve done nothing wrong.
#22
Even if you by some miracle manage to become that wealthy through completely ethical means (press X to doubt), STAYING that wealthy is a moral failing of an incalculable magnitude. You can get rid of most of that money and still live comfortably for the rest of your life and your children’s lives and their children’s lives. There comes a point- well before when you have the resources of a small country btw- that you have a responsibility to help other people.
willowdove01 Report
Final score:
57points
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Jake B Jake B Community Member Follow
Not helping and hoarding money should be considered a crime against humanity and no company should take dividends or profit if the employees aren’t making a living wage. CEO’s should not be paid until employees have been paid enough and no one working for that company is receiving government benefits. Just my soap box. I’ll be quiet now.
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#23
Here's how insane it is at the top. Steve Balmer - the 9th richest person in the world with ~$86 billion- is closer to the broke janitor than the richest person in the world, Bernard Arnault with ~$190 billion.
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Newman Newman Community Member Follow
*scratches head* what?
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#24
The unequal distribution of wealth demotivates me immensely.
onesnowcrow Report
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Rebekah Rebekah Community Member Follow
What I wouldn't give for that one grain of rice...
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#25
How much did billionaires' net worth increase during the pandemic? 62%. How much did wages for workers rise? 10%. And the 10 richest men in the world? Their wealth doubled during the pandemic. The same pandemic that sent 100 million people into extreme poverty.
inequality Report
Final score:
50points
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Crouching hippo hidden panda Crouching hippo hidden panda Community Member Follow
It’s a disgusting display of blatant disregard for the rest of humanity, and the failings of capitalism
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#26
The average American household makes around $60K a year, it would take that average household over 16,000 years to accumulate $1B. Think about that: SIXTEEN THOUSAND YEARS.
JustTheBeerLight , Karolina Grabowska Report
Final score:
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censorshipsucks censorshipsucks Community Member Follow
stop supporting them then. Delete windows and install linux. Do not host with AWS or Azure. Go to secondhand bookstores not Amazon. Order nothing online except from small retailers on their own websites. Stop buying iphones. Etc.
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#27
Alarid Report
Final score:
41points
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Bob Brooce Bob Brooce Community Member Follow
But you forgot to account for leap years.
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#28
Reminder that billionaires are destroying the planet.
ForwardSpinach Report
Final score:
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Verena Verena Community Member Follow
That chart makes no sense. Three colors, two figures? Are these figures $, piece, apples, planets?
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#29
Wealth Distribution by Generation in the United States.
Faraday9999 Report
Final score:
31points
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ЛеснойКороль(they/he)🇺🇦🇷🇺 ЛеснойКороль(they/he)🇺🇦🇷🇺 Community Member Follow
Gen Z is too young to get on these types of stats rn, but here are some facts after some quick research: GenZer’s have an average card balance of $3328 USD, and 72% of American Gen Z’ers have claimed feeling “hopeless and financially insecure” about their savings and their future, with most also stating that they believe they will never own a home. However, another cool fact i saw is that a whopping 83% of americans identify left-wing. So that’s cool, but good lord does this wealth gap suck.
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#30
Wealth inequality by country (OECD data)
YakEvery4395 Report
Final score:
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Binky Melnik Binky Melnik Community Member Follow
We prolly oughtta stop making these charts, lest wealthy people look at them and see opportunities to make even more money. 😞
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What do you think ?
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Cassie Cassie Community Member Follow
The working class(es) are the foundation of the economy. With money funneling upwards at a much greater rate than it comes down, eventually the foundation will no longer be able to support the structure and it will all come tumbling down. Their greed will be not only our downfall, but their own, as well.
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MaryHadaLittleLamb MaryHadaLittleLamb Community Member Follow
And we can see it starting to happen now.
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ЛеснойКороль(they/he)🇺🇦🇷🇺 ЛеснойКороль(they/he)🇺🇦🇷🇺 Community Member Follow
yooooo this succeeded in making me really really mad hooray
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Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! Community Member Follow
Then I'm glad I'm on the app. Can't see this one.
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Christopher Bowers Christopher Bowers Community Member Follow
Corporate greed needs to end. Billionaires like Bill, Elon, Mark, and Jeff need to have the majority of their wealth seized and divided in creating a better world to live in, starting with applying people the ability to afford the basics again in life, to end struggling, to end living paycheck to paycheck, to end inflation, to make things more affordable again and whatever else is needed to establish a better life. One other big way is finally offering universal healthcare here too. Seriously wtf do they need that much money for? Why did they get so much for their projects and inventions and stuff? Why is their value worth so much more a billion times over than the average person with their awful jobs? Seriously why? When one really thinks about it it really doesn't make any sense why they acquired that much money and why they are so selfish with it. Little charities here and there just to say oh I am helping people and stuff, its bs, its sad so many do without and have to pay so much.
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Potato Potato Community Member Follow
Instead of a set minimum wage rate, there should be a percentage. How much is Bezos making a year compared to the people who work for him? There is a better way to manage cost of living and profit increases, starting with salary increases (not "bonuses") based on local market rates and inflation. Last year I had a cost of living increase at my job, and it was less than my rental rate increase. A net loss each year. I don't know why we aren't also regulating rent prices on median wage. No wonder so many are homeless--and I'm pretty sure employers aren't keen on hiring people who don't have access to a shower.
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Cassie Cassie Community Member Follow
The working class(es) are the foundation of the economy. With money funneling upwards at a much greater rate than it comes down, eventually the foundation will no longer be able to support the structure and it will all come tumbling down. Their greed will be not only our downfall, but their own, as well.
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MaryHadaLittleLamb MaryHadaLittleLamb Community Member Follow
And we can see it starting to happen now.
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ЛеснойКороль(they/he)🇺🇦🇷🇺 ЛеснойКороль(they/he)🇺🇦🇷🇺 Community Member Follow
yooooo this succeeded in making me really really mad hooray
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Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! Community Member Follow
Then I'm glad I'm on the app. Can't see this one.
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Christopher Bowers Christopher Bowers Community Member Follow
Corporate greed needs to end. Billionaires like Bill, Elon, Mark, and Jeff need to have the majority of their wealth seized and divided in creating a better world to live in, starting with applying people the ability to afford the basics again in life, to end struggling, to end living paycheck to paycheck, to end inflation, to make things more affordable again and whatever else is needed to establish a better life. One other big way is finally offering universal healthcare here too. Seriously wtf do they need that much money for? Why did they get so much for their projects and inventions and stuff? Why is their value worth so much more a billion times over than the average person with their awful jobs? Seriously why? When one really thinks about it it really doesn't make any sense why they acquired that much money and why they are so selfish with it. Little charities here and there just to say oh I am helping people and stuff, its bs, its sad so many do without and have to pay so much.
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Potato Potato Community Member Follow
Instead of a set minimum wage rate, there should be a percentage. How much is Bezos making a year compared to the people who work for him? There is a better way to manage cost of living and profit increases, starting with salary increases (not "bonuses") based on local market rates and inflation. Last year I had a cost of living increase at my job, and it was less than my rental rate increase. A net loss each year. I don't know why we aren't also regulating rent prices on median wage. No wonder so many are homeless--and I'm pretty sure employers aren't keen on hiring people who don't have access to a shower.
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