>Share this Article on Facebook<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nAmerica, for example, has always been touted as the land of opportunity, a place where if you work hard, you have the same opportunities as everyone else.\u00a0 What many throughout the world are beginning to realize is that opportunity in general has actually been shrinking, and income inequality has dramatically increased since the late 1970s.\u00a0 In the late 1970s, the wealthiest Americans earned about 10% of the income nationally.\u00a0 Currently, they earn 30% of the income and control about 40% of the total wealth of America. This increase is pretty staggering when you think about it.\u00a0 It is also a concern when you factor in the fact that Americans are more in debt than ever and struggling to meet their daily needs.\u00a0 The wealthiest folks have seen their incomes rise almost 20% over the past decade, and middle class families have seen their incomes fall.\u00a0 In other words, all the economic gains of the last 30 or so years have exclusively gone to the top 1% of people.<\/p>\n