Videos: Wearable Structures
In the US, the top 1% of the population owns 50% of the assets while 50% of the population owns 0.5%. By 2016, OXFAM predicts that it will be a world wide statistic.
Video location was selected for the household revenue of the area according to the US census data :
- Across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art households' revenue corresponds to the highest category (250k +/yr) mainly to the 1% owning 50%
- Across from the Consevatory Garden is East Harlem where the households' revenue belongs to the lower income category of 15-25k and 25-50k/yr, that is the 50% who owns 0,5%
The social disparity in the USA has increased such that it is now similar to the 1928 level (before the great depression) (source : Pew Reseach Center).
Also :
The world's 85 richest people own as much as the poorest 50 percent of humanity. (OXFAM)
Why does this matter?
This great disparity concentrates the wealth into a few individuals or families and is creating conditions where they may influence the state policies thus threatening the conditions for a democracy to exist. (OXFAM)
Data source: Business Insider G. Luvin 2011, OXFAM 2014 and Building a Better America Harvard February 2011