Income inequality has been a long-standing feature of American life. Consequently, U.S. history has featured numerous proposals to decrease the disparity between the economic “haves” and “have-nots.”
During the Great Depression, Louisiana Senator Huey Long introduced his “Share Our Wealth” initiative. He proposed to limit personal wealth in the U.S. and to guarantee a minimum standard of living for all Americans. In 1934, “Share Our Wealth” clubs started across the country by supporters of this idea. One year later, there were 27,000 of these clubs with 4.7 million members. From a political standpoint, Senator Long hoped to use “Share Our Wealth” as his platform to win the presidency in 1936. An assassin’s bullet in 1935 kept him from doing so.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a new member of the U.S. House of Representatives, represents the most recent manifestation of Populism. Her “Green New Deal” proposal, which hopes to move the U.S. to 100% reliance on renewable energy by 2035, is linked with her call for a 70% marginal tax rate on income over $10 million a year. A variety of polls suggest that nearly half of Americans are in favor of raising taxes on this country’s super-rich. But it remains to be seen if this proposal will gain traction or become yet another interesting historical footnote.
