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NEWS ABOUT: class divide

More About:  wealth • class • class warfare • Katie Couric • military • Hurricane Katrina • technology • philanthropy • China • rain forest • wife • recess • arson • US economy • wall • Rio de Janeiro • culture • Tina Fey • skating • labor • Brazil • Manhattan • Berlin • work • Mexico

We Don't Hate the Rich, We Hate the 'New Upper Class'

Charles Murray says this powerful group calls the shots in the US

(Newser) - Americans see tensions over income inequality growing, but Charles Murray thinks they've got it all wrong. "Income inequality isn't really the problem," the libertarian author writes in Time . "A new upper class is the problem," a group denoted not by its wealth, but by... More »

Americans See 'Strong' Class Warfare

It now out-ranks racial, generational conflict

(Newser) - The number of Americans who think the rich and poor are in serious conflict has exploded over the past two years, with a whopping 67% now rating conflicts between the classes as either "strong" or "very strong," according to a new Pew Research poll —a 19-point... More »

No Katrina Recovery for Lower Class

Government efforts have helped the affluent

(Newser) - The government has poured $143 billion into Hurricane Katrina recovery, but most of that money has gone to the city’s predominantly white middle and upper classes, the Washington Post reports. A federal judge this month declared that Louisiana’s system for distributing funds to property owners to rebuild discriminated... More »

Thanks for the Generosity, You 'Robber Barons'

The rich-poor divide is getting even worse

(Newser) - It's "admirable" that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett got their billionaire buddies to pledge huge sums to charity, writes Robert Reich at Salon . Not so admirable is "what this reveals about how much money is now concentrated in so few hands," he says. "It’s more... More »

Generation of Rich Brats Sparks Chinese Anger

Lethal car accident, lenient sentence trigger wave of Internet outrage

(Newser) - Public outrage aimed at new generation of elites is widening class divisions as China prepares to mark 60 years of Communist rule, the Wall Street Journal reports. The sons and daughters of those who got rich after the economic reforms of the early '80s are widely seen as being above... More »

Wedding Military Means Divorcing Manhattan

High society is into service, Army wife says, but not armed forces

(Newser) - When her Manhattan colleagues found out Chloe Kamarck was marrying an Army officer, she got a lot of questions: “But why? So he supports the war? Is he a Republican?” This generation is into service—the recession has driven many to the Peace Corps, Teach for America, and the... More »

'Ecobarriers' Wall In Rio's Poor

(Newser) - They’re called “ecobarriers,” but critics say the walls being erected in Rio de Janeiro aren’t there to protect trees. The 10-foot cinderblock walls are supposed to prevent Rio’s favelas, or shantytowns, from expanding into the rainforest, but critics say they’re really a means of... More »

Berlin Protesters Torch Luxury Cars

Sardonically named 'BMW' claims responsibility for arsons

(Newser) - As the financial crisis inflames class tensions, economic protest in Berlin has taken the form of arson attacks on luxury cars, Bloomberg reports. Activists have torched more than 2 dozen vehicles this year, and the pace is increasing. A group puckishly calling itself “BMW”—an acronym for "... More »

Palin: Media Gives Kennedy Free Pass

Social status made for her own tough ride, says ex-candidate, also ripping Fey, Couric

(Newser) - Sarah Palin says the media is lobbing softballs at Caroline Kennedy because of the would-be New York senator’s class status, Politico reports. The Republican governor of Alaska speculates that “there is a class issue here also that was such a factor in the scrutiny of my candidacy,”... More »

The Rich Get Richer, Work Harder

Wealth disparities are what's keeping big earners sweating

(Newser) - America’s higher earners are working harder all the time —but it’s not because of PDAs and laptops. It’s because of a fear of being “left behind” as wealth gaps widen among the upper classes, writes Dalton Conley in the New York Times. “Rising inequality... More »

Mexicans Chill on Free Rink

Populist mayor gives city residents world's biggest ice rink

(Newser) - People in sun-drenched Mexico City are waiting as long as six hours for the thrilling opportunity to skate on what officials say is the world's biggest ice rink—at no charge, the Washington Post reports. The free 34,000-square-foot rink—with free skate rental—highlights the class divide in Mexico,... More »

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