Money doesn’t vote.
We do.
The richest 1% now own more than the bottom 90% of Americans combined.
Here’s what that costs us, how we take our government back, and what we get when we do.
Outrageous wealth distribution
The top 1% own 32.5% of America’s wealth. The bottom 90% — nine out of ten families — own 31.1%.
If America were 100 people sharing $100:
That one person has more than the bottom 90 people put together ($31.10).
- The top 0.1% — about 130,000 households — own $27.9 trillion. That’s 6½ times as much as the entire bottom half of America: 66 million households.
- The bottom half of America owns just 2.3% of the nation’s wealth, all put together.
- It’s getting worse. Since 1989 the top 1%’s share has grown from 22.8% to 32.5%, a record high. The bottom half’s share fell from 3.5% to 2.3%.
Bad benefits compared to other nations
The US is 23rd in the 2026 World Happiness Report. Finland has been 1st nine years in a row. Here’s part of the reason:
| What you get | In the US | In other rich democracies |
|---|---|---|
| Health care for everyone | No — 26.7 million people had no insurance all year | Everyone covered |
| Cost of health care per person | $14,885 | $5,967 on average |
| Life expectancy | 78.4 years | 81.1 years on average |
| Paid leave for a new baby | None required — the only OECD country | Every other OECD country |
| Paid vacation | None required by law | At least 4 weeks by law in the EU |
| Paid sick days | No national requirement | Required nearly everywhere |
OECD = the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: 38 mostly wealthy democracies, including the US, that share data so countries can compare. More about the OECD
Want the details? What we have now · Our quality of life
How we restore government of, by, and for the people
This didn’t happen by accident. Unlimited money in elections and decades of trickle-down tax cuts moved wealth — and power — to the top. (“Trickle-down” means cutting taxes for the richest people and biggest corporations, on the promise that the benefits will trickle down to everyone else. They didn’t.) Lobbyists alone spent more than $4.5 billion in 2024. So we reverse it:
Overrule Citizens United
A constitutional amendment so voters, not money, decide elections — and an end to secret “dark money.”Restore highly progressive taxation
End trickle-down. Tax the largest incomes and fortunes as we did after World War II, when the middle class grew fastest.Protect every vote
Restore the Voting Rights Act and draw fair districts.Close the revolving door
Limit lobbying and stop officials from cashing in as lobbyists.
How? Congress depends on our votes.
Every House seat and a third of the Senate are on the ballot. When enough voters know the truth — and know what to demand — we get results.
World-class benefits, like the happiest nations
Spread the word
They have the money for ads. We have something better: each other. People trust a friend more than any commercial.
How many people will you tell?
If you tell 3 people today, and each of them tells 3 more the next day, the message reaches 100 million people in 17 days.
Real life is never that neat — not everyone passes it on. That’s exactly why it matters that you do.
1. Send it now — one tap
Need help? How to paste · How to copy
2. Pick your three
Think of three people who vote. Type their names (only you can see them), then tick each one after you’ve told them.
3. Go further
Email a copy to friends · Influence the influencers · Suggested posts
Sources (checked October 2026)
- Federal Reserve, Distributional Financial Accounts, Q2 2026 (released September 2026): wealth shares and dollar amounts by group, 1989–2026. federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa
- World Happiness Report 2026 (March 2026): US 23rd, Finland 1st. worldhappiness.report
- US Census Bureau, Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2025: 26.7 million uninsured all year. census.gov
- OECD, Health at a Glance 2025, United States profile: spending per person (USD PPP) and life expectancy. oecd.org
- OECD, Revenue Statistics: US tax-to-GDP 25.2% vs. OECD average 33.9% (2023). oecd.org
- OECD Family Database: parental leave across OECD countries. oecd.org
- EU Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC): at least four weeks of paid annual leave. eur-lex.europa.eu
- Center for Economic and Policy Research, “No-Vacation Nation”: the US requires no paid vacation or paid sick days. cepr.net
- OpenSecrets: federal lobbying spending, 2024. opensecrets.org
- Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), including Justice Stevens’s dissent. justia.com
The Brandeis quotation comes from a later recollection, not his own writings, so it is marked “attributed.”
Claude (Anthropic) did the research and wrote the text. Aphorisms from us-sos.info.