Sunday 15 January 2012

Income Now the Big Divide in US

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: CONFLICT between rich and poor now eclipses racial strain and friction between immigrants and the native-born as the greatest source of tension in US society, according to a new survey.

About two-thirds of Americans now believe there are ''strong conflicts'' between rich and poor in the US, a survey by the Pew Research Centre found, a sign that the message of income inequality brandished by the Occupy Wall Street movement and pressed by Democrats may be seeping into the national consciousness.

The result was about a 50 per cent increase from a survey in 2009, when anger over the financial industry's role in the recession was festering. In that survey, 47 per cent of those polled said there were strong conflicts between classes. » | Sabrina Tavernise | Monday, January 16, 2012