Many of us are dutifully trying to figure out ways to save the United States from Donald Trump, his cult, and his wealthy beneficiaries. Meanwhile, other processes are moving right along their paths of destruction. One of these processes is the second “Gilded Age.”
The original period in American history, given that label by critical novels, occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. That was a time of great disparities between the super-rich and others. Mark Twain labeled the period “Gilded Age” to say it was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath.
The so-called Gilded Age was a time in the United States of rapid industrialization, creating many factories and the need for workers. However, while there were millions of factory workers, the wealthy owners were only a small number of people.
These wealthy entrepreneurs were called “captains of industry.” However, muckrakers often called them “robber barons,” because they got rich through ruthless means. These men included titans like Andrew Carnegie (U.S. Steel), J.P. Morgan (banker), and John D. Rockefeller (oil).
Economic disparities between workers and big business owners grew enormously during the Gilded Age. Workers had to endure low wages and dangerous working conditions to make a living, while big business owners enjoyed lavish lifestyles. Fortunately, a movement and a president came forth to curtail several of the most significant problems.
Intellectuals, journalists, and activists publicized these economic issues, government corruption, and other social welfare issues, sparking the development of the Progressive movement at the end of the nineteenth century. The overriding idea was that government should lead efforts to change society’s problems.
Teddy Roosevelt, who became president in 1901, led the progressive movement, becoming the noted “Trustbuster,” breaking up the monopolies and advocating for fair trade, pro-labor laws, and child labor restrictions. Notably, Roosevelt and the courts broke up Rockefeller’s Standard Oil monopoly.
Unfortunately, we are currently in a second Gilded Age. In some ways, the economics of this age are worse than in the original Gilded Age. In his book, The Price of Inequality, Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz informs us that the share of national income going to the top .01% (some 16,000 families) has risen from just over 1% in 1980 to almost 5% in 2012. This is a larger share than the top .01% in the Gilded Age.
Inequality affects society nowadays just as it did in the original Gilded Age. And it does so in one disturbing way-health and life expectancy. Sociological studies of health and illness show that socioeconomic status (SES) is a fundamental cause of poor health. Those at the bottom end of the income ladder have more health problems.
So, economic inequalities are causing inequalities in health. Medical care improved life expectancy by about two years between 1990 and 2000. However, the life expectancy of people with low incomes has not improved.
The health effects of inequality are getting worse. We use education as a measure of SES, as it is an excellent indicator of economic well-being. In 2008, U.S. adult men and women with fewer than twelve years of education had life expectancies not much better than adults in the 1950s and 1960s, despite the significant advances in life expectancy for all.
Of course, this situation is even worse for Black Americans. In 2008, White U.S. men and women with 16 years or more of schooling had life expectancies far greater than Black Americans with fewer than 12 years of education-14.2 years more for White men than Black men, and 10.3 years more for White women than Black women. And these gaps have widened over time.
Underscoring the effect of SES is the comparison of higher-status Blacks and Hispanics with lower-status Whites. Blacks and Hispanics with sixteen or more years of education lived 7.5 years and 13.6 years longer, respectively, than whites with less than twelve years of schooling.
Although Donald Trump helped worsen this situation when he was president, it started before him and continues unabated, as we have no current socio-political movement like the Progressivism of the first Gilded Age, and we have few political figures pushing to save us from the calamities of this Gilded Age.
Only Senator Bernie Sanders and the Congressional Progressive Caucus stand in that gap. We need to shore them up.
