I bet you’re thinking, “No, but those other suckers sure are. Why did they vote for that person or that party? Why can’t they see that they’re being played?” I also bet that you’re just as easily duped as them.
The reality is that we all think we’re much smarter than we really are. And that misplaced self-confidence is what makes both you and I much more easily duped than we want. I’m going to use Americans to try and convince you, but only because the US government, via the Fed, is more open about US wealth than most countries. Voters in every other democracy are just as easily manipulated and usually by the same arguments too.
We both know the most important thing to us, when we vote, is whether they’re going to make us better off. Everything else is just nice to have. Those who convince us they’ll put more money in our pocket get our vote.
Since 1989, the US has had 17 years of Republican presidents and 20 of Democratic presidents. During that time the wealth share of the poorest 50% of Americans has fallen from 3.5% to 2.5%. If we look at the changes, they don’t track to which party had the White House. The share has gone up and down under both parties. But the trend is downwards, a drop of 1%.
Meanwhile, the trend for the wealthiest 10% of Americans is upwards. Over the same period, they gained an extra 6.6% share of America’s wealth, taking their share to 67.4%.
Stop and think about that for a moment. Just one tenth of Americans have grasped more than two thirds of all America’s wealth. And the poorest half share just a fortieth of all America’s wealth.
Based on mid-2025 figures, if the poorest 50% hadn’t lost 1%, they’d each have $9,839 more today. If that whole 6.6% had gone to them instead, they’d each have $64,940 more today. Add both and they’d each have $74,789 more money right now.
However, rather than Americans arguing about the wealthy making the poorest Americans poorer, Americans are arguing about immigrants making them poorer. If every single illegal immigrant in the US left today at their own expense, the poorest 50% of Americans would be just $278.73 better off next year. It would take 268 years for each to gain the equivalent of $74,789 at that rate.
The wealthiest Americans hoarded this extra wealth under both Democrats and Republicans and both Democrats and Republicans have got Americans arguing about how to deal with immigrants, rather than how to deal with the wealthiest Americans taking more than their fair share.
So, are we more easily duped than we think or is it just the other suckers?
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