World's 12th Highest Standard of Living

The proclamation seen above, "World's Highest Standard of Living," might have been true for those in the car, but certainly not the men and women standing below. The photo was taken by Margaret Bourke, a lady who captured the Depression era across the South with stunning clarity. No matter your race, today the U.S. can only claim 12th in latest Human Development Index by the United Nations. Why 12th? For one, Nordic countries with their evenly distributed economy and healthy diets tend to dominate these type of rankings. However, it is a problem of our own creation that hampers our standard of the living the most. The U.S. has the widest rich-poor gap amongst the relatively stable, and developed countries. Call it socialist, but it's time to take a hard look at pay scales. You cannot dictate what society values, that is why the #1 NFL draft pick gets $30 million up front, while a teacher would only earn $30,000 after years of service. But you can require some reduction in the income disparity between the executives and laborers of companies that benefit from public investment. Regulations have been needed to reign capitalism in before, the laissez-faire approach of Reaganomics is no longer sufficient.