Study: Americans believe conflict between rich, poor is growing - The Washington Post

The nonprofit think tank in Washington released a study Wednesday that found a growing number of Americans say there are “strong” or “very strong” conflicts between the rich and poor — a number that has grown 19 percent since July 2009. This growing class friction is a greater potential source of tension in the country now than traditional divides over immigration, race and age.

“It is kind of amazing,” said Richard Morin, a senior editor at Pew who authored the study. “This is people not only sensing conflict but people sensing an intensity of these conflicts — that’s what makes it striking and politically important.”

This pronounced attitude shift occurred throughout the income spectrum — to the very poor to wealthy — as well as among those with diverse political views. But younger adults, Democrats and African Americans were more likely than others to sense the class tension, according to the study, a national survey of 2,048 adults.

Morin wrote that this marked attitude change in a short period of time probably reflects the message of the Occupy Wall Street movement but also a growing public awareness of the shifts in wealth distribution in America. In recent years the top one percent of earners have seen their fortunes rise while lower incomes have stagnated, and the top one percent now controls more than a third of the wealth.

“I think you see very, very rich people and there is a jealousy there by the people on the other end, the poor side. . . . It’s worse than it’s ever been,” said Ira Ellis, 64, a retired professional photographer from Las Vegas who participated in the study. In his community, he sees everything from mega-high rollers to rising ranks of homeless because of the state’s high foreclosure rates.

The class divide is expected to be a major theme in the 2012 presidential campaign, with President Obama preaching a return to middle-class values in a speech last month and conservative Republicans fretting about the possibility that class warfare will be topic A in the general election.

Morin wrote that while Americans are more aware of this significant shift in class in America, it does not necessarily signal an “increase in grievances toward the wealthy.” As many as 43 percent believe that the rich become so because of their own hard work, ambition or education, the study showed, compared with 46 percent who believe that the wealthy become rich through connections or birth.

And these attitudes seem to be shared regardless of income level. Nearly two-thirds of adults with household income less than $20,000 a year believe there are serious conflicts between the rich and poor, as do 67 percent of those earning $75,000 a year or more, Morin wrote.