America's Distribution of Wealth (1955)

★★★★★ · Excellent for Comparison · BlackWorm · 2004-03-22

This film embarrassingly attempts to portray America as having a widespread distribution of wealth. The "expert" presenter makes the usual critical error (or ruse) of those attempting to prove such a proposition: he equates wealth with income. Still, the film does seem to demonstrate that in the mid 1950's, the average person did indeed have some wealth. Other aspects of the presentation are intentionally misleading, such as the sliding people on the income graph. The intent is to show the income distribution curve, but the presenter conveniently places all the people in the highest income…

★★★★ · America's Distribution of Wealth · Christine Hennig · 2003-09-01

An economist lectures us on how the American capitalist system is the best in the world, morally right, and according to God's law. He's pretty boring himself, but he is interrupted by a couple of jaw-dropping scenes of "foreigners" marveling at the American system. Especially amusing is a scene of a fake Englishman who looks like Terry Jones dubbed in by Bill Clinton trying desperately to fake a British accent going all ga-ga in a supermarket. The shortages the Englishman has to put up with are assumed to be a product of socialism rather than that recent world war that everybody in the movie…

★★★★ · Mendacious but well done · thebrix · 2005-06-30

A fascinating lecture, still valid today as the same tricks are being used! The lecturer attempts to demonstrate that the wealth of Americans is relatively equally distributed. However, there are at least four serious errors in his argument. In summary, Equating wealth with income; Lumping high earners (five times the average wage and above) in one category whereas, in any distribution of income, the tail is surprisingly thick; Using averages rather than medians (fifty per cent above, fifty per cent below), averages being somewhat higher than medians; Treating income from bonds, shares and…

★★★★ · Eerie lecturer... · junya · 2010-01-08

I can't see his eyes!

★★★ · A Passion for Capitalism · trafalgar · 2004-03-13

The profit motive is "wholesome and good...wholly compatible with God's law." Yee-haa! Now we don't have to feel so guilty. There are several gems on this site produced by Harding College (now University), a Christian school in Arkansas. Most of them are devoted to creating productive, thankful workers who are content with their lot in life. Work faster, work harder...for a better life! Someone must have been mighty impressed by this film, because "noted young historian" Prof. Ganus went on to become the school's president in 1965...