Propaganda is about telling a good story. So when the media wants to tell a story of how the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, they ignore inconvenient facts, such as the value of the various federal, state, and local transfer payments as well as the value of charitable contributions from private groups such as soup kitchens. That would interfere with the story that is needed to justify higher taxes and higher spending.

But if you look not at income but material wealth, the story gets worse, but in an opposite way. By examining material possessions we find that the gap between the rich and poor is actually alarmingly small. Let's look at a few categories:

Transportation. Rich people have cars. But many poor people have them too. Airfare has become cheap enough that the vast majority of Americans can afford to fly across the country. In the old days the rich had horses and buggies, but the poor had only one option: to walk.

Food: For thousands of years, the poor were semi-starved, and for the most part, they were vegetarians, but not by choice. Now everyone, and I mean everyone, gets to eat meat. Unprecedented in the history of mankind.

Communications: Even the poorest person can get a phone, and not just a phone, but a cellphone, under programs like the "Obamaphones."  Many of the poor even have smartphones, and the Federal Government subsidizes internet access, especially in poor and rural areas.

Electronics: Many of the poor have complex entertainment systems that rich people only fifty years ago could not even dream of.  X-Boxes, Playstations, big screen TV's, stereos, and more.

Healthcare: Even before Obamacare, hospitals were obligated to provide emergency care to anyone, regardless of ability to pay. The cost of that is ultimately borne by the taxpayer, including the "rich."

Education: It is true that there is a disparity in primary education, because of a lack of school choice. The rich live in districts with much better schools than in inner cities. But college education is heavily subsidized for the poor with a massive federal student loan program, and many colleges adjust their tuition based on income -- a true Marxist's dream for pricing.

Housing: Many of the poor live in unsafe neighborhoods, it is true, but compared to their historical counterparts they live like kings. They have running water, toilets, stoves, and electricity--just as the rich do.

This record amount of equality between rich and poor is very troubling. It's troubling because a massive amount of taxation and redistribution is required to accomplish this, which kills job creation and reduces the poor's incentive to work, promoting dependency and listlessness.

I think we need to do something to increase the material gap between the rich and poor to create more jobs and more incentives to work. The massive amount of equality between rich and poor is a moral blot on America's character that we should all be ashamed of.

This article was produced by NewsMachete.com, the conservative news site.