You have to consider that in the context of who owns the wealth.
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
As of 2007, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 50.5%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 85%, leaving only 15% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers). In terms of financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one’s home), the top 1% of households had an even greater share: 42.7%.
And the top 1% of income earners actually pay a smaller percentage of their incomes to taxes than the 9% just below them.
Wealth is not what you earn but what you keep.
The figures today aren’t much different than they were back in 1913 which is the primary reason the proponents sold the income tax with the idea that it would target ONLY the top 1 or 2 percent. Today it targets almost everybody and serves as an instrument of class warfare. It is used by the agents of the rich to destroy wealth accumulation opportunities of those lower down the income scale.