( CNN ) -- When President Barack Obama proclaimed the fight against income inequality is `` the defining challenge of our time , '' you might have dismissed his words as the effort of a struggling president to revive his political fortunes . But anyone looking at the relentlessly expanding income gap can see that the problem is real -- and it is serious . The economy is gradually recovering from the Great Recession , but inequality continues to grow . In the first two years of recovery , the net worth of the bottom 93 % continued to shrink , while the top 7 % grew wealthier . The richest Americans are taking the biggest share of national income of any time since 1928 . Rather than dismissing Obama 's call as a political ploy , Republicans in the United States and other conservatives across the developed world , should take up the cause and make it their own . Rising inequality is the proven enemy of stability . And nobody benefits more from stability than the wealthy . This is their fight , too . If trends continue , the well-tended sources of wealth of the rich could get trampled by the march of popular frustration . The signs are already here , in the United States and Europe . A sense that unfairness permeates the system is what fosters extreme views , erodes the middle ground , and makes it increasingly difficult for government to function . From Occupy Wall Street to the Tea Party , populist politics is creating gridlock and producing a government that can not address the country 's problems . In Europe , the perception of unfairness has fostered extremist parties , such as the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party in Greece , with alarming echoes of the 1930s . Traditionally , inequality is the kind of issue that receives attention from leftist politicians and is shoved aside by those on the right , who expect free markets to work their magic , improving the lives of those who work hard and , by the judgment of some moral gauge , deserve to be rewarded . But it turns out that the invisible hand of the market , as economist Adam Smith famously described it , may have developed arthritis in recent years . Obama is right when he says this is undermining the very definition of what America means . The U.S. was the land of opportunity ; the place where you could succeed regardless of where you were born . In the old days , America was the place where you could be born poor and rise on your own merits . Today , incredibly , researchers say upward economic mobility is easier in Canada and Europe than in the United States . This contract , the `` American Dream , '' has meant that the U.S. was not , and still is n't , a land that is fertile for those seeking to sow class warfare . America was never a place where people hated the rich as much as they wanted -- and often succeeded -- in becoming the rich . But the stratospheric rise of incomes at the top is not just an American problem . And the search for solutions is a global pursuit . This is a time to debate and innovate ; a time to find the causes of this stagnation of the majority and look for solutions . Unexpectedly , sedate Switzerland has started experimenting with some startling ideas . When Swiss voters heard that the Chairman of Novartis , a large pharmaceutical corporation , was going to receive some $ 78 million in severance , they mounted a campaign to ban `` golden handshakes . '' They resoundingly approved strict limits on compensation in a referendum last March . It 's worth noting that CEOs in Switzerland make an average of 148 times what the average workers make . In the U.S. , they make 354 times more , according to the AFL-CIO . The most intriguing of all the ideas will come to the voters next year . Under a proposal spelled out in a referendum , every Swiss citizen regardless of income would receive a monthly check of $ 2,800 from the government . The notion of a guaranteed income is receiving enormous attention around the world . The idea defies traditional notions of government assistance and means-testing . Instead of a giant bureaucracy and complex programs breaking down assistance for food or housing , the government would make sure nobody lives in poverty , and presumably dismantle a host of welfare structures . In theory , minimum-income programs would reduce the incentive to work . But when a small town in Canada conducted a four-year experiment in minimum income , researchers say poverty disappeared , graduation rates went up , and hospitalization rates went down . This is just one proposal , and one that focuses more on poverty alleviation than on inequality . And inequality itself , not just poverty , is a key issue . An unequal society distorts democratic principles . Financial muscle amounts to political muscle . We have seen it in the United States , where campaign donations are reshaping the political landscape . You might think this is a great argument for the rich to keep the system exactly the way it is . Ironically , however , wealthy businesses use their money for political power , but populist politicians are able to tap into discontent and gum up the works . The business community hated the government shutdown , but the angry base , particularly on the Republican side , supported politicians who kept the government closed . The wealthy are more powerful than ever , but they risk losing control of the system if they allow it to continue along its present path . Self-interest may not be the most admirable reason to fight for justice and a better life for all , but it may just prove persuasive , even if it means heading the call of an embattled president . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frida Ghitis .
Frida Ghitis Do n't dismiss Obama 's speech on inequality as a ploy ; it 's serious . Ghitis : The richest have the biggest share of national income of any time since 1928 . They are also more likely to be in poverty than ever before, and they're getting richer at an even faster rate than their counterparts did during the Great Depression. Ghitis : An unequal society distorts democracy , causes instability , promotes extremism .