Josh Harkinson

When you get down to it, the debate over the sequester—the automatic budget cuts that kicked in on Friday—is really about the future of the middle class. Democrats want to close tax loopholes for the wealthy to preserve education and social programs for the rest of us. Republicans call this socialism, and flatly refuse to consider any option other than cutting bigger holes in the social safety net.

As these opposing views come to a head, a new video based on Mother Jones' well-known income inequality charts has been making the rounds. Even if you've already seen the originals, it may put Washington's latest squabbles in a different light:

UPDATE, Thursday, February 28 (Brett Brownell): Following the video's viral spread this week, Mother Jones reached out to its mysterious creator, YouTube user "Politizane." "Z," as he signed his messages, told us that he is a freelance filmmaker "living and working in a red state (Texas)" who is staying anonymous in order avoid losing clients or jobs due to "a vague political affiliation."

At first he saved the original "Ariely chart" to his phone, and from time to time would "try to wrap [his] head around it." The chart, created by Mother Jones and based on polling data by Dan Ariely and Michael L. Norton, showed Americans' mistaken expectations of wealth distribution. Eventually Z decided to visualize the disparity in his own way by tinkering with After Effects software over a period of a few days. He also says he vetted the math/curve-fitting among some "geeky friends."

"Wealth Inequality in America" is his only politically minded video so far. "These issues are simply things I think (and perhaps angst) about in my spare time," Z says."The really incredible thing for me is the simple fact that people are now talking about these issues…So it's pretty neat to open some eyes and get people thinking."

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