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Essay on economic equality
Essay on economic equality
Economic equality
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Capitalism and the Common Man
There are some arguments, having a faint measure of plausibility, that have served politicians, charlatans and assorted do-gooders for well for over a century in their quest for control. One of those arguments is: capitalism primarily benefits the rich and not the common man. That vision prompts declarations such as: Congressman Richard Gephart's assertion that high income earners are "winners" in "the lottery of life." Then there's, Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, who says high income earners the "fortunate fifth." These nonsensical visions lead to calls for those who've been "blessed" to "give back" either voluntarily or coercively through the tax code.
While demagogic statements like these have high emotive worth, they reflect resolute, near incurable stupidity about the sources of income. Listening to some of the talk about income differences, one would think that out there somewhere is a pile of money. People who are wealthy just happened to get there first and greedily took an unfair share. Justice requires that they "give back." Or, there's talk about income distribution. The way some people talk, unequal distribution of income means that there is a dealer of dollars who shells out $1,000 to one person, $100,000 to another and a million dollars to yet another. Thus, the reason why some people are wealthy while others are not wealthy is that the dollar dealer is a racist, sexist, a multi-nationalist, or just plain mean. Economic justice requires a re-dealing of the dollars, income redistribution, where the ill-gotten gains of the few are returned to their rightful owners.
In a free society, for the most part, people with high incomes have demonstrated extraordinary ability to produce valuable services for, and therefore please their fellow man. Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, and singer Michael Jackson provided services deemed highly valuable by their fellow men who voluntarily took money out of their pockets to purchase those services. Their high incomes stand as unambiguous proof of that service. Their high incomes also reflect the democracy of the market place. For example, millions upon millions of independent decision makers decided to fork over $200 or $300 for Microsoft founder Bill Gates' "Windows 98" operating system. Those who think Bill Gates is too rich, and want to redistribute his income, are really registering disagreement with the democracy of the market place and want to cancel or offset the market "vote.
Throughout the 19th century, capitalism seemed like an economic utopia for some, but on the other hand some saw it as a troublesome whirlpool that would lead to bigger problems. The development of capitalism in popular countries such as in England brought the idea that the supply and demand exchange systems could work in most trade based countries. Other countries such as Russia thought that the proletariats and bourgeoisie could not co-exist with demand for power and land, and eventually resorted to communism in the early 20th century. Although many different systems were available to the countries in need of economic change, a majority of them found the right system for their needs. And when capitalist societies began to take full swing, some classes did not benefit as well as others and this resulted in a vast amount of proletariats looking for work. Capitalists societies are for certain a win-loss system, and many people did not like the change from having there society changed to a government controlled money hungry system. On the other hand, the demand for labor brought the bourgeoisie large profits because they could pay out as much as they wanted for labor.
The film “Inequality for all” directed by Jacob Kornbluth, begins with Robert Reich asking students three questions to consider in a lecture when talking about the uneven distribution of wealth. First, what is happening regarding the distribution of wealth? He then inquires to why this is happening. Last of all, he asks the students if the distribution of wealth is a problem in America. He addresses these questions as well as many others in his lecture on the growing divide between America’s rich and poor. Robert Reich is an economist, author, and educator as well as public policy professor who served in the Ford, Carter and Clinton administration. He has dealt with this particular topic for over three decades and continues to spread his political views as a professor at the University of Berkley. Furthermore, he talks about the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor/middle class. He goes beyond the obvious facts to show us why this is happening and uses statistical data to display this growing problem. He gives concerning evidence that wages are declining, and that America’s weakening economy is based on consumerism.
Mutulu, F. (2013, September 28). China’s strength holding sway over U.S. influence in Africa. Retrieved March 29, 2014, from The Atlantic Post: http://www.theatlanticpost.com/economy/chinas-financial-muscle-holds-sway-us-africa-influence-3676.html
"Animal-Assisted Therapy." Animal Assisted Therapy, Exploring the Therapeutic Link between Animals and Humans. American Humane Association, 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. .
For centuries, bonds between animals and humans have been stronger than ever. Many people could argue that their pet has become a part of the family. Over time, the bond that a pet and their owner have can become very similar to the bond between child and parent, sibling to sibling, etc. Many studies have been done that prove that the interactions between animals and humans are beneficial to the health of both individuals. Furthermore, the benefits of having an animal has become a large part of one’s health. Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is practiced in many facilities around the world, but the “lack of interest and knowledge of animal-assisted therapy are still widespread” (Altschiller 12). The therapeutic bonds between humans and their animals have helped many medical cases around the world.
Inside of this video, this guy really targets an issue nobody has really been presented. He shows charts that talk about how we Americans think our wealth is distributed. We think distribution is doing alright. Americans think that the bottom 40% is getting a bit of money. They also believe that the middle class is doing reasonably well. Unfortunately, that is not the case. In the video, he breaks it down a little bit getter. He shows a graph that shows how money is actually being distributed. The poorest of poor don 't even register on the poverty line. The middle class is barely making it. And then there is this huge difference between "the rich" and the poor. It is proven that the 1% of America has 40% of the entire nation 's wealth ("Wealth Inequality in America."). The bottom 80% of America only share 7% of the nation 's wealth among themselves. The top 1% has 50% of the stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The bottom 50% of Americans only own 0.5% ("Wealth Inequality in America."). The poor is not just getting by but they are scraping and fighting to get by. Now that it is clear that there is a lot of poor people in America, it is important to figure out how to fix
Adding to this is the notion that the “richer are getting richer and the poor, poorer.” (Reich). When the income of the middle and lower class is either the same or shrinking while the income of the upper class is improving, the wealth gap is evident (Scott). What illustrates this is that today the 10% of richest Americans hold 40% of all the wealth in the U.S. (Scott). Another aspect of the wealthiest staying wealthy is the ability to pass down their wealth; otherwise known as inheritance. Even with estate taxes, the wealthy still manage to find loopholes where they don’t have to pay as much, or even at all. In other words, “lower income people pay a greater share of their income sales and payroll taxes than higher-income people” (Henchman). In America, the wealthy are being favored while everyone else has to pay.
McKinley, Jesse. "Harvey Milk's Shop, Center of a Movement, Is Now the Center of an Internal Fight." New York Times. N.p., 19 Dec. 2010. Web.
Divisions within the social stratum is a characteristic of societies in various cultures and has been present throughout history. During the middle ages, the medieval feudal system prevailed, characterized by kings and queens reigning over the peasantry. Similarly, in today’s society, corporate feudalism, otherwise known as Capitalism, consists of wealthy elites dominating over the working poor. Class divisions became most evident during America’s Gilded Age and Progressive era, a period in time in which the rich became richer via exploitation of the fruits of labor that the poor persistently toiled to earn. As a result, many Americans grew compelled to ask the question on everyone’s mind: what do the rich owe the poor? According to wealthy
Everyone has his or her own ideas of how wealth should be distributed properly. Some people believe wealth should be left to family, left for public services, or become the property of others. Others believe that people should not have excess wealth, resulting in non-existent class distinctions. An alternative view is that wealth is not distributed; instead, the wealthy continue to grow wealthier while those in poverty can not escape it and fall further into a life of poverty. The beliefs discussed above come from three different writers. Those writers include Andrew Carnegie, Karl Marx, and Robert B. Reich. These writers all have different opinions on how wealth should be distributed properly.
Inequality exist and is high in America because the amount of income and wealth that is distributed through power. In America the income distribution is very inequality and the value of a person wealth is based on their income with their debts subtracted. “As of 2007, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth, and the 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)” (Domhoff, 2011). In contrary the poor do not get ahead and the rich get more. Americans are judged and placed in class categories through their home ownership which translates to wealth. Americans social class is often associated with their assets and wealth. “People seek to own property, to have high incomes, to have interesting and safe jobs, to enjoy the finest in travel and leisure, and to live long and healthy lives” (Domhoff, 2011). Power indicates how these “values” are not distributed equally in American society. Huge gains for the rich include cuts in capital gains and dividends and when tax rates decrease for the tiny percent of Americans income is redistributed. Taxes directly affect the wealth and income of Americans every year.
Bulimia nervosa is a serious psychiatric illness. People who suffer from bulimia binge eat regularly and try compensating for their behavior by over exercising, purging and fasting; according to the National Library of Medicine a significant number of people with bulimia also have anorexia (Nordqvist, 2009). There are many warning signs and symptoms that come along with bulimia such as: binge eating, purging, over exercising, constant change in bodyweight, disappearing after eating to the restroom, depression, and damaged teeth (Nordqvist, 2009). Not only does bulimia affect ones physical appearance but it also affects a persons state of health because there are many consequences that come along with this disorder such as: sto...
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 4th ed. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995. 1519-1568.
Levine, M. & Maine, M. (2004). Some basic facts about eating disorders. Retrieved April 28, 2005 from http://www.brooklane.org/whitepgs
Karl Marx, in the Capital, developed his critique of capitalism by analyzing its characteristics and its development throughout history. The critique contains Marx’s most developed economic analysis and philosophical insight. Although it was written in 1850s, its values still serve an important purpose in the globalized world and maintains extremely relevant in the twenty-first century.