Analysis Of Confronting Inequality

1832 Words4 Pages

Where would you consider yourself with your ranking in America 's social classes, are you upper class, middle class or even lower class? This is actually very important when it come to you receiving opportunities and in a sense special treatment. I’m referring to of course social inequality which is still very much alive in America and still affects a lot of families mostly in a negative way. This problem in America has grabbed the attention of two authors, Paul Krugman who wrote “Confronting Inequality” and Gary S. Becker and Kevin M. Murphy who wrote “The Upside of Income Inequality”. However, they both have different views on inequality Krugman believes that social inequality is only negative while on the other hand, Becker and Murphy believe Krugman believes that the only way to get into a good school is to be living in a higher economic area. Krugman 's even go about saying that this is why there is such a huge economic gap between social class. According to Krugman “Instead the rise in debt mainly reflected increased spending on housing, largely driven by the competition to get into good school districts. Middle- class Americans have been caught up in a rat race, not because they’re greedy or foolish but because they’re trying to give their children a chance in an increasingly unequal society”(564-565). All in all Krugman is saying that the only way for children in this day in age to receive a good education is by either being from an upper class family or making the public believe that your upper class, even though you can not afford that lifestyle. Which is not necessarily true because if you are willing to work hard enough you can go as far as you want in education. Just think there is always scholarships and programs available for people who are very dedicated to school and their career that can maybe help aid them financially. For example one of my friends that I know who isn 't from the wealthiest family still managed to make it into a good school because he was a good student and was willing to go above and beyond. So does coming from a wealthy family make it easier for you to get into a better school Becker and Murphy have a different idea on how to change the education system for the better instead of just lowering the cost of it. They believe if instead of changing the top of the food chain (upper class) we should change the foundation of the food chain (middle/lower class). This change would involve helping the lower class kids stay more motivated to stay in school longer, which in the end would make them much more successful in life. As reported by Becker and Murphy “So instead of lamenting the increased earnings gap caused by education, policymakers and the public should focus attention on how to raise the fraction of American youth who complete high school and then go on for a college education”(588). Basically Becker and Murphy are just saying that the public should create situations so that the youth that are struggling in school are focused on and pushed to do better, thus allowing them to go farther in their education career. I think this idea is great because it does not punish anyone or anything like Krugman 's solution does. Becker and Murphy solution with the education system is all about helping the less fortunate, rather than taking away from them because they are from a wealthy

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Paul Krugman's 'Confronting Inequality'

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

        In Confronting Inequality, Paul Krugman discusses the cost of inequality and possible solutions. Krugman argues to say that it is a fantasy to believe the rich live just like the middle class. Then, he goes into detail about how middle class families struggle to try to give their children a better life and how education plays a factor in children’s future lives. For example, children’s ability to move into higher education could be affected by their parents economic status. Also, He discusses how politicians play a role in the inequality, because most of politicians are in the upper economic class. Finally, Krugman says how we could possibly have solutions to these various inequalities, but how America won’t get

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Class In America-2009, By Gregory Mantsios

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    Growing up in The United States, people are given this idea of an American Dream. Almost every child is raised to believe they can become and do anything they want to do, if one works hard enough. However, a majority of people believe that there is a separation of class in American society. Gregory Mantsios author of “Class in America-2009” believes that Americans do not exchange thoughts about class division, although most of people are placed in their own set cluster of wealth. Also political officials are trying to get followers by trying to try to appeal to the bulk of the population, or the middle class, in order to get more supporters. An interesting myth that Mantsios makes in his essay is how Americans don’t have equal opportunities.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Putnam's 'Schooling'

    1446 Words  | 3 Pages

    He points out the differences between upper class and lower class family life; upper class have more successful marriages and are better prepared the bear children, and so their children are better off than the lower class children (61-79). But his assumptions of the upper class are broad and could be easily disproven by many families across America, and simply having less money does not make lower class families worse than upper class. Putnam then goes into parenting differences across the classes. He states that higher class parents are more likely to spend more money, time, and energy on their children, and thusly are being parented more positively than the lower class who are likely to spend less (109-134). Again, Putnam’s assumptions, while seemingly proven by data, can still be thought of as too broad to that just because upper class have more to spend on their children, that they provide better parenting. Many lower class parents who might be doing an excellent job parenting, even better than some upper class parents, seem to be discredited or overlooked. Putnam’s last few points about the opportunity gap are reflected in the schools (160-190) and communities (206-226). Simply put, due to where they can afford to live and go to school, upper class kids have far more social support and more

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Confronting Inequality By Paul Krugman

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    He presents several concepts that connect to Inequality in a variety of ways. According to the essay, the focus is centered on inequality consisting of many forms. First, he begins by asking us the rhetorical question of whether we, as Americans, should care about it. Afterwards, provides the audience with a lengthy discussion of how bad inequality is and how it should be corrected inside various aspects including, education, healthcare, and care of children. Several of the concepts within the essay strongly appeal to ethos and pathos. This shows us that Krugman made a strong argument, supporting it as he explains gently explains inequality, and how it exists in many forms, other than academic history. Personally, I did not find Krugman’s essay difficult. Instead, I viewed it as challenging, educational and fun to read. If I were asked to read it again for educational purposes, I definitely

    Read More

  • Summary Of Two Year Are Better Than Four By Liz Addison

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    people agree with the state that Liz borrows from Thomas Jefferson, "Everybody should have an education proportional to their life,"(Addison 256). Unfortunately, the average income between rich and poor in America is not accurate, everyone supposed to become somebody in life; college gives opportunity to everyone who wants to do so, to become whatever they want, and at any age with a low cost. as much as the income level between rich and poor in America stays unbalanced; college will always be there to gives opportunity to people who want to learn, but cannot afford to attend university. Liz Addison points out an example in the article.

    Read More

  • A Classless Society In Mantsios's Class In America

    1410 Words  | 3 Pages

    With each class comes a certain level in financial standing, the lower class having the lowest income and the upper class having the highest income. According to Mantsios’ “Class in America” the wealthiest one percent of the American population hold thirty-four percent of the total national wealth and while this is going on nearly thirty-seven million Americans across the nation live in unrelenting poverty (Mantsios 284-6). There is a clear difference in the way that these two groups of people live, one is extreme poverty and the other extremely

    Read More

  • Flaws In Society Article Analysis

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    Society has made us identify what type of American we are. I believe I am more aware of things such as social inequality, social class and the correlation between education and social class. Because being in my community the “black” community we have been taught the higher the education the better your social class. My parents and grandparents have constantly reminded me that education is important and the key to success and achieving a better life. Which is one topic in the article where Schaefer points out the independent and dependent variables. The independent variable being the level of education and the dependent variable being the level of income. From seeing this diagram in the article it correlates with what I have been taught to think my entire life. The amount of money you make depends on how educated you are. So my parents have always taught me to go to school because they believe that money is the key to a successful or comfortable life. This has been the lesson I have been taught by my parents but I always question. They say “Money can’t buy happiness” but then say in order to

    Read More

  • Using Sociology to Bridge the Opportunity Gap

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    Before entering into defense of the argument, it is important to communicate that the current situation is one which demands reform. It must be understood that the state of the public school system is not simply confined to the domain of education but is instead very much interrelated with the distribution of wealth. The current opportunity gap-which affords those who are middle and upper class greater access to higher quality education-is the cause of the inequality seen in the distribution of income. “Children born into the top fifth of the income distribution have about twice as much of a chance of becoming middle class or better in their adult years as those born into the bottom fifth (Isaacs, Sawhill, & Haskins, 2008)”.

    Read More

  • A Solution to Help Make College More Affordable

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    Later in his article, Cohen explains how this leaves middle-class families in a very uncomfortable situation. Parents or other money-making entities in the household want their student to go to college and earn a degree, but now there can be an element of stress in figuring out how the fees will be paid. Furthermore, many families have to worry about sending multiple children to college in succession, so the cost of college for the children can be quickly overwhelming.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • final

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to David Croteau social class is “a group of who share a roughly similar economic position and lifestyle,” a large group of who rank closely to one another in property (wealth), power, and prestige according to Weber. Stratification systems “are made up of social structures and cultural norms that create and maintain inequality by ranking people into a hierarchy of groups that receive unequal resources.” With these two terms we used these term and Dennis Gilbert and Joseph Kahl’s model of social class ladder to identify our family position by using the Dennis gilbert and Joseph Kahl’s model. According to Dennis Gilbert and Joseph Kahl’s they used education, occupation, and income to determined social class. By using their model to determine where my family and I are on the ladder based on education, occupation, and income I would say my family will be in the working class because my mom and dad never finished high school nor went to college. My parent immigrated to the U.S legally from the Secret War, and coming to a country that they do not know how to speak the language or adapt to the cultural it was really hard on them. For my mom, she wanted to continue her education, but my dad and his parent forced my mom to work instead of getting an education. Because of not having a good education she did not get to have a good job that will help support the family. But once my dad and mom started working we were living a really good life with no hardship making into the lower middle class, but once they divorced, my mom was the only one taking care of us eight children which was really hard for her, dropping us to the underclass (lower class). My mom was unemployed for a while until she finally found another job to support us....

    Read More

  • The Death Of Horatio Alger Analysis

    274 Words  | 1 Pages

    Paul Krugman, in his article “The Death of Horatio Alger” suggests that social mobility among classes in the United States is becoming more difficult by the day. Krugman explains that the idea of the American Dream and moving from class to class was once semi easily attainable; but is now seemingly impossible. Although America is thought of as a classless society, the country has a whole is moving into a caste society run by the rich.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Class In America By Gregory Mantsios

    1572 Words  | 4 Pages

    Social and economic class is something we as Americans like to push into the back of our minds. Sometimes recognizing our class either socially or economically can almost be crippling. When individuals recognize class, limitations and judgment confront us. Instead, we should know it is important to recognize our class, but not let it define and limit us. In the essay, “Class in America”, Gregory Mantsios, founder and director of the Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education at the School of Professional Studies, brings to light the fact that Americans don’t talk about class and class mobility. He describes the classes in extremes, mainly focusing on the very sharp divide between the extremely wealthy and extremely poor. In contrast, George

    Read More

  • Social Inequality In Society

    3028 Words  | 7 Pages

    "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And poof-he was gone" (Usual Suspects). Today's devil is not a physicla being, but a metaphorical one. That of inequality on a worldwide scale. Although people would like to think that social inequality has been all, but destroyed in modern society it is still featured heavily within our media. Social inequality is the process of society limiting or harming a group’s social status. Prejudice can be based on class, race, and gender. It exists in all levels of media and reality. To Kill a Mockingbird and The Hunger Games show classism while The Little Mermaid and Antigone display sexism. Racism can be seen in The Hotel on The Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Black Like Me.

    Read More

  • How Poverty Affects Academic Performance

    2579 Words  | 6 Pages

    Kerbo, H. R. (2012). Social stratification and inequality: class conflict in historical, comparative, and global perspective (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Read More

  • How Wealth Affects Education

    1498 Words  | 3 Pages

    In an education journal, Anyon (“Social”) provides the reader with the concept that there are four different types of schools, working class schools, middle-class schools, affluent professional schools, and executive elite schools, after observing five schools. The working class schools are made up of parents with blue-collar jobs, with less than a third of the fathers being skilled, and the majority of them being semiskilled or unskilled. “Approximately 15 percent of the fathers were unemployed… approximately 15 percent of the families in each school are at or below the federal ‘poverty’ level…the incomes of the majority of the families…are typical of 38.6 percent of the families in the United States” (Anyon, “Social”). In a more recent study conducted by Anyon (“What”, 69), she states that,

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Confronting Inequality

Open Document