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Essay on wealth inequality
Essay on wealth inequality
Income and wealth inequality sociology
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Tax. This word has many different connotations, but most of them fall into the negative category. As most people know, taxes are a good thing for everyone, but they still evade the thought of paying them all year long. Many people think of taxes negatively due to the fact that money is being taken out of their bank account. When they need a scapegoat for their financial sorrows, often the “rich” are put in the cross-hairs. Despite all of the negative hubbub, being wealthy does not warrant the need to pay more taxes than someone who is not. Being wealthy is a choice, money earned is treated as personal property, and life is not fair. Most people, if asked, would say that they have never been offered a 50lb gold brick in their life. While true, …show more content…
Again, this is true, but not impossible. So, what does a gold brick have to do with taxes? Well, being wealthy is a choice in all senses of the term (there are countries where this is not entirely true, but this is about the U.S.). Here in America, we have freedom to do our best to do what is needed to survive, live comfortably, be wealthy, among many other wonderful freedoms. Just like very few people out of the already few people who receive an offer for a gold brick can say that they denied it, very few people can say that they did their absolute best to take an opportunity or multiple opportunities to earn massive amounts of money. The only difference is that virtually everyone has the chance to try at lot of money at some point, not just a few. Yet the statement still stands that very few choose to grab at the notion. This is not to say that people have money conveniently handed to them in little packages of opportunity on a regular basis. In fact, it is quite the opposite. People see routs towards the unlimited potential to earn money in their life, but avoid them because they are comfortable where they are and the amount of work and learning required to climb that steep road stares them in the face and bores a hole into their will to do anything at
The era that marked the end of civil war and the beginning of the twentieth century in the united states of America was coupled with enormous economic and industrial developments that attracted diverse views and different arguments on what exactly acquisition of wealth implied on the social classes in the society. It was during this time that the Marxist and those who embraced his ideologies came out strongly to argue their position on what industrial revolution should imply in an economic world like America. In fact, there was a rapid rise in the gross national product of the United States between 1874 and 1883. This actually sparked remarkable consequences on the political, social and economic impacts. In fact, the social rejoinder to industrialization had extensive consequences on the American society. This led to the emergence of social reform movements to discourse on the needs of the industrialized society. Various theories were developed to rationalize the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Various reformers like Andrew Carnegie, Henry George and William Graham Sumner perceived the view on the obligation of the wealthy differently. This paper seeks to address on the different views held by these prominent people during this time of historical transformations.
The “Fairness of Taxation or Wealth Tax” is where taxes are calculated by the net worth of the person or the couple (household). This would be hard for tax collectors to determine each and every component of net worth of a person.
Many of my thoughts throughout ethics have been towards the utilitarian side. This is where I would differ from that view. If I were to go by the utilitarian view it would be to tax the rich more than anyone. This money would then go to the poor where the money could be used up instead of sitting in a bank account. The utilitarian believes you do whatever it takes to make the most possible people happy. If you took the top five percent in America and taxed them more, then gave it to the bottom thirty percent, you have now helped more people then you did not help.
As of today America’s national debt is 18 trillion dollars and approximately 5 trillion of that is held by foreign countries including China and Japan. In the last few years we seem to hear more about balancing the country’s budget and politicians raising the debt ceiling so we can pay on this debt. How have we gotten into such an overwhelming and complicated problem with our nation’s money? Ironically the same can be said for our individual household debt as well as making the same mistakes and trying to find creative ways to be accountable to our financial responsibilities. Teaching the basics of personal finance n our schools can culturally change our financial practices, leading to a more financially literate public and a stronger, more stable, America. If the younger generations can become more financially savvy, then there is an opportunity for our nation as a whole to become less dependent on debt to survive.
Many ponder the idea of federal taxes and whether the wealthy deserve to pay a higher percentage rate of their overall income. That is, they argue that because our society needs more equality and a lower national budget deficit, taxes on the rich must be raised. This specific topic has been discussed for decades, and due to the severely different perspectives, it is unclear whether the two sides will ever come to an agreement. President Barack Obama and much of the Democratic Party strongly lean towards raising taxes on the rich, while the conservatives and the Republican Party heavily lean towards a more balanced flat tax. However, after extensive research and focus on what would be best for the equality of individuals, the nation and its economy, this paper will firmly prove that the top one percent should not be taxed any more than they are today.
Being in America, a society encompassed by those of a wealthy nature versus those striving to obtain as much wealth as they can in their own limitations, it seems inevitable for one to pass judgment on those who choose the glamorous lifestyle over any morals they may have had prior to their riches. After reading Money and Class in America, it can be concluded that Mr. Lewis Lapham makes an intriguing point as he states that it is seemingly unintelligent to assume that one that is wealthy in pocket is also wealthy in intelligence. Everyday, greed filled Americans prove this judgment to be blatantly wrong, as they partake in the extravagant lifestyle without much thought in the immorality that comes with the lifestyle. Though some may say that
One person may see that the increase taxation on the poor and the decrease taxes on the wealthy is not an issue because the wealthy pay a lot of taxes already. However, many people don’t realize the fact that, yes, the wealthy are paying a lot of taxes because they make more money, but they can afford to pay more. Recently, in a CNN article, more than forty millionaires want their taxes to increase, which proves the fact that the wealthy have plenty of money to give back to the community. In addition, their just going to keep getting wealthier and wealthier by the
They have many more things in life going for them that makes their life easier in a lot of ways. These elite ultra rich individuals should be known as the .01%. Everyone agrees it is negative when such few people have such a large control of the wealth. However, they are at another advantage because if we tax them they can take their profit to other countries to better their assets. All of these advantages relate to the bigger picture of one’s socioeconomic status and how influences their success. In order to solve this problem once and for all we must make it easier to move up and down financially by extending opportunity and making the American dream, more than a dream. We can do this by relieving the tax strain on the middle class to help them afford job growth and expansion of their businesses. Furthermore, they will spend more money strengthening and growing our country’s economy. Just like the super wealthy’s investments, our investment in capitalism will take time to
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.
There is a problem in the United States that is growing and is causing issues in our country, but not everybody knows about it. The problem is the distribution of wealth in our society and the world as a whole, and how it is getting worse. Some people would say that it is an inequality due to the needs of the society, while others would say it is to the needs or individuals. This causes even more problems because of there being more than one supposed reason for the issue at hand. The problem is that the distribution of power is possibly starting to be lopsided, and for many reasons. There are two main views of why this is happening, the functionalist perspective and the conflict perspective, and they differ in many ways on what is wrong, why it is wrong and what to do about it.
Poverty is an important and emotional issue. Last year, the Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty in the United States declaring that there were nearly 35 million poor persons living in this country in 2002, a small increase from the preceding year. To understand poverty in America, it is important to look behind these numbers--to look at the actual living conditions of the individuals the government deems to be poor.
Economics of Reich “Why the Rich are getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer” written by Robert Reich, describes as the title says, why the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer. In Reich’s essay, he delves into numerous reasons and gives examples of each. It makes one wonder if the world will continue on the path of complete economic separation between the rich and the poor. One very important factor Reich examines in his essay is that large corporations are always trying to find the edge, whether that is new technology or cheaper wages. One may ask, how does that affect me?
What is social class? It is a term used to describe a large group of people who share similar social or economic positions in society based on wealth, income, job status, education, skills or power in the political sphere. Class is not just about what you own or earn but also who you know. Class affects not only how we feel about ourselves, but how others judge and consequently treat us. Those at the top of the class structure, the elite, have more power than those in the middle and even more power than those at the bottom who are of lower class. Education is a highly valued commodity in our world. In his commentary on society Freud, claimed, “ No feature, however, seems better to characterize civilization than its esteem and encouragement
In recent discussion about helping the poor, one controversial issue has been whether to help or not to help. On one hand, some say that helping the poor is very simple and doesn’t take much. From this point of view, it is seen as selfish to not help the poor. On the other hand, however, others argue that by helping others you are in fact hurting yourself at the same time. In the words of Garrett Hardin, one of this view’s main proponents, “prosperity will only be satisfied by lifeboat ethics.” According to this view, we are not morally obligated to help other countries. In sum, then, the issue is whether to help poorer countries or not.
Almost everybody hopes to be rich. Society believes that only the social status can define the kind of person you are. Majority of