If I had to describe a moment from INEQUALITY FOR ALL that is really sticking with you – maybe you found it particularly inspiring or particularly troubling it would be the statement made by Robert Reich, “Of all developed nations the U.S. has the most unequal distribution of income.” What was it about that moment that is so memorable? He also states, “the richest 400 people in America have more wealth then the bottom 50 million of us put together.” Imagine going home and telling a friend about this film. How would you complete this sentence: Until I watched this film I never knew.....I actually went home and told my mother about how minimum wage has not increased a whole lot since the 1970’s but the rich people got even more rich since the 1970’s and that women had to enter workforce to help compensate their husband’s losses. What parts of the film were surprising or made you sit back and say, “Hmmm, I need to think more about that? Or, “Wow, I never thought about that.” The part would be when he was talking about “shared equality” up until the 1970’s was a normal thing and how everybody’s income doubled in size as well. Globalization and technology have not reduced the number of jobs available to Americans, but have only reduced their pay. Based on the film the minimum wage in America should be set so that the average worker makes the same amount of income that the people in Wall Street should be making. If you could spend a day with one person in the film, who would you choose? What would you want to talk about with them? I would choose to speak with former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich who knows first-hand the history of the problems that this country faces concerning inequality in the workforce concerning wages. I woul... ... middle of paper ... ...e the rich have increased. The fact that wages have dropped dramatically for the working class says that the rich are more important than the middle working class. Our economy does not serve the purpose that it was designed to do which is to provide decent wages to the hard workers and keep prices lower than the wages. I believe that Americans are kept in the dark about the income inequality so that the rich can keep getting richer while the working class remains at the bottom struggling to make ends meet at every paycheck. The argument that I would make concerning utilitarianism that presented in this film is if wages for the rich keep rising it should also be applied the working class as well otherwise it is double standard which implies that the working class should not be allowed to get better wages and get a hard in life in rather than staying at the bottom.
Second, the saving deficit. It is all about people behavior in managing their own money. It is obvious from the movie that saving money is not really a very
Inequality, itself, may seem like an aspect that is surrounding the academic subject of history. An American economist, Paul Krugman, substantiates that inequality exists within our society through connections to several important historical movements. “One of the best arguments I’ve ever seen for the social costs came from a movement [...].” (Page 562) He implies how inferior inequality could be, and discusses why he along with a wide array of an American audience, may give some attention to its rising. Krugman makes “Confronting Inequality,” interesting, challenging, and enjoyable. This author approaches the audience by giving a powerful inception, and appealing to the senses of ethos and pathos.
This film influenced me greatly and how I might be able to go about in my speech making. James Farmer Jr. and his debate team delivered their speeches with a lot of emotion, drawing their audiences in on their side. James Farmer used his own experiences and struggles to drive his speech making, while trying to prove himself to everyone that he was not just a child. Although James Farmer and I are different, especially in the way we present our speeches, I admired the way he used his knowledge and emotions to help win the last debate
In the documentary “inequality for all”, Robert Reich examines the overall state of inequality in America, and explains the intricate processes involved in the economy, which determines the distribution of wealth, and how both the middle and upper classes utilize it. During the introduction of the documentary, Reich states “I like having a Mini Cooper. I sort of identify with it…. We are sort of together, facing the rest of the world”. Although Reich is making a comparison between the size of his car and himself, the overall inference of this quote refers to the immense scale of the American economy. In this sense, Reich acknowledges that he, and many other Americans, are unequal to upper class residents; although, the inequality itself isn’t labeled as a negative consequence. In fact, Reich acknowledges that “some inequality is just inevitable”, meaning that inequality within an economy is an intended consequence of American capitalism which, if done correctly, can create prosperity for any economic class. Instead of seeing inequality as either black or white, Reich examines the different effects of inequality at different magnitudes, and asks whether inequality can be a problem, and if so, when it becomes one. To do
Is America going to collapse due to our economic inequality? During the second major industrialization, extreme wealth hit America and monopolies were born in the business world as well as more defined classes based on wealth. Robber barons like Vanderbilt, Carnegie and Rockefeller held a new kind of wealth, owning industries while the workers under them lived in the slums of the city. Modern day America has founded laws against monopolies and such, but we are seeing the three standard American classes of wealth, upper, middle and lower, change. The upper class becoming wealthier, the middle class disappearing and joining the ever growing lower class. The article “Trouble with the Super-Rich” by Barbara Ehrenreich brings to front the problem
David J Lynch says that, “ [s]ocieties that manage a narrower gap between rich and poor enjoy longer economic expansions”, however, in the United States the gap between the have and have-nots has widened (source C). “This country is just getting worse and worse and worse … and that is not a recipe for stable growth” (source C). If we do not do something soon our capitalist country will fall. In order for the income inequality gap to lessen to create a more stable economy the government must invest in education and unionize workers and not provide higher taxation for the top one percent.
He sheds new light on stereotypes that are not commonly broken. It truly was one of the many factors that made this film unique.
Although there were many concepts that were present within the movie, I choose to focus on two that I thought to be most important. The first is the realistic conflict theory. Our textbook defines this as, “the view that prejudice...
... his death. The comical tactics that he used to keep the audience engaged. Michael Moore did not want to bore the audience with all the political terms that he sometimes could not understand himself. The slippery slope argument was present in this film when speaking about capitalism; Moore went back in history to the time Franklin Roosevelt and showed that this crash of the economy was going to happen sooner than later. Michael Moore showed us that capitalism created a domino effect. The film in my opinion can be justified in all that was said because he had different reasons of elements. He had the proper information, even from political sources themselves, he made good implications and assumptions, and he drew inclusive conclusions.
Americans have financially and politically. Much of the financial gains made today go to the top one percent of earners in the United States. This increase in inequality has grown substantially in the last forty years. Wage inequality is different than the push for equal pay. According to Fortune.com, the salaries of CEO’s compared to the average worker are 300 times more (Addady 1). One of the reasons CEO’s are profiting more money is because technological advances are replacing human labor with robots or software. This investment in technology by firms increases the bottom line and is ever more important with the rising minimum wages set by local, state, and federal
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.
Obama, Barack. “Obama’s Powerful Speech On Income Inequality.” THEARC. Washington, D.C., 04 December 2013.
Throughout the movie, Michael Moore wants the audience to feel the emotion that he, as the director, has put into the film. Michael Moore puts his life work into this movie because this, for him, was not just a new movie subject, this affected his family directly. His father lost his job at an assembly line after thirty-seven loyal years of service because the company thought they could make more money cutting the workers. He has spent countless hours and years on the film because he was able to see that the economy was self destructing with greed. Moore uses Aristotle’s persuasive appeals to show the corruption throughout America that has come from a capitalistic economy.
What changes would you like to see in society as a result of this movie?
A Critical Opinion by Robert B. Reich on Why The Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer