1.“If, for example, students were not ultimately rewarded for spending their early adulthoods pursuing undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees, or if the hardest-working and most productive workers were paid the same as the median worker, then citizens would have little incentive to develop expertise, to exert effort, or to excel in their work.”
This quote by Autor supports Proposition #1 by saying that these uneducated people are lazier because there is less incentive to gain a degree in this situation. While this is obviously not true in the real world, it can be used as an example because many of these people view their situation in this way; it’s not worth it to make the effort to get an education. The laziness epidemic is
…show more content…
in full effect in this very common situation, proving the point of Proposition #1. 2.“The decades-long decline in the real value of the U.S. minimum wage, the sharp drops in non-college employment opportunities in production, clerical, and administrative support positions stemming from automation, the steep rise in international competition from the developing world, the secularly declining membership and bargaining power of U.S. labor unions, and the successive enactment of multiple reductions in top federal marginal tax rates, have all served to magnify inequality and erode real wages among less educated workers.” This excerpt from Autor’s article on the inequalities between the top and bottom halves of the 99 percent leans towards the direction of blaming the government for the misfortunes of many people. Much like Proposition #2 states, many different factors like the minimum wage, lack of affordable education and issues with taxes among other things have negatively affected these people of lower socioeconomic status. The result of all of this is magnified inequality and both Proposition #2 and this quote support that argument that the government has systematically made a gap between the successful and the unsuccessful people of the nations. 3.
David Autor definitely agrees with the statements of Proposition #2 by acknowledging that much of the income gap is a result of lack of education, low minimum wage and the bargaining power of labor unions among other things, all of which are a result of purposeful policy that has favored wealthy people at the expense of the poor. Autor discussed the inequality in classes and the income gap that has arisen between the upper 1% and the rest of modern society in recent years and exactly why that happened. As the majority of the economy’s jobs have moved away from the agricultural and industrial areas in the last 100-150 years, skills and education have become much more vital as careers as doctors, lawyers and other professional fields have become higher demanded and therefore more available. The entry into college has become even more vital for people to sustain jobs or even get one in the first place so the upper middle class who can afford to go to college profit, while the lower end of the 99 percent suffer because they can’t afford to pay for college which leads to a higher standard of living. Events such as the Vietnam War pushed more people who could afford it to enter college and artificially raised the national percentage of college students because this allowed them to evade the draft and avoid military
service. Autor acknowledges the fact that our society is lazy and it is acceptable to receive handouts with no shame or worry whatsoever, and that this probably isn’t an effect of government policy. However, Autor also says that the income gap has increased simply because the lower class simply cannot afford to attend college while the upper middle class receives a college degree and therefore a better career. Federally funded student loans have increased shockingly along with student loans because people cannot afford to pay for school. While these students are struggling to pay off crippling debt, the wealthier ones are working into their careers, building up savings. Essentially the rich get richer and the poor continue to stay at the same level. I think that overall, Autor definitely agrees more with Proposition #2 and the fact that the increasing gap within the 99 percent is a result of governmental decisions. 4. From the beginning I definitely agreed more with the arguments of Proposition #1 but found the arguments of Proposition #2 to be more credible. Proposition #2 is obviously opinionated but it also has credible facts and specific information to back up the statements it is making. Whether or not the information is true or not is another issue but assuming all the information is reliable, then this is definitely the most credible Proposition. The argument of Proposition #1 is based purely on the opinions of the writer with no real supporting evidence. Proposition #1 includes phrases like “sitting around collecting handouts from the rest of us” and generalizing socioeconomic classes simply as “lazy people”, which takes away much of the author’s credibility. The article did not sway my opinion either way. After reading the article I still felt that I agreed with the ideas Proposition #1 more but that Proposition #2 was authored much better, therefore holding much more credibility than it’s countering argument. However, I do agree with the statements that too many citizens simply take advantage of the system and cheat others out of their tax dollars by not working and simply subsisting off of the earnings of others. After reading the article I still agreed more with the ideals of Proposition #1.
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
According to Gregory Mantsios many American people believed that the classes in the United States were irrelevant, that we equally reside(ed) in a middle class nation, that we were all getting richer, and that everyone has an opportunity to succeed in life. But what many believed, was far from the truth. In reality the middle class of the United States receives a very small amount of the nation's wealth, and sixty percent of America's population receives less than 6 percent of the nation's wealth, while the top 1 percent of the American population receives 34 percent of the total national wealth. In the article Class in America ( 2009), written by Gregory Mantsios informs us that there are some huge differences that exist between the classes of America, especially the wealthy and the poor. After
The stimulation we had to do for class focused on a piece of land in Cleveland OH that once belonged to a nuclear factory. This land consisted of 4 acres in the north-central section of Ward 12, and adjacent to ward 3. The allotment is positioned closely to many low-income segments of the South Broadway neighborhood. The goal was to come up with an idea on what should replace the decommissioned factory and create the biggest benefit for the community.
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.
List three facts the author uses to support the main idea: Jencks included a lot of studies and charts into his article that helped his argument. One of the studies that he included is on the percent of household income going to the richest one percent. In this study it showed that in 1979 7.5% of household income went to the top one percent, and in 1997 it jumped to 13.6 %. Another fact from the article is a study conducted by Lars Osberg from Dalhousie University. It found that the poor in America worked more hours than their poor counterpart in Canada, Britain, Sweden, France, and Germany. The third fact that I think is relatively important is that since 1979 the tuition at America's public colleges has risen faster than most parent's income. Thus giving the poor even less of a chance to receive a higher education.
With this degree I hope to fill a gap in this industry, but also to use this as a starting point
In the United States there are four social classes : the upper class, the middle class, the working class, and the lower class. Of these four classes the most inequality exists between the upper class and the lower class. This inequality can be seen in the incomes that the two classes earn. During the period 1979 through the present , the growth in income has disproportionately grown.The bottom sixty percent of the US population actually saw their real income decrease in 1990 dollars. The next 20% saw medium gains. The top twenty percent saw their income increase 18%. The wealthiest one percent saw their incomes rise drastically over 80%. As reported in the 1997 Center on Budget's analysis , the wealthiest one percent of Americans ( 2.6 million people) received as much after-tax income in 1994 as the bottom 35 percent of the population combined (88 million people). But in 1977 the bottom 35 percent had about twice as much after tax income as the top one percent. These statistics further show the disproportional income growth among the social classes. The gr...
America is dub the land of opportunities and hope by all that look from the outside of the fence in. The shining image of greatness America portrays gives the sense that you can accomplish anything when within its diverse borders. I’m Māori Johnson, and I’m a naturalized citizen of the United States of America from Jordan. Naturalization is defined by the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Service (2013) as the process by which U.S citizenship is granted to a foreign citizen. It’s a rigorous thing to accomplish which consist of first applying for citizenship, if accepted you then go through a written test and exam, probably most natural born citizens couldn’t pass. After you’re accepted life isn’t the easiest to begin. I’ve had to leave behind my job in my former country to pursue my new life here. I am pursing a master’s degree in communications from Texas State University to better my opportunities here. However, I’m working at a local H-E-B while I attempt to pursue a career in my area of expertise while attending school. I’ve expected to have a hard time adjusting in that aspect but I’m enjoying my time here. (Question 1)
My name is Betsy Eapen. I enjoyed educating and guiding patients about the importance of oral health when I was working as a Dental Assistant, and that has encouraged me to pursue Dental Hygiene as my major area of study. I always love to work in a health profession field. I enjoyed working with the people and also like the harmony in dental office. I also helped office jobs like scheduling the appointment, receiving patients in the office and keeping patient records. I believe that I am genuine and compassionate to others and those are some of my unique characteristics . I hope to learn how to talk, act and interact with different kinds of people and communities in society through this class, and hope to use these experiences to pursue
The American Dream. The ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. This ideology that anybody, regardless of race, gender, or social status, is able to work up the ladder and achieve success. However, the process to receive and live in this prosperity in today’s world has been greatly flawed. A key element to having a true chance of the American Dream is getting an education that goes beyond a high school degree. Yet, even this seemingly simple step in the process is difficult to achieve for many for countless reasons, however, college tuition is the prime cause for this setback. Even though there are people who believe that a college admission is fair to all, I firmly disagree, as countless people cannot pay for higher education, and, therefore, are not given an equal chance to live a moment of the American Dream.
Income inequality has affected American citizens ever since the American Dream came to existence. The American Dream is centered around the concept of working hard and earning enough money to support a family, own a home, send children to college, and invest for retirement. Economic gains in income are one of the only possible ways to achieve enough wealth to fulfill the dream. Unfortunately, many people cannot achieve this dream due to low income. Income inequality refers to the uneven distribution of income and wealth between the social classes of American citizens. The United States has often experienced a rise in inequality as the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, increasing the unstable gap between the two classes. The income gap in America has been increasing steadily since the late 1970’s, and has now reached historic highs not seen since the 1920’s (Desilver). UC Berkeley economics professor, Emmanuel Saez conducted extensive research on past and present income inequality statistics and published them in his report “Striking it Richer.” Saez claims that changes in technology, tax policies, labor unions, corporate benefits, and social norms have caused income inequality. He stands to advocate a change in American economic policies that will help close this inequality gap and considers institutional and tax reforms that should be developed to counter it. Although Saez’s provides legitimate causes of income inequality, I highly disagree with the thought of making changes to end income inequality. In any diverse economic environment, income inequality will exist due to the rise of some economically successful people and the further development of factors that push people into poverty. I believe income inequality e...
Students that receive motivation will have the means financially and globally, which will encourage them, also knowing they are being supported by the government to complete/obtain higher education. If a student is interested in attending college and will work hard while doing so, why should we not pay for their school? Author Thomas Friedman writes, “"Nobody works harder at learning than a curious kid” (314). Thomas is saying that if we give students equal opportunities they will thrive in the globalized world. More of our graduates will be prepared for the work force and be able to compete. According to the research findings by Georgetown University, in 2020, 65% of jobs will require some type of degree or education beyond high school. Thomas Friedman again writes, “What you know today will be out-of-date sooner than you think” (309). We must give this type of information to students to motivate them. The need for education beyond high school is not just something intelligent people can do but instead, by making this dream a reality, something all can do. The combination of all the opportunities that will be placed in front of students will be enough to help inspire them and set them forward in the flat
Students should be paid for having good grades. According to Psychology Today the United States has fallen behind other nations in education. In addition to this, approximately every one in four students in the U.S. drops out of school before graduation. The main reason for this is that students have little to no motivation. Students are either bored by school, or they are distracted by the other things that go on in their lives such as sports, jobs, friends and their own family life. Although learning has its own rewards, some students respond better to money. This essay explains how students will be paid and the reasons that they should receive money for getting good grades. Some reasons that students should be paid are: if students received rewards for having good grades fewer students would drop out, graduates would be better educated, people would seek higher education, less crime would be committed, less people would rely on the government and graduates would be more qualified for better jobs.
Income inequality continues to increase in today’s world, especially in the United States. Income inequality means the unequal distribution between individuals’ assets, wealth, or income. In the Twilight of the Elites, Christopher Hayes, a liberal journalist, states the inequality gap between the rich and the poor are increasing widening, and there need to have things done - tax the rich, provide better education - in order to shortening the inequality gap. America is a meritocratic country, which means that everybody has equal opportunity to be successful regardless of their class privileges or wealth. However, equality of opportunity does not equal equality of outcomes. People are having more opportunities to find a better job, but their incomes are a lot less compared to the top ten percent rich people. In this way, the poor people will never climb up the ladder to high status and become millionaires. Therefore, the government needs to increase all the tax rates on rich people in order to reduce income inequality.
"Growing Income Inequality and the Education Gap." Economist's View. N.p., 8 May 2006. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.