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Essay income inequality in us
Essay income inequality in us
Essay income inequality in us
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America is different from other places, it always has been. The reason why is America has a vast variety of “…people from different nations, accustomed to different forms and habits of government, speaking different languages, and more different in their modes of worship.” America is an immense melting pot. Together they all help America strive in every field of technology, work, and life because of all of these differences. Thomas Paine’s characterization of America does not hold true today. Society in America is exceedingly different compared to 1791, the government is not impartial, the poor are overburdened, and the rich are extremely privileged. First, 2014 is completely different than the year of 1791. America has a truly strong government compared to 1791 when the government was extremely weak. But since America is stronger today does not mean it is fair. If any government were fair, it would be a perfect world; and a perfect world is what America’s government does not have. There is an excessive amount of corruption in America’s government today. People elected into office are bribed to take a certain position to favor those who have more money. Also, police officers, firefighters, and people who have helped society have recently become excessively involved in the drug cartel secretly making the issue extremely difficult to stop. Can one group of people in fact please a country of 313.9 million people and still be fair? It is highly unlikely. In addition, the poor are overburdened they always have been, especially in 2014. This is owing to the fact that the middle class is close to disappearing, which is forming a large gap between the poor and the rich. Furthermore, banking can be more expensive for nearly all poor people, whom are usually put in extreme circumstances where they are required to pay more taxes. And the poor are usually shut out from society and are left on the street as if they were a piece of garbage, which is why it is particularly difficult to attain a job as a poor person. Not many people in the world care for the poor. It is surprising to think that the poor had not been oppressed in 1791. Someone would think the poor have always had a heavy burden. The majority of America’s population is poor and they are ignored and portrayed as aliens whom we should have no contact with. Finally, the rich are extremely privileged in countless ways.
Poverty in America is a very complex issue that can be looked at from many directions. There are a plethora of statistics and theories about poverty in America that can be confusing and at times contradicting. It is important to objectively view statistics to gain a better understanding of poverty and to wade through the stereotypes and the haze of cultural views that can misrepresent the situation.The official poverty line in America begins with a person making at or below $12,060. To calculate the poverty line for a family, an additional $4,180 is added to the base of $12,060 for each additional member(“Federal Poverty Level Guidelines”). According to the last U.S. census, over 45 million or 14.5% of Americans are at or below the poverty line(Worstall). At this level, the U.S. poverty level has not changed much from the 1970s when the government began a “War on Poverty.” However,
With America being as diverse as it is, people would think everyone is united, but is that completely true? Thomas Paine shows his view of America as being a harmonious country with no problems. Even though over the years America has become a lot more diverse, that does not signify, all of the sudden, we have become a problem-free nation, comparable to what Thomas Paine thinks. Every nation has difficulties, and that includes America. America is nowhere close to being a perfect nation, but some nations have a lot more conflicts than America; and we have been trying, over the years, to become closer as a stronger country. Even with diversity growing in America, supporting Paine's argument, the United States is not a complete, harmonious nation,
The government of the United States of America is very unique. While many Americans complain about high taxes and Big Brother keeping too close an eye, the truth is that American government, compared to most foreign democracies, is very limited in power and scope. One area American government differs greatly from others is its scope of public policy. Americans desire limited public policy, a result of several components of American ideology, the most important being our desire for individuality and equal opportunity for all citizens. There are many possible explanations for the reason Americans think this way, including the personality of the immigrants who fled here, our physical isolation from other countries, and the diversity of the American population.
In his 1791 publication, Rights of Man, Thomas Paine, an American revolutionary and pamphleteer, characterized America as a just nation where “the principles of society and the rights of man” unite all Americans together. Paine painted an ideal image of America, one founded on unity, equality, and freedom that appears ludicrous to some and visionary to others; however, by combining certain elements of Paine’s America and casting out others we can paint a more vivid picture of contemporary America as only some aspects of Paine’s America remain true. In today’s America, as Paine stated, “the poor are not oppressed” as we see many politicians and citizens dedicate time and effort toward assisting the poor and developing plans to help them out
Human beings all around the world are different in many ways. They all have their unique and physical characteristics, as well as different personalities. They each also have different ideas and thoughts on different topics. America is made up of a great amount of diverse people with diverse, even conflicting opinions and ideas. Diversity is a major component of the foundation of our country. The cliché of American as a salad bowl is extremely true. Every person is different and every person in his or her own way makes up a small part of America. Without the diversity of ideas and beliefs of Americans, the nation would not be nearly as successful as we are. A major similarity between Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance and J.D Salinger's Catcher in the Rye is a non-conformist ideology that both exhibit, and the idea that one should choose their own individuality above confomity.
Thomas Paine was an influential individual at his time, whose most famous work, Rights of Man, described America as a safe heaven for those trying to start a new life, where no individual would be over privileged, men would be equal, and the government would not be corrupt. Although the America of today has improved substantially over the two-hundred or so years since Paine’s, Rights of Man, providing several benefits for the the poverty-stricken, and improving culturally as a people, America is plagued with over privileged wealthy men who run the government and control the public, acting as puppet masters, who control the will of the people through a corrupt government. So although Thomas Paine was correct about America’s benefits for the
When it comes to the visions of America we tend to think of two sides. Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. They each have their own unique way of saying what Americas Vision is.Thomas Jefferson 's vision of America is what we would call idealistic. Meaning it is ideal to be lived for and for which must always strive. He states in the Declaration of Independence that "All are created equal." Defining equality can be difficult because the meaning is always changing. It does not mean we are the same, but it does mean we all are granted the same rights and freedom. I believe that America is always struggling to live up to "all are created equal" but have yet to succeed at it. I think that America has not lived up to Jefferson ideal. If we look back it in time and compare to the present we are still dealing with some of the same situations. Race, Religions, etc. A quote from the Declaration of Independence states, "That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness." Stating that every human deserves to have their own life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness if they do to wish so.
All countries, whether big or small, draw support from their governments but receive power from the people. Even in a monarchy, a king without subjects cannot be a king. America has a long and proud history of exemplifying the idea that, together, people can make the right decision. They trusted each other, God, and the economy to work together for a greater good. Most Americans followed politics and took care of their neighbors. Unfortunately, most great things end and Americans began to doubt. They questioned each other, God, and the free market. The progressive movement claimed that government needed to intervene on behalf of the people. Instead of the uneducated masses making important decisions, they should delegate that ability to the educated upper-class. Such a government could only result in a “Great Society.”
Today America is country where everything and everyone are unique and united and unique nation make a union. Thomas Paine, an intellectual from the 18th century, wrote a famous piece called the Rights of Man where he listed points in which hold partially true and untrue today. In a passage Paine specifically wrote that are held untrue today is that the poor and the rich are treated fairly and equally, that there are no riots nor tumults, and that taxes are low for everybody. The only two statements that Paine describes the United States correctly is that the government is just and different people make it hard to form a union. Paine is trying to interpret that the country is united and just in his time and that it will continue to be like that; if Paine somehow traveled into the future and saw what America is today he might would 've not have written that passage since today there a things in America that are extremely different compared to the late 18th century.
...th what little they have, however; why is it left to the poor to have to suffer the consequences of these political choices. The persistence of extreme poverty and social ills speak to a situation that bears for a different approach. It is clear that capitalism and free market solutions cannot spread wealth as advocated. American governments have shown their reluctance to admit this discrepancy through the strategic creations of welfare policies and welfare reform coupled with placing blame upon the citizens who possess little power to change market decisions that govern and effect their lives.
The number of poor people in 2012 was 49.7 million, or 16 percent. That exceeds the record 46.5 million,...
In order to be radical about poverty, we need to understand the difference between wealth and income. Income is a transfer of money by working or by gifts. On the other hand, wealth is more of a total of accumulated assets that has been stored for a period of time (Conley, pg. 253). Wealth is not distributed equally among the public. (NCH, 2016, http://nationalhomeless.org/about-homelessness/). Declining wages has also caused a lot of stress and increase people’s inability to pay for their housing or other needs. If there are affordable housing, it’s usually in an unsafe and polluted environment or it’s extremely overcrowded that people have a higher chance of being homeless or inadequate housing arrangements than getting their applications accepted (Why Are People Homeless Research, 2016, NCH). Also, privatizing housing will increase the accumulation of wealth of the power elite or those that own property and lands by their pricing in rents. Most people go through depression because of loss of home, jobs, or a sense of self. Often times, the lack education about health and they don’t receive adequate support for medical care if they are homelessness. Poverty is also treated as a criminal offence and if people were to ask for public assistance, they have to prove their eligibility. If they have a criminal record, they are
Poverty is a potential outcome for everyone. It’s sneaky and many people fall victim to it every year. No one believes that they have the potential to fall into debt, but it can happen through a string of bad luck, time running short, and other possibilities that can’t be controlled. People who are struggling with difficulty believe that there is no way out because no one will help them. However, there are ways for us, as a society, to help those who are short on income receive the help that they need. Many of the impoverished are thought to be slackers, addicts, or self-destructive to their lives. Society can help each other by dismembering the stereotypes given to people who are underneath the “Poverty Line” that they used as wedges between the classes. Labels given to those who’re poor have nothing to do with who they are as humans.
Most people of the society still blame the poor for their own predicament. They believe that "if there is a will there is a way". However, they do not think about their government that might had made bad decisions and policies that could actually harm successful development. This causes of poverty and inequality are usually less discussed and often neglected. We must recognize the effects poverty could have on the society and seek ways to create better understanding and resolve the issue before it is too late.
The American government prides itself on the foundational principle of democracy which allows individual voices to be heard. Afterall, the roots of power in our nation stem from the people. The Constitution was established to ensure the balance of powers among the federal government, state legislature, and the common people. Time, however, has worked against the American people in the battle towards democracy. The idea of a governing body drawing its power directly from its constituents has been undermined by the corrupt nature of modern politics where politicians act out of self-interest. While the Constitution and later amendments had every intention of securing basic liberties, certain limitations later undermined the original intentions of the founding fathers to give power back to the people by placing the larger majority of power in the hands of the state.