One of the biggest issues that has been plaguing north america is the huge gap between the rich and the poor. As this gap increases the more corrupt the people in it seem to get. This becomes even more of a problem because with the system that the Americas uses only the rich get richer. The source believes that it is the framework of our society that creates this gap and this makes sense. The western world is filled with the idea that in order to be happy a person must have as much money as possible however, this leads to people doing whatever they deem necessary to become more rich; this includes ignoring the position they are putting others in. since those with lots of money have power over jobs and income, the people below them will not have the power to confront low income therefore the source says that the people that have power over the upper …show more content…
The government would most likely do this by raising taxes for the rich to fund social programs or by forcefully increasing minimum wage. Due to the growth in distance between the rich and the poor in the world I mostly agree with the source however, if the government 's power is not limited they could make the economy worse. One of the ways that a government can display their power is with their ability to affect the flow of the economy. The government can manipulate interest, spending, money supply, and taxation in order to change or not change how a country operates. Due to the issue of the boom and bust cycle, the periods when a country is thriving and when they are in poor conditions, the two main ways a government can choose to run a country, keynesian and supply side
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
3. What are the effects of this wealth inequality in the US and what causes it, as well as some possible solutions and their ramifications, will all be discussed and answered below. There has always been a wealth gap between the richest and poorest in society. However, in the past decade, the wealth gap between the richest and poorest citizens in the US has been growing rapidly. In the 70s and 80s, the wealth and income growth rate for both poor and rich people were similar, however, between the years 2009 and 2012 the top 1% income increased 31% while for the bottom 20%, their income actually dropped and for the vast majority of Americans, the average yearly income only increased by 0.4% [4].
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
Why are so a large number of people that beg for money, sitting on the streets, looking for food 's some sort? It is not day-to-day that we consider situations like this, but it is out there constantly without all of us realizing it. A number of states have poverty 's more issues than others, but it is sad to think about how plenty of people are actually considered to be in poverty. This is an inequality concerning me a lot, and is getting worse daily. Poverty in the United States relates to people whose annual household earnings are less than a poverty line set by the United States government. Poverty is common, resulted in by numerous different factors such as failing markets, structural problems, unfortunate mishaps, and poor individual
Divisions within the social stratum is a characteristic of societies in various cultures and has been present throughout history. During the middle ages, the medieval feudal system prevailed, characterized by kings and queens reigning over the peasantry. Similarly, in today’s society, corporate feudalism, otherwise known as Capitalism, consists of wealthy elites dominating over the working poor. Class divisions became most evident during America’s Gilded Age and Progressive era, a period in time in which the rich became richer via exploitation of the fruits of labor that the poor persistently toiled to earn. As a result, many Americans grew compelled to ask the question on everyone’s mind: what do the rich owe the poor? According to wealthy
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.
America’s upper class has been getting richer since the past three decades, and we have still not found a way to stop this. We have been unable to find a way to distribute America’s wealth equally, so we can have a decent lower class and a good middle class. Inequality has caused many people to struggle in various ways, but their is alway another side to the story.
After the Second World War there was a large increase in demand for new housing in the United States. From 1934 to 1962 the US government backed $120 billion in home loans with 98% of that money going to white homebuyers. These homes bought by whites increased in value over time, allowing for increased wealth and opportunity for the owners and children of homeowners. While, African Americans who had not been given loans to buy homes were left without a chance at opportunity and a chance to accumulate wealth. Over time discriminatory policies have created a racial wealth gap in the United States because minorities are not afforded the same opportunities in wealthier neighborhoods and whites are more likely to be given home loans to buy and own
The government has the power to raise or lower the minimum wage. This will instantly cause a change in the economy because it will raise or lower the value of the dollar based on if it is raised or lowered. Another way that the government can influence the economy is by buying and selling government bonds. If the stock market is failing then the government buys up bonds and increases their value. Then when the economy is on the rise and does not need the assistance of the government the bonds are sold. This is effective because it has an instantaneous effect on the economy.The government also uses its control of short term interest rates to keep the economy
“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.
To help this problem, if we focus on building more homes, prices will go down because the supply is higher. This eases housing expenses for the middle class. Also, if we raise the tax on the rich there would be more money distributed by the government. We need to decrease government's social safety net, but increase the amount of people involved in Union. Unions were beneficial in the 20th century, and could be just as much today. These things could also keep a more structured midle
In a perfect economy, each group makes up twenty percent of the total. There was a study conducted were about 5,000 Americans were asked how they believe money is distributed in the five groups. Ninety- two percent of the 5,000 Americans believe that money should be distributed equally throughout each group. However, that is only in a perfect economy, where each group makes up twenty percent of the total. Sadly this is not a perfect world and the reality is that the top and the fourth percent are given way more than the middle percent and the second percent are given less than half of what the middle percent receive. The bottom forty percent of Americans have little to no money and the top twenty percentage have all the money. After analyzing all the data collected it was discovered that the middle percent is gradually disappearing and the poor class is gradually increasing. This is the gap that is being stretched between the wealthy and poor class. (Wealthy Inequality in America)
Wealth inequality is the uneven distribution of resources in a given state or population, which can also be called the wealth gap. The sum of one’s total assets excluding the liabilities equates the person’s wealth also known as the net worth. Investments, residents, cash, real estates and everything owned by an individual are their assets.In reality, the United States is among the richest countries in the world, though a few people creating a major gap between the richest, the middle class and the poor control most of its wealth. For more than a quarter of a century, only the rich American families have shown an increase to their net worth.Thisis a worrying fact for the less fortunate in the country and calls for assessment (Baranoff, 2015).
...ot let this inequality gap continues to rise; therefore, the government needs to tax heavily onto the rich people, and redistribute their money to the poor.
Money is an essential part of life where every people can satisfy whatever they need and every person in America has a chance to find a job. However, some of the people in the country wanted to go on with their life freely by being a part of a welfare. Furthermore, distribution of wealth is a huge demand of every citizen. Everyone today is trying to look down for every people in the lower class, as they did not give any benefit to the country, waiting for the benefits that they will receive from the government. For instance, when most lower class people have gone through a financial crisis due to overspending, insufficient fund or pay for their work to support themselves and/or their family. The example shows that lower class people made the economy of the country unstable, however, the middle class and the higher class is at fault as well. Furthermore, even though the benefit of that the lower class received is from the middle class, the middle class as well benefits from the higher class. To sum up, every class is at fault towards giving the country’s economy a positive