A Student's Reading of The Politics of Rich and Poor
Often times, a political analyst/scientist will write a book on the politics and economics of the time. This writer may also create a work which emanates views contrary to the opinion of the governing body. Rarely, however, does one find an analyst who will clearly undermine his own political party by, in effect, saying, "I told you so." Kevin Phillips, editor-publisher of The
American Political Report, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and chief political analyst for the 1968 Republican presidential campaign, describes in his book, The Politics of Rich and Poor: Wealth and the American Electorate in the Regan Aftermath, the consequences of the decisions made by the United
States government while under the presidency of Republican Ronald Regan.
Phillips' theme of the widening gap between the upper twenty percent of the population, in respect to annual income in actual dollars, with the lower twenty percent of the population coincides with the belief of the typical
American avarice, during the eighties, leading the country on a rollercoaster ride of economic instability and shaky ground. These ideas remain constant and prevalant throughout the seven chapters. His views, though somewhat repetitive in the text, strike the reader with astonishment, especially when considering
Phillips' Republican party affiliation.
With his thesis in mind, Phillips discusses three major factors that escalate and at the same time submerge the state of the economy in America.
These factors include: the sudden shift in tax rates, the diminishing "global wealth" of America, and the inability of the government under Regan to satisfy a "happy medium" for economic growth. All of these factors support Phillips' theme and prove his argument of an up and down cycle of economic stability.
From 1921 to 1925 the top one percent of the population's tax rate was gradually decreased from the marginally high rate of seventy-three percent all the way to just twenty-five percent. Over four years this elite group of
Americans received a forty-eight percent reduction in taxes. This decrease opened the door for the super-rich Americans to capitalize and increase their current wealth.
As the taxes decreased for this group of the population, others also benefited. A surge in real estate investments occured, the stock market values rose dramatically, and new technology such as radios and automobiles were surfacing every day. This bull economy lasted only a few short years. By 1929, the situation was reversed entirely. The economy crashed with unequaled consequences. The rich citizens who were living "the good life" four years ago were now stuck with paying seventy-three percent of the entire population's
Leading up to the year 1981, America had fallen into a period of “stagflation”, a portmanteau for ‘stagnant economy’ and ‘high inflation’. Characterized by high taxes, high unemployment, high interest rates, and low national spirit, America needed to look to something other than Keynesian economics to pull itself out of this low. During the election of 1980, Ronald Reagan’s campaign focused on a new stream of economic policy. His objective was to turn the economy into “a healthy, vigorous, growing economy [which would provide] equal opportunities for all Americans, with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination.” Reagan’s policy, later known as ‘Reaganomics’, entailed a four-point plan which cut taxes, reduced government spending, created anti-inflationary policy, and deregulated certain products. Though ‘Reaganomics’ was successful both at controlling “stagflation” and promoting economic growth, it has and always will be an extremely controversial topic regarding the redistribution of wealth.
In the documentary of Jamie Johnson, “Born Rich,” Jamie has interview some rich teenagers who inherited their wealth like him. Johnson ask himself what he ever did to have the life he has having millions of dollar. He says that all he did was inherit it. Johnson says that it is not polite to talk about money. Social inequality for Johnson in this is about the wealth of people.Johnson and the other teenagers were born rich. They had inherited their money from their ancestors. All of them and their families have private properties and millions of money. Rousseau says that “social inequality is a result of privileges and uneven access to resources and will eventually lead to social ills.”(238)
Between the end of World War II and the late 1970s, income inequality in the U.S. was reduced; but since 1970s, the situation with wealth distribution has changed. Data from tax returns in 1976 show that the top 1 percent of households received 8.9 percent of all pre-tax income. In 2008, the top 1 percent’s share had more than doubled to 21.0 percent.
I believe that the wealthy Americans have moved farther away from the poor then in past generations. James Fallows in ”The Invisible Poor” clearly shows how the new technology millionaires awareness of the poor has diminished greatly. I believe that this is due to several reasons the most important being the young age in which wealth and success are reached.
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
The questions of economic inequality and class division are imposing themselves in the developing countries around the world. Karl Marx is notable for his extensive works on this questions, and his theories have been an informative source for many researchers to understand the process of social stratification and class conflicts. However, Marx does not specify what is economic power that is manipulated by the upper hand “the bourgeoisies”. Bourdieu and Weber stated that the power is not merely the manipulation of the mode of production and the working class, but it is a different instrument (George, 2001). This instrument is arguably given by different institutions to people, but this notion is contested among social theorists. Bourdieu holds that the economic instruments are given to people through the government and the government’s collaborators, and political economy is the precedent force in a spatial sense based on the theory of Habitués (Bourdieu, 1986). This essay is a preliminary attempt on an investigation of one dimension of how these instruments are the society’s manifestation of their economic identity strength against the others by using these tools. This paper focuses on the nature of these instruments in the context of the Emirati society, and the function of such instruments in shaping the beholder’s identities, in view of the close and intricate connection between such instruments and the society.
Maya Angelou, a well-known African American author is best known for her autobiographies and her poems. Her legacy that she left behind is the hope, strength, and fortitude that she inspires not only in African American women but in all women in general. Throughout all of her work, there is a common topic that she embodies about overcoming social obstacles and the struggle for self-acceptance. There is also the themes of love, loss, rejection, social acceptance, racial differences, resistance and national consciousness. Some more themes that apply to both her poems and her life are of women, power, and poetry and these themes limit every assumption that people made in the 20th century. She uses her poetry and autobiographies to show the differences
Walton's letters play an important role for the reader may find many foreshadowed themes. As the novel progresses, the reader will realize how Walton and Victor Frankenstein share similar views on their life's roles. Both men are driven by an excessive ambition, as they desire to accomplish great things for the humankind. Walton is an explorer who wants to discover a new passage to the Pacific and therefore conjures "inestimable benefit on all mankind to the last generation" (16). Victor's purpose is to "pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation" (49). These explorers will demonstrate that such pursuit can prove to be very dangerous in quest for knowledge. Walton's ship becomes stuck in the ice and Victor's creation finally kills everyone dear to him. However, this parallel is not the only one: we can easily compare Walton's search for a friend ("I have no friend, Margaret" (19)) with the monster's request for a female because he feels alone ("I desired love and fellowship" (224)). This similarity between man and monster suggests that the monster perhaps is more similar to men than what we may perceive. If it is assumed that Shelley also shared this view when she wrote the novel, maybe she meant that the real monster manifests itself differently tha...
Maya Angelou’s life began in the small town of Stamps. At the age of three Maya and her Brother, Bailey, were dropped off at their grandmother’s house in Stamps by their parents. Maya lived her life as a store helper to her grandmother, Momma, and her uncle Willie. Her childhood was occupied by managing the store, going to school, and participating in cultural events. Maya’s went through many obstacles in her childhood such as the rape, desertion, and self discovery. Maya uses her relationships with other people to help her overcome the obstacles in her life.
The proposed research is on the impact of the hosting of the 2012 Olympics in London and its impact specifically on the hospitality industry. Other studies have been done on the impact of the Olympics viz. Olympics Games Impact Study (OIGS) which is a study by Price Water House Coopers in December 2005. It was commissioned by DCMS and the London Development Agency to assess the likely benefits of hosting the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012 in social and economic terms.
Maya Angelou is arguably one of the greatest renaissance women of the 20th century. With her achievement spanning from writing and directing an original screenplay called, Georgia Georgia, to 25 volumes of poetry. She was born, Marguerite Johnson to her parents in St. Louis, Missouri Soon into her childhood she began living with with her maternal grandmother. Throughout her life she dealt with many hardships. At the age of seven she was sexually assaulted by her grandmother’s boyfriend. Soon after her family found out about this vicious attack her uncles brutally murdered her assailant. She felt responsible for her uncle’s actions and became mute for the next five years. This is when she began to take an interest in the english language. She
The entire world attempts to make a better life for themselves; however, too often the majority of the people of a country will suffer more from their technology than benefit from them. As technology increases the wealth distribution in the United States has shifted from all having relatively equal wealth to the rich becoming even more rich than everyone else. Since the 1970’s the wealthy have gained more wealth while the lower and middle class have begun to suffer shown by “…the share of total household wealth owned by the top 0.1 percent increasing to 22 percent in 2012 from 7 percent in the late 1970s” (Saez, & Zucman, 2014, Np). Robert Reich in “Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor Poorer,” discusses the inequality that technology
America prides itself on being a democracy when in fact, these ideals are only a political illusion. The Constitution of the United States deems the nation a republic, thus regarding the people’s desire to be a democracy, yet there is much evidence that suggests America is an oligarchy. While a republic’s citizens elect many representatives to make governmental decisions on their behalf, an oligarchic country is controlled by a small group of elites. The idea of America being an oligarchy assumes that elites have the power in many aspects of government, such as the election process and the Electoral College, in Congress, and federal judges in the Supreme Court. The Constitution creates a political illusion of democracy that gives the impression of the people having power in the many aspects of government when, in reality, the elites dominate the Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary branches of government, creating an oligarchy.
A problem America is experiencing is the economic growth, it is a problem because the wealth growth is only affecting the rich. It is as simple as this, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Robert Reich points this out in his text, Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer. This has been a problem recurring since the industrial revolution, because of the labor groups being stuck in that position. Also, the mergers, and lawyers cycle around their money through lawsuits, and takeovers. Reich uses metaphors in his text about the fall of economy, and he uses boats. There are three boats that are being represented by different economic standing. The reason why Americans are having such troubling economic standings
Most organizations run their businesses by the use of projects. What is a project? How can it be defined? What is project management and why has project management become so significant in today’s modern business environment? The purpose of the paper is to consider the why, what, who, when and where today that project management has become so important. Attempt to consider the history of business and project management to find these answers.