Over the last forty years many people have claimed that the level of equality has risen to an all time high. The evolution of corporate welfare in the United States, aided by the spread of globalization has put a huge burden on many lower class Americans. Race is still an issue we face everyday, as many minority groups are in the lowest percentile of salary or are living in extreme poverty, in addition, residential racial segregation furthers the disenfranchisement of minorities due to the lack of opportunities available in areas with a concentration of poverty. American politics as a whole contributes to all of these factors that engender hardships in everyday American life. In reality, over the last forty years we have seen a great increase in both scope and depth of inequality based around the role of race, globalization and corporate welfare supported by corporate sponsored American policymaking.
The main factor contributing to the rise of inequality over the past forty years is corporate welfare. A term used to analogize welfare payments to corporate subsidies. Between 1990 and 1993, the federal government spent one hundred and seventy billion dollars on corporate subsidies. Medicaid, the federal government’s most expensive social program costs thirty billion a year. This is almost half of what the corporations receive in tax breaks, grants and other government subsidies. The fact that corporations get more tax breaks than American citizens get in healthcare is preposterous. Possibly the best example of frustration with corporate welfare in recent years is the Occupy Wall Street protest, which embodied the frustration of working American people who had seen their jobs, savings and in some cases homes disappear due to the irr...
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...Geography - Volume 26, Number 8 / November 16-December 31, 2005 - Bellwether Publishing, Ltd. Bellwether Publishing, Ltd., 8 Oct. 2007. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. .
Grimaldi, James V., and Carol D. Leonnig. "Former Aide to Ex-Congressman Ney Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Case." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2007. Web. 7 Nov. 2013. .
Smith, Jeffery. "DeLay Airfare Was Charged To Lobbyist's Credit Card." Washington Post. The Washington Posy, 24 Apr. 2005. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. .
Weinberg, Daniel H. "A Brief Look at Postwar U.S. Income Inequality." Census.Gov. Current Population Reports, n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
In light of the most recent election results I find myself worrying about the countless social and economic injustices that will perpetuate to occur in our country. I dwell on our history, of how our social welfare system created and continues to reinforce discrimination, privilege and oppression. How did we end up like this and where is that “American dream” promised to those within our boarders? Literary works $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn Edin and Luke Shaefer, Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond by Marc Lamont Hill, and Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy: A story of justice and redemption, seek to describe how social injustices and economic issues manifest
William Julius Wilson creates a thrilling new systematic framework to three politically tense social problems: “the plight of low-skilled black males, the persistence of the inner-city ghetto, and the fragmentation of the African American family” (Wilson, 36). Though the conversation of racial inequality is classically divided. Wilson challenges the relationship between institutional and cultural factors as reasons of the racial forces, which are inseparably linked, but public policy can only change the racial status quo by reforming the institutions that support it.
America has forever long been looked upon as the land of opportunity, yet for just as long struggled with the actual attainment of equal opportunity by all of its citizens. The lines of this inequality have b...
"Wealth Inequality in the United States." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Apr. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
concerns racial equality in America. The myth of the “Melting Pot” is a farce within American society, which hinders Americans from facing societal equality issues at hand. Only when America decides to face the truth, that society is not equal, and delve into the reasons why such equality is a dream instead of reality. Will society be able to tackle suc...
...er, it is declining. Since the 1960’s, there have been progress towards racial housing segregation. However, the problem of racial discrimination remains an important factor in determining current examples of social and economic inequality. Despite everything, it is suggests that unfairness does continue to affect the portion of current opportunities. Even though there are laws and agencies that supposed to prohibit this type of matter, it still exist and hidden away from federal and state minds. The article supports the reality that minorities are unfairly treated based on
America has been described as a "melting pot"-- a land full of diversity. With that diversity comes a full range of income levels and statuses of its inhabitants, from the very, very rich to the destitute. Ronald Taylor's article entitled "African-American Youth: Their Social and Economic Status in the United States" focuses on the issue of polarization. Polarization occurs when an increase of the percentage of people in poverty coincides with an increase of the percentage of people with higher incomes. Fewer people are considered 'middle class', but are either rich or poor.
This article was stimulating to me because it related with me on a personal level. I have been discriminated upon many times in my life and this article excellently explained how white privilege plays a role in determining which groups are in the high or low end of the hierarchy spectrum. In Sklar’s article, Imagine a Country, she explains the growing income inequality between individuals by using several statistics that show the rising wealth gap between the lower, middle, and upper class. Throughout her article, Sklar addresses the controversial topic of high government spending by pointing out that there is an unequal amount of resources that are distributed between large programs such as defense and social programs that help reduce poverty. Her critics have stated that because she is presenting statistical facts as it pertains to income inequality, that she is therefore obligated to include proposals that will address and solve this dilemma. The purpose of this article, contrary to what her critics have criticized her for, is not to present a solution to this
Race and class are increasingly important in the world today; yet, few sources focus on the similarities of these issues at a regional or global level. Ideologies of race were used to justify colonialism, conquest and annihilation of non-European peoples, slavery, indentured labor, fascism and Nazism. Yet, a common impression among men and women of color is that race and class issues are unique to their own particular community. Still, it is only through awareness of how these issues affect different communities that a common bond and understanding can be developed across racial, ethnic, cultural and class barriers. Both governments and media present the image of an integrated, egalitarian society, which in reality contradicts racial discrimination, and class oppression that is exercised against various minority groups. In each `integrated' and `equal' society, racial and ethnic discrimination is directly related to economic and class issues. Since the period of merchant bankers and the British east India Company, modern capitalist forces have penetrated `developed' and `developing' societies by division and conquest. Capitalist countries and companies pursue profit motives by providing arms, money, patronage and privilege to leaders of some groups, on the one hand, while denying the vast majority of their land and resources, on the other. Each year new reports are published concerning individuals and their levels of income. If one was to look at a list of people ranked solely by yearly earnings in the entertainment industry, the list would surely be topped with such names as Oprah Winfrey, and Michael Jackson, as well as such sports figures as Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. On the other hand, if...
“A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality.” cbpp.org. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2013. Web. 06 April. 2014. .
What seems to go unnoticed by many Americans is the evident and growing wealth gap. According to Pew Research Center, the current U.S. income is at its highest since 1928. This large dispersion of wealth can be attributed by the “fall [of the] routine producers” (Reich). Where jobs that were once attainable during the 70s are declining due to advancing technology and corporations finding workers in poor countries who are willing to work at half the cost of the routine producers. What also drives this wealth gap is the power of corporations in an age of extravagant consumerism. Through media, the demand to buy what we want is unavoidable. Corporations are able to gain revenue while people go unemployed because of America’s vast opportunities to buy what we want when we want it.
The prospect of the welfare state in America appears to be bleak and almost useless for many citizens who live below the poverty line. Katz’s description of the welfare state as a system that is “partly public, partly private, partly mixed; incomplete and still not universal; defeating its own objectives” whereas has demonstrates how it has become this way by outlining the history of the welfare state which is shown that it has been produced in layers. The recent outcomes that Katz writes about is the Clinton reform in 1996 where benefits are limited to a period of two years and no one is allowed to collect for more than five years in their lifetime unless they are exempted. A person may only receive an exemption on the grounds of hardship in which states are limited to granting a maximum of 20% of the recipient population. The logic behind this drastic measure was to ensure that recipients would not become dependent upon relief and would encourage them to seek out any form of employment as quickly as possible. State officials have laid claim to this innovation as a strategy that would “save millions of children from poverty.” However, state officials predict otherwise such as an increase in homelessness, a flooding of low-waged workers in the labour market, and decreased purchasing power which means less income from tax collections. The outcomes of this reform appear to be bleak for many Americans who reside below the poverty line. How does a wealthy country like America have such weak welfare system? Drawing upon Katz, I argue that the development of the semi-welfare state is a result of the state taking measures to ensure that the people do not perceive relief as a right and to avoid exploiting the shortfalls of capitalism ...
Throughout American history, racial inequalities were created to dehumanize those who were not white. Beginning with the brutal genocide of Native Americans in 1492, leading to forcing millions of Africans, Native Americans and Latinx into slavery, it is clear to see that racial inequalities are deeply rooted in American history. From past to present, America has displayed atrocities and inequalities among the oppressed races. The inequality of races in America has led to an unequal distribution of opportunity, especially cultural equality. However, because of these inequalities people have fought against institutionalized racism and have paved the way for a better future.
The gap in wealth between the rich and the poor continues to grow larger, as productivity increases but wages remain the same. There were changes in the tax structure that gave the wealthy tax breaks, such as only taxing for social security within the first $113,700 of income in a year. For CEOs this tax was paid off almost immediately. Free trade treaties broke barriers to trade and resulted in outsourcing and lower wages for workers. In “Job on the Line” by William Adler, a worker named Mollie James lost her job when the factory moved to Mexico. “The job in which Mollie James once took great pride, the job that both fostered and repaid her loyalty by enabling her to rise above humble beginnings and provide for her family – that job does not now pay Balbina Duque a wage sufficient to live on” (489). When Balbina started working she was only making 65 cents an hour. Another huge issue lies in the minimum wage. In 2007, the minimum wage was only 51% of the living wage in America. How can a person live 51% of a life? Especially when cuts were being made in anti-poverty and welfare programs that were intended to get people on their feet. Now, it seems that the system keeps people down, as they try to earn more but their benefits are taken away faster than they can earn. Even when workers tried to get together to help themselves they were thrown
De, Blij Harm J., and Peter O. Muller. Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts. New York: J. Wiley, 1997. 340. Print.