The historical context of inequality in the United States can be can be traced back to the American South and the times of the Civil War. The slave trade, Emancipation Proclamation and 13th Amendment largely contribute to the inequality presented of the African American population.
Inequality in the United States was present for a very long time. It wasn’t until essentially the 1960’s when blacks finally had all of their humane rights. It took many courageous and very charismatic leaders to achieve all the things colored people grasped during this time. In my essay today I will be talking about some of these extremely memorable and honorable events and people that transpired and why they are so significant.
Even though the American Revolution constituted represented a tremendous strike against the old social order, its founding ideals could not be realized within the socioeconomic framework that existed in colonial America.
Ever since agriculture replaced hunting and gathering, the division of labor led to the creation of social classes and the division of land and unequal distribution of food surplus allowing inequality to flourish. Unfortunately, this has not only remained, but inequality has exponentially grown, making the difference between each social class quite noticeable. This distressing factor makes American economy highly unstable, and there is little to be done in order to fix this grave issue. It is only a matter of time before America’s economy comes crashing down. American economic inequality has been around for a long time, and it has become a monumental issue.
Numerous organizations are assisting those in need. Then why does the United States have so many people poverty stricken? Some blame the impoverished themselves while others blame the wealthy, the economic system, and other facets of society. Regardless, poverty is a reality no matter where the blame lies.
Inequality is increasing in the Unites States and it affects you as students in your everyday life, as a member of your family, a member of society and many other societal aspects. Inequality in wealthy and inequality in income are two complete separate areas. Inequality in income is the amount or lack of money you earn from work or investments. Inequality in wealth is the amount or lack of items that you own, house, car, savings, or retirement accounts. Name some ways that inequality can affect you? Inequality can be differentiated in all roles of society and socialization including education, occupation, race, gender, rurality, and mobility.
Further arguments bolster the defense of this perception regarding income inequality. Writers, such as The New York Times Tyler Cowen, add wood to the fire in his articles written about this topic. As a proponent of this view, Cowen (2015) argues that income inequality should not be the main concern and rather than to try and bridge the gap between the wealthy and lower classes, the country should turn its' attention to the problem of economic mobility as the real issue. The argument made by Cowen slightly parallels the argument made by Garret in that income inequality will never cease to exist, but we as a nation can reduce it by defeating what Cowen (2015) believes the underlying cause to be; economic mobility. Instead of taking a communist approach to the situation with taking money from the wealthy class and distributing it to the less fortunate, Cowen (2015) proposes that by uprooting the financial instability of the lower class the government can thrust them into higher economic status. CNBC writer Carol Roth also provided another argument. Roth (2014) is very blunt and to the point in her article regarding the problem, or there lack of, income inequality in the United States starting by stating the harsh reality that life is not equal for many Americans in a variety of circumstances. Counteracting the argument of citizens that believe there is income inequality and that there needs to be a redistribution of wealth, Roth (2014) says,
When we think of that number of people in poverty we know that living in poverty directly relates to food insecurity. A slightly higher number of people are food insecure 42.2 million people in the United States to be exact, including more than 13 million children. Those numbers are astonishing for a country that is so well developed and established. We here are supposed to be the best country to live in the
The distribution of wealth by country is an amazing thing to look at (see table 3). The United States comes clearly on top with 41.6% of the wealth across the world, with the next closest being China at 10%. This shows that there is plenty of wealth to go around in the United States; we just don’t equally distribute it. The Gini Coefficient is the best way the world economy can represent the income distribution of a nation’s citizens. The United States ranks well below any other first world country (See table 2) This is an embarrassment to our country. We are a wealthy and successful country, yet we have a bigger gap between the wealthy and poor than any other country that compares to
Income inequality is when income is unevenly distributed in a country. This inequality has reached staggering heights across the world. Even in what we consider developed countries this disparity is only increasing. The causes for income equality can range anywhere from immigration to the policies and politics of a country. However, some critics of income inequality will argue that it will always be present and is necessary to stimulate growth. Nonetheless, the problem is not only that the gap between the poor and the rich is widening but that income inequality is causing devastating market and government failures.
Income inequality not only harms us fiscally, but also affects our mental and physical wellbeing; therefore, it is important to identify the right ways to control wealth distribution among people.
After watching the debate Income Inequality Impairs the American Dream, I have gained more knowledge in order to make an informative vote. At the beginning, I would have agreed that inequality of income does impact the American dream and upward mobility. I believed that it was harder for the poor to move forward in life or chase their dreams with having little to no resources. I also agreed that children of low income families have less resources and worse grades in school due to the circumstances and stress of their living situations. Based from the pro team's statistics, children of poor families tend to become poor adults and have a less chance of graduating from high school. It is also harder for them to continue their education with little money. The pro and con team of this debate also agreed with
The income gap in the United States is the distribution of wealth between the higher class and the lower class. According to Inequality.org, the issue at hand is that the higher class makes up about 10% of the population and holds approximately 75% of the wealth, so the rest of the population, 90%, only holds 25%. The issue with this is that the minority of the population has more money then they even know what to do with while the majority is barely getting by on the salary they are making. Closing this gap can be partially solved by raising the minimum wage. By doing so, the average American making minimum wage will now be earning more money and can help boost the economy and also distribute the wealth more equally. Although some people
Peyton and Stephanie work at a fast-food restaurant making just above the minimum wage. After some college kids come through the drive-thru, they begin talking about economic inequality. Peyton thinks that wealthy people deserve their money because they work hard for it. He believes that Capitalism is the only system that works. Stephanie thinks that the wealth difference is not fair because wealthy people were given a head start. She believes that the wealthy people should be taxed heavily, and that money should be used to help the poor. Who do you agree with, Stephanie or Peyton?
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).