Income Inequality Essay

Income equality is a growing problem and is causing significant problems. The income gap between the rich and poor has been increasing and just recently surpassed levels that our nation has not seen since 1928. There have been studies showing the correlations between inequality and both health and happiness. This reaction paper discusses three articles with different perspectives on income inequality: Income Inequality Is What 's Destroying America (Gilani), U.S. Income Inequality, on Rise for Decades, is Now Highest Since 1928 (Desilver), and How Inequality Hollows Out the Soul (Wilkinsin, Pickett).
According to Desilver, the average income of the top 1% of Americans currently is higher than any levels we have seen since 1928. Income inequality

For example, it tends to make people withdraw from society, lack trust, and prone to becoming more argumentative. Inequality also makes mental illnesses, of all levels of severity, much more likely. For example, Wilkinsin and Pickett state that three times as many people in America suffer from depression or anxiety problems as in Germany. Schizophrenia was also three times more likely in areas with greater income inequality. They also said that depression was more common in states with a greater income inequality. It is more common for people of lower status to have depression, though depression exists in people of all

Tests were done showing that drivers of expensive cars are less likely to yield to pedestrians or other cars. They are also more likely to help themselves to candy intended for children. People of higher status tend to have a greater sense of entitlement and are less generous. People of all statuses become less nice and less happy when living in unequal societies. Their status anxiety also becomes greater. Inequality is bad for mental health and plays a part in our personalities.
Gilani’s article was the one that I disagreed with the most. There was only one approach suggested to lower income inequality, in the three articles. Gilani’s suggestion was to create a fair tax, meaning provide progressive flat tax. This would allow rich people to pay the same rate of tax as poor people, even though their economic statuses were completely different.
Ronald Reagan was the United States president from 1981- 89. The Economist (“Rich Pickings”) shows a jump in the income share during the end years of his presidency. That was the point in time where he tried to get everyone to pay the same relative amount of taxes, such as one Gilani suggests. He tried to make the tax percentages closer together, but that caused the income inequality to increase even more