Understanding the American Wealth Disparity: End of the Road Documentary by Tim Delmastro

A Fragmented Pie

Money is what makes the world go around. From day one, people are assimilated with the idea: to consume, one must spend a medium sufficient enough to receive an object that is desired. Every country has that medium. The Europeans have the Euro, the Japanese have the Yen, Chile has the Peso, and the United States has the Dollar. However, this idea of “getting and spending” has done more harm than good in specific countries. Particularly, in the United States there has been a growing issue of income inequality. The textbook definition of income inequality states: the difference between individuals or populations in the distribution of their assets, wealth, or income. The political problem itself, nevertheless, is deeper and denser than that. Out of all the developed nations, the United States is ranked with having the most uneven distribution of wealth. The top one percent reigns over the shrinking middle class and poorer social groups. In that one percent there is only a mere 400 people with more than half the wealth of the rest of the country. With that fact in mind, one could assume that the rest of the country would want to know the secrets to be placed in the elite one percent. There is, however, no secret but the unfortunate fact that upward mobility is shrinking and undeniable corruption behind the scenes has made it nearly impossible for an individual to ever have a slice of the pie. The government has made many attempts to combat this important issue but they have mostly failed. To fix the ever growing income gap inside of America, the solution of taxing the rich and giving the dollar a tangible object to be backed, should be made.

To understand the American wealth disparity, an understanding of histor...

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...ie to the promise of America” – Barack Obama.

Works Cited

Carneige, Andrew. "The Gospel of Wealth." 2013. World of Ideas. By Lee A. Jacobus. 9th ed. N.p.: Bedford/St. Martin's, n.d. 485-95. Print.

Collins, Chuck. Revised ed. N.p.: New Edition, 2005. Print.

End of the Road. Dir. Tim Delmastro. Perf. Adam Fergusson and G. Edward Griffin. MercuryMedia International, 2012. DVD.

Inequality For All. Dir. Jacob Kornbluth. Perf. Robert Reich. Radius-TWC, 2013. DVD.

Reich, Robert. "Why Inequality Is the Real Cause of Our Ongoing Terrible Economy." Web log post. Robert Reich. N.p., 4 Sept. 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.

We're Not Broke. Dir. Victoria Bruce and Karin Hayes. Perf. James S. Henry and Chuck Collins. Roco Films, 2012. DVD.

White, Lawrence H. "Making the Transition to a New Gold Standard." Academic Search Premier. EBSCO/Cato Journal, 2012. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.