America, the land of opportunity, but is it really? America is the wealthiest country in the world, but the middle class is contracting due to increasing cost of living and stagnant wages. Inequality for All, narrated by Robert Reich, is a documentary about the skewed distribution of income between the top one percent and the average worker in the United States. This documentary explains what is causing this issue, why this is occurring, and how to fix this issue. Inequality for All, shares many issues that cause the wage gap to increase so drastically. In my paper, I will go into detail on a few of the causes to the rising inequality and the way Robert Reich believes wills rejuvenate the middle class. The rising inequality in the United States is correlated with the fall in numbers of labor unions. As businesses got greedy and were looking to limit their expenses, they looked at their biggest expense: Labor. The only way to reduce labor expense is laying off workers or decreasing their pay. Businesses then attacked labor unions and outlawed them, which reduced the power of the laborers and let the business have full authority for wage control. As labor unions are crucial for those in low-end and working class …show more content…
If everyone is skilled and part of the middle class and who is going to work the low end jobs and how much will it cost to fund this? I believe a tax reform and much leaner government would have a bigger impact on rejuvenating the middle class. The middle class should get some tax breaks, the wealthy should pay a bit more, and corporate tax should be decreased. But the reason why we pay taxes is to fund the government programs and if the money in not going into the right places, what the point of paying taxes? In my opinion, there will always be inequality between the rich and middle
Robert Reich starts off his article by stating the idea that income inequality is necessary for an economy to function at is fullest because people need incentive to work hard and make it to the top. Once he gets into the section about what we need to do to fix this growing problem of the wealth gap he states that there is not any one thing that we can do to fix it rather there need to be multiple things to happen to fix it. The first way Reich says we can fix the economy for a smaller wealth gap is to raise the minimum wage to about 15 dollars an hours in industries that are growing very fast like fast-food and hospitals. These industries are making large amounts of money but they are paying their workers very little. His next step is to get
Economic inequality is the uneven distribution of wealth and differences in economic security found in each individual in a specific country or region. Today, the topic is being discussed profusely by the American presidential candidates and by many writers around the world because of the beliefs of whether there should or should not be wealth redistribution policies put into action. Larry Schwartz, the author of “35 Soul-Crushing Facts about American Income Inequality”, makes a valid claim that economic inequality is the foundation of the problems that the entire American population face such as poverty and a hindrance of economic growth. To begin with, Schwartz has an exceptional argument that the high rate of economic inequality, like is
Reading through RIP, the Middle Class: 1946-2013, it became fairly obvious that the author, Edward McClelland, was presenting a thesis idea that consisted of promoting the middle class through examples of its prime time when middle class thrived. McClelland made the point clearly as he repeatedly provided examples ranging from the glory days of the assembly line industry that had provided high paying jobs for many people, to presidents who attempted to keep business within the United States to promote home grown jobs. He was especially focused on the point that the middle class was shrinking due to a large discrepancy between the wealthy and the rest of society as capitalism achieves its goal of padding the wealthiest and keeping the middle
“In the United States history of unions, early workers and trade unions played an important part in the role for independence” (Union Plus). In 1866, the National Labor Union (NLU) ambitiously tried to achieve equal rights for women, African Americans, and mandate eight-hour work days. They managed to convince Congress to adopt the eight-hour work day, but only for federal employees. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) with approximately 1.4 million members was successful in wage negotiation, and enhanced work conditions for its members. “A combination of factors contributed to the debilitating Panic of 1873, which triggered what the public referred to at the time as the “Great Depression” of the 1870s” (OpenStax College, 2014).
Many people will tell you now that the middle class used to be a thing. After many events the middle class has begun to decline and these events aren’t recent either. After events like, the Arab Oil Embargo in 1973, the union busting of PATCO and the types of jobs we used to have in the states around that time. Edward McClelland agrees in his essay “RIP, the Middle Class: 1946-2013” he illustrates a lot of the events and the people responsible for the decline of the middle class. Edward says that in 1970s it was possible for a high school graduate or even a drop out to get a job on an assembly line and earn more money than a high school teacher.
Income inequality is still a problem in America, but there are ways to fight against it. Job disadvantages and food drives both prove that income inequality still exists in America. According
As a result, those residing in the middle and lower classes are essentially fixated into a set disadvantage point compared to that of the privileged. Although this inequality is also contributing to an emerging opportunity gap, a solution can arise through new legislation concerning financial reform and labor law. Bernie Sanders offers such legislation in correlation to his belief that “the issue of wealth and income inequality is the great moral issue of our time, it is the great economic issue of our time, and it is the great political issue of our time.” He’ll in turn fight for pay equity by signing the Paycheck Fairness Act into law, make it easier for workers to join unions by
The stalk market crash along with the Great Depression both affected the beginning of the middle class myth. People argue about non educated people or people who work at fast food restaurants make more than educated people. The middle class does not just mess with our money because all of our money has to do with our nation's economy so if the nation's economy isn't doing good then we all know the money that is being made in our household won't do any good. In our economy the commodity that builds our economy is our resouces,discussing a wider range of perspectives some argue about not living in the right condition. Some who might live in the city might have to pay more rather than someone who lives in the country or vice versa.
America one of the richest countries that prides itself on its buoyancy of capitalism, and by its very nature drives by a monetary system that enslaves the working poor. Corporations continue to lay off workers’ for larger profit margins; deliberately labeling and adding moderate jobs to the market, thus, avoiding higher wages that would interfere with their profit margins. Corporations have no fairness; there will always be winners and losers, or rather the rich, and the poor. Although at one time, a beneficial medium made for a strong middle class. The labor unions that protected the interest of the low- wage worker helped create a livable wage with benefits, but today the workers that make up the middle class are simply vanishing, because
Workers worked until their bodies could not take the condition and released with no benefits. They did not get any vacations, days off, or sick leaves, or else they will be soon be replaced by another suitable worker. Which they did not get coverage or retirement benefits, or kick out workers if they are pregnant or they go on strike. Labors need to demand change when they lack the money, political power, or education. Unions did not legally exist and industrial worker bosses try to prevent unions from taking place.
Factories were paying far too little for someone to feed their whole family for that little, so many either would die or would turn to crime to survive; these laborers wanted equality. Men, women, and children were working and got employed in factories to work, and the dangerous and strenuous labor that children were put through to help the family expense caused many young children to die. Workers individually could not stop corporations, but collectively they could make an impact on their wages. The corporations eventually had to succumb to the pressure of labor supplies because the National Trade Union convinced the majority of the labor force to work from 12 hours a day to 10 hours. After the labor unions won, workers worked less, and they still had the same salary.
Wealth and Inequality in America Inequality The inequality in America has increased over time; the gap between the rich and the poor has become a problem that many Americans don’t see. Inequality is the extent of income which is distributed unequally among the citizenry. The inequality of the United has a large gap between the poor and the rich making it unfair to the population, the rich are becoming wealthier and the poor remain poor. The article “Of the 1%, By the 1%, For the 1%”, authored by Joseph E. Stiglitz describes that there is a 1 percent amount of American’s who are consuming about a quarter of the United States income in a year.
There are people who work 40 hours a week and are still in poverty; this is a highly prominent issue. The uneven distribution of wealth, known as wealth inequality, is a problem that plagues not only America but also the world. With wealth inequality, there are two main issues and one solution to those issues. The problems are that the wealth in America is unevenly distributed and there people in America who work 40 hours a week and still have very little money. Wealth inequality is the root of all problems faced in America.
America prides itself on being one of the most effective democratically governed counties. The idea of the American dream is that all people have equivalent political freedoms and a responsive government. However the effectiveness of social equality is being threatened by increasing inequality in the United States. Economic inequality in the US has expanded drastically. The wealth gap has had drastic changes over the past 35 years.
In Robert Reich’s documentary “Inequality for All” he demonstrated a great balance of emotional and logical appeal, which resulted in getting his point across to the audience. Reich argued that America is a consumer-driven economy and for it to achieve the middleclass should have more purchasing power to keep the economy as strong as it once was. From the beginning of the documentary I began to trust him by examining that he has an honest and comedic personality. The part of the documentary that interest me the most was the comment that CEOs worry more how fat their pockets are rather than worry if they have enough employees and if those employees are paid correctly. Overall, I view Reich as someone who does not point fingers towards the