Importance Of Income Inequality In The United States

Income Inequality Income Inequality or “wage gap” is a big topic for freedom fighters and liberals for the simple fact that it isn’t equal for everyone. Because the wage gap is so prominent it's one of the biggest “facts” that discrimination is still apart of everyday American society. The wage gap from these radical interest groups think the economy is get a dollar take a dollar instead of a free flow economy. This misguided idea of the economy is absolutely not true and isn’t at the fault of the Government, but the people.

Economic inequality is a severe and growing problem that needs to be addressed and fixed. The United States is currently the richest country in history; however, that title seems only nominal when in reality, much of that wealth is controlled by a small 1% of the country’s population. Even with the major technological advancements and the rising productivity in the country, most Americans are left to work longer hours for lower wages. The United States has the most unequal distribution of wealth and income out of all the developed nations today and continues to head toward greater inequality. Things have gotten so bad that even those at the top are speaking out; the richest man on Earth, Bill Gates, acknowledges the problem, "Yes, some level

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. What’s more, specifically, the rich have gotten a lot richer. Almost everybody who talk about it says that economic inequality must be reduced.

Based on freedom and equality, America is today the country the most unequal amongst developed countries.

The United States is one of the most developed and wealthiest nations on the planet. However, the nation today has more income and wealth inequality as compared to any other key developed nation. In addition, there is a very large gap that exists between extremely rich and the rest of the people. Most of this income and wealth is controlled by a shocking small percentage of individuals. This accrues to only 1 percent of the nation’s total population. Today, there are about 400 billionaires and millionaires who earn billions of US dollars every year through entrepreneurship and heavy international investments (Gornick & Jäntti, 2014). In spite of great technological advancements in the country, as well as productivity, many Americans work for longer hours and get low wages in return. For example, the actual average income for American male employees is about $783 less as compared to what it was 42 years ago; at the same time as the actual average income for female employees is well over $1,300 less as compared to what it in the year 2007 (Gornick & Jäntti, 2014).

Nowadays, there is a huge gap of income and wealth inequality in the U.S. and that means the richer people are super rich while bottom people are struggling for basic living standard. There are some direct and explicit statistics from Inequality for All graphic package from which we can tell the phenomenon. In 2010, the typical 1% people earn 33 times of typical male workers but in 1978 the ratio is tenth comparing the male workers with the “1%” people. Also, it says “Today, the top 400 richest people have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans put together” (Inequality for All). This shows considerable wealth of the U.S. is controlled in the minority people, which is totally unlike the period of 1950s through 1980s. Why has inequality been widening? As we see the diagram from the graphic package, GDP was spectacularly booming from late 1980s. However, the growth of wages and productivity was almost stagnated ever since 1970s. At that times, economic globalization was taken place deeply and manufacture was moved from developed countries like America to developing countries like South Korea and Japan while financial capital field was tended to be more powerful.

Believing, only 1% of the world’s population possesses the majority of the wealth around the world and is therefore able to dictate the state of the global economy. The result is an unbalanced and stagnate situation for any individuals looking to improve their station in life. The cost of living and minimum wage are disproportionate to one another with the minimum wage rising at an exponentially smaller rate than the cost of living. Senator Baldwin stated, “We know that because of this loophole that the are many hedge fund and Wall Street millionaires that pay a lower tax rate than truck drivers, nurses, and teachers” (Washington Post). Occupy Wall Street is a subset of the global occupy movement, which most notably attempts to use occupation as its main method of protest.

Paul Krugman, an economics professor at Princeton, writes “Confronting Inequality” chapter 7 in his book. Equality in America is what makes America, what it stands for. Social and economic inequality still is a part of everyday life in America. Education is making parents struggle because they want to give them a good education; but also, health care for those who need it. Middle-class starts to scramble more every day while the high-class gets more prosperous. Inequality in America is creating trouble to the lives of Americans.

As McAdam and Kloos write, “the country is now more starkly divided in political terms than at any time since the end of Reconstruction and more unequal in material terms than roughly a century ago and greater, even, than on the eve of the Great Depression” (McAdam and Kloos 4). An increase in inequality has only given rise to protest groups such as Occupy Wall St that protested the rising inequality between the 1%

Jasmine Ware Ms.Johnson Period 5 28 February 2018 Wealth inequality: a growing issue in America Wealth inequality all but gave birth to our nation. Between taxation, navigation acts, and writs of assistance, the colonies were engulfed with laws that caused disparity and created social classes, leading to the colonies separating from Great Britain during the revolutionary war in 1783. Inequality has been rampant throughout many parts of the world. It also has been widely prevalent within the United States. When it comes to inequality, not many people think of it in terms of wealth.

“The bottom 40% of Americans own almost nothing.” Said the video, Wealth Inequality In America. The lower class are scraping by and are not able to invest in stocks or other consuming items whether it deal with money or time. The video, Wealth Inequality in America also said, “The top 20% of Americans own almost everything.” The wealthy community should contribute more to the lower class, allowing more equality of wealth.

Classism is a major issue that plagues American society. Classism separates groups by their economic status in society. America is perceived to be a middle class society, however in reality the middle class does not hold majority of the nation’s wealth. Most of the nation’s wealth is held by 1% of the population in America which consists of 34% of the nation’s wealth, meanwhile “the richest 20% of Americans hold nearly 85% of the total household wealth in the country” (Adams et al, 2013, p. 151). American citizens that are a part of the upper class are privilege because they have access to majority of the resources.

1992-2010 data from Wolff (2012). Table 3 represents the share of wealth held by the bottom 99% and top 1% in the United States from 1949 to 2010. Change of wealth distribution is not favorable for the bottom 99% as this class obtaining less and less wealth while the top 1%’s wealth is expanding. The gap between the rich and the poor is increasing.

That This is simply the only logical solution and therefore the average person who is not privileged enough to be in this 1% should accept their fate. In turn, this only will encourage readers to find another alternative. In conclusion, David Noise is able to convey his point to the readers about the unevenly distributed power in our society. His encounter with this 1% only solidifies the seriousness of this matter and how it demands more attention. The style he uses to approach this subject is rather subdued and the reader to be attentive while reading his article.

The one percent are people of “old money” or large corporate owners who fail to see how their “walmarts” are tearing apart our American society. They tend to only worry about profit margins and how they can make the most out of their money instead of thinking of the 99% of the population.