The socioeconomic status' of nations is created by working individuals. However, it seems as though an economy is characterized by the nature of the interactions in the workforce. Many times these interactions are built upon unequal systemic operations that work to further disadvantage the large majority of citizens (known as the middle class) as well as simultaneously sustain the rich. This paper will reveal the effects of Capitalism and Inequality in American and Canadian economies today as well the solutions to improve both the society and quality of life. The first piece is a 90-minute documentary released in Fall 2013 titled Inequality for All directed by Jacob Kornbluth and produced by Jen Chaiken and Sebastian Dungan at 72 Productions. …show more content…
The quality of modern ay jobs illustrate the chronological ups and downs that the working class is subjected to in everyday life. In relation to The Future of Work, this modern-day documentary reveals Reich looking through stories of workers and capitalists. Inequality for All discusses the precarious work within society which consequently results in the widening income gap. The documentary outlines Reich’s analysis of the historical focus between 1976 and 2007, as well as the onset of the Great Recession. Graphs were used to illustrate the differences between the year of 1978 and 2010. According to Reich: “In 1978 the average male worker earned $48,000 adjusted for inflation, while the average member of 1% earned $390,000. By 2010, that same male worker wage had declined to $33,000, while the 1 percenter was making $1.1 million” (Kornbluth, 2013). This data demonstrates, the accumulation of wealth of the rich as well the decline of the meagre income of the poor. In other words, this illustrates the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer. It is important to note that this extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner and the end result, is an ever widening gap. This widening wage of income makes it hard for an average worker. They are affected by constant precarious work which results in this vicious cycle of long hours, low wage and psychological problems like stress. These individuals are caught working these low skilled jobs in order to work enough hours to be classified under the living wage category. Whereas, the people at the top are given more than they can spend, which results in free markets and more revenue. Throughout this piece, it is made evident, that the worker is made flexible and
“Inequality for All” is a movie reveals the truth about the United States’ economy with a speaker used to be the Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, Robert Reich. Throughout the film, Robert gradually proves what is happening in terms of the distribution of income and wealth, why and is it a problem. He provides plenty of graphics, interview
The issue of income inequality is a reoccurring theme in Maria Konnikova’s article “America’s Surprising Views on Income Inequality” as well as Barbara Ehrenreich’s memoir Nickel and Dimed. To commence, Konnikova writes about the rapid growing gap between the rich and the poor. In particular, she elucidates, “Income inequality has grown by record amounts since the 2008 recession: between 2009 and 2012, incomes for the top one per cent of the population rose by more than thirty per cent, while those for the rest of the country-the bottom ninety-nine per cent-increased by less than half of one per cent” (Konnikova 1). Clearly, it is difficult for low-class individuals to make enough money to support themselves and their families. Furthermore,
In “inequality for all”, a documentary presented and narrated by Robert Reich, Reich discusses what is happening in terms of the distribution of income and wealth in the US, why it is happening, and is it a problem. “Inequality for all” is directed by Jacob Kornbluth, it premiered in 2013, and it runs for 90 minutes. Reich studied at the University of Oxford in during the late 1960’s, where he befriended future president Bill Clinton. Subsequently, they kept in touch, and in 1993, when Clinton was elected president, he reached out to Reich, to be secretary of labor. Reich was in office for the following four years, and today he is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. For about three decades now, Reich announced that out of all developed countries, the US has the most unequal distribution of wealth, and that inequality is getting even greater in the US. In the documentary, the most compelling topics covered by Reich, are the changes that started happening in the late 1970’s, the fact that 42 percent of Americans born into poverty stay poor, and that nowadays, money controls politics.
In the documentary film "Inequality for All" Robert Reich (2013) clearly explains how this massive inequality in the distribution of wealth occurred and how it will affect the workers of his country. When the salaries become lower, a worker has to take on more debt. As college costs skyrocket, so there are few people to go to public universities, which ones are and should be free. The economy is not the only thing growing and the wealth gap, the richer are getting richer. At the same time, the economy will affect the political, damaging the rights of citizens and undermining democracy. More disappointing are Reich's lack of possible solutions and ways to turn this around. Finally, he hopes some of people are going to change the community.
Even though Canada sits in the middle of the scale, while considering inequality, it stays behind countries like Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In wake of the globalization, public austerity programs, middle class incomes are getting lower and fiscal challenges at all government levels are threatening education, pensions, and public health care. It is more difficult how for 20 and 30 years old people to get a better life than their parents had. In Canada, middle class is vanishing and a big gap is between poor and rich. The wealth is in the hands of 1% going after US strand and disparity between C.E.Os. and workers is so evident. In 2012, the ratio was 1:122 while a decade earlier
(An Analysis of Why The Rich Are Getting Richer And the Poor, Poorer, by Robert B. Reich)
Income inequality in the 70’s and the 80’s demonstrated a significant difference in comparisons with today’s income inequality. In the 70’s, the top one percent generated 9% total income in US and today, 30 years later it nearly doubled generating at 24% total income in US. A CEO would earn approximately 40 times more than his or her average worker in the 70’snand the 80’s however, in today’s case a CEO earns 500 times more than his or her average worker that’s about 13 times more grossed income of CEO in a span of 30 years. (Frank, preface VIII) In the 70’s and 80’s the ten percent would earn about $1,500 a week and the average middle class would earn about $720 a week. But, today the ten percent earns nearly $2,000 a week and average middle
Wealth inequality in the United States has grown tremendously since 1970. The United States continuously reveals higher rates of inequality as a result of perpetual support for free market capitalism. The high rates of wealth inequality cause the growing financial crisis to persist, lower socio-economic mobility, increase national poverty, and have adverse effects on health and well being.
Income Inequality is at an all-time high in the United States, and it has increased significantly since the 1970s, and now has reached levels not seen since 1928 during the Great Depression. (Pew Research Center, 2017). Today the top 1 percent takes home more than 20% of all U.S income. The outcomes of income inequality are worse in the unequal countries (Wilkinson and Pickett). The Divide documentary primary purpose is to show the growing divide between the rich and the poor in the US and UK. The individuals being interviewed have one goal in common, they are all striving for a better life for their families. The evoking emotions of the intense stories told by the interviewees and feeling empathy for the economic state display the use of
Americans today live in a distinctly unequal society. Inequality is now wider than it used to be in the last century, and the division in income, wages, and wealth are broader than they are in other developed economies of the world. Wealth inequality is the imbalance of wealth or income within a society, and it is one of the most vital economic challenge the US is facing today because the distribution of wealth is more dispersed, making the inequality in wealth distribution at its highest. While the matter has been discussed for many years, the actual income disparity in the U.S. has heightened and is now verging on an extreme gap that portends to impede long-term economic growth. The huge gap between the wealthy and poor is squeezing the U.S. economy, the wealth gap threatens economic growth by diminishing social mobility and producing a less-educated workforce who are not able to compete in the global economy. unrestrained level of income inequality causes political pressures, it discourages trade, investment, and hiring. The present level of income inequality in the U.S. is shrinking GDP growth, and the world's largest economy is struggling to recover from the Great Recession.
Capitalism has been the central force behind the growth of the United States’ progressive economy. Within such advanced economic system the chances of economic disparity are significantly high. In fact, over the past three decades there has being a steady increase in unequal wealth distribution among the economic classes. To sustain the current unequal wealth distribution among the classes of the American population, there are numerous factors that influence and shape this trend. For some members of the population it is alarmingly disturbing to know that recent statistics have shown that, “In the US [alone] the wealthiest 1% of its population owns more than the bottom 95 %” (Gutman). As for the difference in economic wealth, it resulted
In Robert Reich documentary “Inequality for All” he makes a compelling discussion about the serious crises that the United States faces due the widening economic gap. He looks to raise awareness of the U.S. economic gap between the rich and poor. According to Reich the widening divide in America is real and growing. Income levels at the middle and labor class is stagnant and are at it’s lowest levels compared to upper class incomes since the beginning of WWII and is growing wider each year. Reich suggests that the economy runs more smoothly when the middle class has jobs with fair wages, when unions are strong, and when middle class workers have some extra money to spend if possible when the government uses the tax policy properly and when it raises the minimum wage regularly to control the income gap between labor and management. In other words Reich argues that economically healthy middle and labor class equality is the foundation of a thriving economy and is necessary to maintaining a sound national infrastructure and educational system within
The highest earning fifth of U.S. families earned 59.1% of all income, while the richest earned 88.9% of all wealth. A big gap between the rich and poor is often associated with low social mobility, which contradicts the American ideal of equal opportunity. Levels of income inequality are higher than they have been in almost a century, the top one percent has a share of the national income of over 20 percent (Wilhelm). There are a variety of factors that influence income inequality, a few of which will be discussed in this paper. Rising income inequality is caused by differences in life expectancy, rapidly increases in the incomes of the top 5 percent, social trends, and shifts in the global economy.
We live in a time where the wealthiest 10% of society earn twelve times as much as the poorest 10% and a fifth of young people are unemployed. This is because modern capitalism exploits and commodifies workers in the
What makes these numbers seem so dreadful is the fact that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. In the United States, it’s estimated that 20% of the population holds 80% of the wealth. We can break these figures down further, and note that the bottom 40% of all households have only 1% of all the