Capitalism And Financial Inequality

According to Inequality.org, “We equate wealth with ‘net worth,’ the sum total of your assets minus liabilities. Assets can include everything from an owned personal residence and cash in savings accounts to investments in stocks/bonds, real estate, and retirement accounts. Liabilities cover what a household owes: a car loan, credit card balance, student loan, mortgage, or any other bill yet to be paid. In the United States, wealth inequality runs even more pronounced than income inequality” (Wealth). Wealth disparity affects everyone in America. When the top twenty percent of earners in America take over fifty percent of total earnings in any given year, It can be see as very unfair by anyone who is in the middle class and especially the lower class of citizens in the U.S. It is safe to say that both sides of the political world (Republicans and Democrats) are equally worried about how economic inequality will affect their children and future generations. No matter who you ask, rich or poor, and whatever their opinion on the shape of economic distribution in America is, they most likely have a unrealistic sense of the state it is actually in.

“The United States income inequality has risen drastically since the 1970’s and has not been this high since 1928.” Economic inequality is the unequal differences in how assets, wealth, and income are dispersed among the people and different populations throughout the United States. It is often described as the gap between the rich and the poor.

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.

This article titled "How income inequality hurts America” written by Steve Hargreaves explains the thesis statement itself. On the other hand, he states it’s not just income equality but it’s also lifespan inequality, education inequality, and declining economic growth, which refers to the graphs shown above the starting paragraph. Mr. Hargreaves then points out a fact that the rich are getting richer, while the poor and the middle class are falling behind. Another fact concerning this issue is the 400 richest people outnumber the wealth of the bottom 150 million put together.

The final three decaded of the 19th century spanned the Gilded Age; one of the most contentious and volatile periods in American history. It has been portrayed as a period of greed and corruption, of brutal industrial competition and harsh exploitation of labour. Sounds familiar? Wealth inequality refers to the one sided distribution of financdial assets among U.S. residents.

Wealth inequality is a controversial topic because money distribution in America doesn’t ‘seem right. The upper class possess most of the wealth in America and the bottom don’t nearly get as much.

Wealth inequality is already shaping American politics and society, and has the dangerous potential to be the defining problem of the upcoming generation. A sizable cause for wealth inequality in America is a dire lack of

Economic Inequality is the thing that makes the United States the Land of Opportunity to many immigrants. Many Immigrants relocate themselves and/or families for the purpose of experiencing “The American Dream”. The American Dream is the dream of Democracy, Equality and a better opportunity through hard work and dedication. Without the American Dream, there wouldn’t be any inventors or hard workers. If everyone in America was paid the same no matter what occupation, they had, the United States would’ve been a Socialist country. In order to avoid being a Socialist country, America turned to Economic Inequality. The United States accepted Economic Inequality because of the belief that capitalism can’t work without it. Economic Inequality creates the gap that separates the Rich from the poor based off of the wages one gets from their occupation. As Economic Inequality helped the United

What is wealth inequality? “It is the difference between individuals or populations in the distribution of assets, wealth or income.” [1] In sociology, the term is social stratification and refers to “a system of structured social inequality” [2] where the inequality might be in power, resources, social standing/class or perceived worth. In the US, where a class system exist, (as opposed to caste or estate system) your place in the class system can be determined by your personal achievements. However, the economic and social class that an individual is born into is a big indicator of the class they will end up in as an adult. [3] What are the effects of this wealth inequality in the US and what causes it as well as some possible solutions

The United Sates is considered to have the most unstable inequality in the world. In 1978 the upper class generated $48,302 dollars and in 2010 generated more than three times as much, $393,682 dollars. While the middle class generated as little change in their money from 1978 to 2010. After the crash in 2008 People became interested in the inequality in America realizing that majority of the people, the middle class and lower are in the 99% while the top class is 1%.

Today, America is considered one of the most developed and advanced country in the world. On top of everything, this promised country is well-known for its strong and effective economic free-market system. The foundation of the United States is based on the belief of freedom and equality, which is enjoyed and practiced by most of people in the “Country of Liberty.” Unfortunately, the idea of equality does not apply to every citizen of the U.S. In fact, the problem of inequality in America has remained a controversial issue for centuries. Specifically, today, the gap of wealth between people in the United States is dramatically increasing. Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at UC-Berkeley states that: “Wealth inequality in exploding, constituting a direct threat to the cherished American ideals of meritocracy and opportunity.” Wealth inequality is undoubtedly the biggest problem the American society is facing.

Wealth inequality is rooted in the American idea of capitalism because capitalism is creating a name for yourself and making the most money you can, capitalism also includes the fact you can do whatever you want with the money you acquired. Krugman talks about how capitalism created wealth inequality when he says, “…‘capitalism,' in which the commanding heights of the economy are controlled not by talented individuals but by family dynasties…” (Krugman). If generations ago your family was one of the first families in America and became exceedingly rich off of trade or land you probably still have a large majority of their money. Because we live in a capitalistic world people can choose to spend every single penny they have, or give their money

Income inequality has affected American citizens ever since the American Dream came to existence. The American Dream is centered around the concept of working hard and earning enough money to support a family, own a home, send children to college, and invest for retirement. Economic gains in income are one of the only possible ways to achieve enough wealth to fulfill the dream. Unfortunately, many people cannot achieve this dream due to low income. Income inequality refers to the uneven distribution of income and wealth between the social classes of American citizens. The United States has often experienced a rise in inequality as the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, increasing the unstable gap between the two classes. The

Social inequality is defined as the unequal distribution of social and economical resources. There are unequal opportunities and rewards for different social positions and statuses within a group or society. Because there is social inequality, people have less life chances meaning less educational and occupational opportunities, which prevents movement on the social ladder. This gives authority to the rich because the rich own the means of production, giving capitalists the power to exercise it by exploiting the poor working class. An individual interest and not that of a community drive the rich. Such differences degrade and stigmatize the social class with less money and opportunities causing social stratification.

Inequalities exist an all aspects of life. The nature and result of such inequalities shapes our social as well as economic lives. As people progress through their educational life certain inequalities will result in different outcomes of schooling for different sets of people. “In post war Britain pupils from a working class background are constantly found to gain fewer academic qualifications, to be under represented in institutions of higher education and to end up in jobs offering little opportunity for social advancement'; (Brown 1987 p11). It is inequalities such as these that are present both in and out of school that will determine life chances of individuals. It is commonly accepted that education is the main