Growing up in Austin, TX I did not have much experience that affected the way I view the government. It might be surprising considering that the capital of Texas is Austin and many things happen there especially things such as protest and rallies. Austin is a really good city to get involved, be known, and make changes but because of my upbringing and age I wasn 't really allowed to get involved in those kind of things. Since my family is mostly Mexican they do not really keep up with politics as much as they should. I can not remember a single time where I had a conversation about what was going on politically that wasn’t my dad. He is the only one that takes the time to watch the news daily and try to keep up with politics as much as he …show more content…
We protested downtown and it was surprising to see how many actually showed up. It was only about 20 of us protesting, but even a news reporter showed up. We later saw that somebody had shared the article from the news reporter on Facebook and reading the comments and what people from Victoria were saying was shocking to say the least. Many grown people were telling us to die and how we deserved the worst even though they did not know us or our stories. For me it was very eye opening. I have never felt as discriminated as much as I do here in Victoria and the worst part is that I feel like there is no solution to it. It made me realize that there are things even the government has no power over and will never be able to fix.
The issue I will be discussing is going to be income inequality that has been getting bigger and bigger throughout the time leading to poverty. “The GAP”, also known as income inequality, has increased greatly in the United States. Overall it’s a worldwide issue, but here in America it has become so large that it is no longer seen as an problem. There are many factors that contribute to this problem. One of these factors is, taxes. The share that the Top one percent, receives has doubled from the nineteen-twenties to twenty-sixteen. Even though, there was an economic obstacle in two-thousand-eight, the top one percent managed to get back on track
The view that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer has been heard repeatedly in reference to America’s income inequality. Though ironic, it comes as no surprise that America, a continent that easily trumps other countries in terms of wealth would be affected by the issue of poverty at such high levels. While much has said regarding the poverty levels, many economists, educators and scholars feel that the income inequality in America may be the reason why it is difficult to live and maintain a middle class lifestyle or to rise out of poverty into the middle class in the current economic state. With this in mind, the only way America, has a chance of lessening or eliminating poverty altogether is by understanding how it exists.
The main concepts of the article are describing the corporate welfare system and how it is responsible for growing economic imbalances between the poor and rich populations. The article elaborated on how we cannot ignore the issue anymore because of the substantial loss that we are facing by letting the gap grow (Huff, 1993). The article also goes into the IRS and how there are tax exemptions and deductions that people qualify for and what is allowed.
In today’s capitalist economy, where economic transactions and business in general is centered on self-interest, there is a natural tendency for some people to make more than others. That is the basis for the “American Dream,” where people, if they worked hard, could make money proportional to their effort. However, what happens when this natural occurrence grows disproportional in its allocation of wealth within a society? The resulting issue becomes income inequality. Where a small portion of the population, own the majority of the wealth and the majority of the population own only a fraction of what the rich own. This prominent issue has always been the subject of social tension
No matter which country you would look into whether it’s from wealthier to those less wealthy countries through the eyes of economics, there are bound to be types of inequity within their borders. Inequity is a very crucial problem in the United States, you would think that our economy here in the states is booming, and the citizens are living life easy or without worry. Life is the United States isn’t as it seems, in fact, Inequity is in fact a big problem even in the United States. Over the years, there has been millions of Americans that were considered to be in poor or in poverty line that are not able to provide for themselves and their families. We can sadly see those Americans on the streets, cars or shelters unable to keep-ends meet that are not able to keep a decent paying job. That is why throughout this paper I’ll be discussing why inequity is a big issue in the United States from how income is distributed through causes of income inequality, social status, and even how the government interventions is trying to alleviate income inequity.
This first lecture gave us a close look into the unequal share of wealth and the factors that determine the wealth of individuals in the American society. One of the first factors that affect immensely the inequality in America is the obsessiveness of wanting to classify people and make them mark a box for their gender, race and class. Where men and whites have more privileges than any other person and are not only paid higher, but would most likely spend less time in prison for committing the same crime as an African American. The United states is so unequal that the top 1% of the population has 38.1% of the wealth and the bottom 40% which is a little less than half of the people living in America only have 0.2% of the wealth. And as if that statistic alone was not scary enough, we learn in this
Income inequality is one of the greatest problems facing the United States today. It is important for everyone to understand what this means and why this is a problem.
Edin and Skinner begin their article by explaining to their readers that income inequality is a prevalent and complex problem in America today. The authors also point out that although President Obama and several other Democrats have proposed legislative approaches, such as raising the minimum wage and taxing the rich, to combat this problem, it will take a long time for these proposals to become law due to the Republican-dominated Congress. Because the authors believe these laws will take too long to be put into
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
Although the themes in the book illustrate a crucial problem within one of America's poorest cities, they only depict a minimal look at the ideology behind class, poverty, and socioeconomic issues from colonial times to present day. The reason it is so important is because it connects to a large concept which is how money has not only shaped U.S. history, but has influenced civilization as a whole from its beginning. One example of how class and poverty has impacted society over the past decades and centuries can be clearly seen through the American Revolutionary War. During this time, the wealth gap grew. Wealthy citizens’ sons would most likely be given the position of a colonel or captain in the army, in return making several times the amount of what an infantry unit would make. This again highlight even today with the ever looming concept of privilege and the advantage it gives to certain groups of people. Families that have a higher income and are - in most cases - able to provide better education to their children which leads to ceaseless rise among the economic food chain. Whereas families that struggle to obtain a stable income often cannot afford to send their children to higher educational institutions. Consequently, our society enters a domino effect where the rich continue to prosper and the poor continue to suffer. There are countless other examples of how this critical topic is rooted
The author provides great detail in each rhetorical category and causes the reader to associate on a personal level. While connecting the audience with the message Ms. Lepore also causes the reader to feel a deep-seated responsibility to be part of the solution. She delivers a broad overview of statistical data from many sources to lend credibility to her position. Jill Lepore uses a very logical approach to show the reader there is a large income inequality gap in the U.S. The author shows there is a direct correlation between the inequality of income and the inequality of
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.
Income inequality has been a rising problem in the United States for the past few decades. One of the main issues surrounding this years is election, especially for the Democratic candidates is income inequality and how to address it. Public opinion on income inequality and the government’s role in changing it can easily shape how the election turns out this year which can make great differences to the lives of American’s for years to come.
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
A major social problem in America today is its inequality of the distribution of income. "Income inequality refers to the gap between the rich and the poor. The United States has the most unequal income distribution in the industrialized world, and it is growing at a faster rate than any other industrialized country" (Eitzen & Leedham, pg. 37). The main reason as to why income is distributed so unequally is because of the gap between social classes.
All through high school one always wonders why certain courses have to be taken. Thinking certain courses are a waste of one’s time and how it takes 12 years just to receive a diploma. Sounds crazy to think half of one’s life is spent in school preparing to receive a better understanding of education. During graduation, walking through the stage makes one along other proud and accomplished of all the efforts that took place. This not only helps one become more educated and aware of the things going around them, but helps become financially stable with a job or other necessities in life. Therefore, high school should be mandatory for students at least till there are 18, and not to drop-out.