Kyle Stickler
Susan Farley
English 103
31 August 2015
Equality for all
Income inequality in America has been a major issue for years. We can see the uneven distribution by comparing one of the world’s wealthiest man in Bill Gates to the average person. He has made over 50 billion dollars in his lifetime. Comparing him to the average person who makes 37 thousand dollars a year. Although, unemployment rate has decreased in the U.S, the gap between rich and poor in this country has dramatically increased. There are many contributions to the gap, such as different education levels among citizens, living conditions, taxes, difference between salaries, and more. Income inequality in the U.S needs to be addressed. This horrible problem in our country
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He saw a capitalist society where there was terrible inequality. A small amount of people possessed a high percentage of all the money and income. What this did was create an enormous poor underclass. In America, about 5% of the people possess 95% of the wealth. This leads to certain problems, foremost among them poverty and income equality. All of this eventually leads to the problem of lack of spending in an economy. Although the top five percent has all the money in the world they still proceed not to spend much of it. This leads to a lack of circulation of money. The wealthy and the middle class need to spend their money to keep money circulating throughout our economy. The economy will continue to suffer if nothing …show more content…
Carnegie is a millionaire who wants to put an end to income inequality. He believes a person's fortune should not be passed down because it will ruin their work ethic. He thinks the top one percent of the economy should share their money. Although, he would never give to an indiscriminate charity because he believes they are not worthy and lazy. He would give his money away to high social purposes who need it. To him creating public endowments, culture, and higher learning was for the best. The only problem I have with the rich giving out money is that they get to put it where they want. Meaning in other words they are most likely not going to help get rid of income inequality and most likely share it with people that will later benefit them. No one should trust the top percent to circulate their money in a way to help the people. Some may inherit the fortune and not be educated enough to put the money in the right hands. I see where Carnegie is coming from but in no way is it logical. The answer to ending income inequality shouldn’t solely be given to the
He seems to say that if everyone had equal amounts of income that there would be no incentive to produce quality work or have a good work ethic. Carnegie shows this by saying that the contrast between the wealthy and the laborer is “essential for the progress of the race”(Carnegie 451). The law of competition means that better quality products come from competition because you have constantly improve to be the best. Competition between companies and laborers forces everyone continually work hard. Carnegie thinks that it is in the best interest of the race to give the wealth to a few because it is better to help many for years to come than equally divided among people to be wasted.
Income Inequality in America is a problem that’s been going on for decades, and many feel that it hardly exists, the many people that feel that way are highly uneducated, and seem to not really care about this tremendous problem that in one’s eyes really has no end in the near future, in fact it has been gradually rising and one feels that it’s just not fair. Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done, only of course if the poor class of people decide to actually educate themselves and get a higher education. One says poor class, simply because that’s how they’re classified. There are five types of levels that Americans are classified as, and they are: 1. Upper Class, 2. Upper Middle Class, 3. Middle Class, 4. Working Class, 5. Poor.
He believes that the poor cannot be simply given things, for if a man is given fish, they are fed for a day, but if that man is taught how to fish, they will be fed for a lifetime. The only way for the poor to become productive members of society is to provide them the chance to succeed.
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) is a prime example of the phrase, from rags to riches. During his early and teenage years, Carnegie went through poverty. After coming up with crafty investments and going through various jobs, he rose to great prosperity. Because he has experienced poverty and knows that it is a well-known problem, “Carnegie sought to use philanthropy to provide opportunities for individuals to help themselves.” Unlike Carnegie, William Graham Sumner (1840-1910), an influential professor at Yale University, believed that those who were rich deserve to be rich and those who were poor deserved to be poor. He was in favor of economic inequality and believed that helping those who are less fortunate would bring down the society. This paper examines the differences between Andrew Carnegie and William Graham Sumner’s point of view on the issue of rich and poor and whether the two classes should coexist or remain unequal.
There are different opinions towards inequality, some people are accepting of it while others dislike the whole idea of inequality. Is it okay to let the wealthy have more control than the poor? Should their ideas matter more than the non-wealthy? And most importantly should the poor be okay with this, if not what must they do? In “Gospel of Wealth” by Andrew Carnegie and “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx, both Carnegie and Marx expose their thoughts behind inequality and its traits. They both focus and touch upon the poor (proletarians) and the rich (bourgeoisie). They bring up the pros and cons about inequality, capitalism, and communism. Inequality was in Carnegie 's view. In his opinion progress required the processes of competition. Making capitalism an engine of progress. Carnegie believed that there is good to inequality while Marx begs to differ. Marx had his own view on capitalism, he believed that it would eventually result disastrous. Marx believed communism was the best solution to keep both the proletarians and bourgeoisie in an equal place. Both of these socialists have much to say about capitalism and communism and also for economic inequality. They both share different points of view, neither wrong or right. Their opinions are based towards their life experiences and this essay will be noting the differences between they share on inequality, the means of production, and capitalism.
The United States is often viewed as a wealthy and stable country, but as shown in 2011, “the richest fifth of American households received about 51.1 percent of total income, while the poorest fifth received about 3.2 percent” (McConnell). There are many sources of income inequality that effect poverty in the United States and the role that discrimination plays in reducing and increasing wages for different people and how the people of the United States are affected by it.
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
The problem of income inequality is one that is very prevalent in this time in America. The disparity of wealth in this country is very vast and a growing problem. These problems of income inequality are taking away peoples aspect human dignity, this is a major moral issue because everyone is entitled to human dignity and when it is taken away from them that is moral wrong. Additionally this is an issue in which the Church is very involved in. Additionally President Obama in his State of the Union Address back in January also made note of the problems in the nation with regards to income inequality and the minimum wage. The United States Catholic Conference
society, the idea of income inequality is a frequent topic of argument. Many believe that a large income inequality distribution has a negative effect on a society, while others feel that it has very minor, nonexistent, or even positive effect. Some of the factors that affect the income inequality in the United States are low minimum wages, education, and discrimination of race and gender. The swelling income inequality gap in the United States has created numerous social, health, and human capital problems. There is a ton of information to digest regarding who the majority of money is split between and who is actually benefitting from it. There are numerous factors that affect the income inequality and the data associated with the results of it are rather
Income inequality has been a progressively growing issue in the United States, even today. The problem dates back all the way to the Great Depression, although some researchers tend to think that it is older than that. The difference between the wealth of higher-income families and lower-income families has become a great issue. Many people, including our government, think that they know how they can fix it. They have tried time and time again to come up with solutions, yet we are still facing the same obstacle that we were almost one hundred years ago. The effects that this dilemma is setting forth for our United States’ economy, environment, and even our education is repulsing.
The United States of America is vastly known for their rugged individualism. That is, the fascination with the belief that hard work and the free market will allow an individual to rise to the top. Since many of us were small children, we were told by our parents to pursue a college education, and once that is done, then our lives will fall into place.
Income inequality in the United States has been increasing gradually as from the 20th century where there was economic stability. It is estimated that around a quarter of the American worker population receives not more than $10 in an hour. Through this condition, it creates an income that is below what the federal poverty level demands. Those who receive low income include the fast food employees, cashiers, nurse's aides and many more. Other individuals get good payments which are above $10 per hour. Wealth inequality in America is quite common as there are those who are the major economic block and those who can’t afford even the three meals in a day. The social issues that income and wealth inequality might cause in the United States include poverty, household debts becoming high, high crime rates, no health insurance for the low-income families, high mobility rates, high crime rates and school dropouts.
“The Gospel of Wealth” was written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889. Carnegie used the essay to “argue that individual capitalists were duty bound to play a broader cultural and social role and thus improve the world,” though there were those that disagreed with him, writing their own share of essays in response and creating a lively debate (History Matters 1). Carnegie, unlike his peers, believed that it was the responsibility of the newly formed upper class, consisting of those who had made their own fortunes, to engage in acts of philanthropy. He believed that the best way to deal with the wealth inequality that resulted from their creation of their own fortunes was to redistribute their wealth in a manner that was not only responsible, but beneficial to all.
The hot topic of inequality is a widespread issue within the United States and many other countries alike. The gap appears to be continually expanding between the extremely wealthy and the extremely impoverished. The author states that, “To really grasp the essential meaning of economic inequality requires examining how income is measured in relation to demographic changes, geographic differences, and shifting fortunes over the life course” (Gilbert 11). Determining exactly how inequality works, and is measured, becomes very difficult when considering all that plays into a viable resolution. In addition, the diverse differences that exist for income expenditures from state to state play a major role. For example, “...when regional price differences
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.