American Dream And Income Inequality

A cause of income inequality could be the jobs that people have. “In the United States, income inequality, or the gap between the rich and everyone else, has been growing markedly… (Income Inequality, para 1).” There have been no signs of income inequality changing for the lower classes, or getting better, therefore, it has become a very concerned issue upon Americans. “America’s top ten percent now average at least nine times as much income as the bottom 90 percent (Income Inequality, para 2).” Many people who have a big dream have jobs that pay minimum wage, which makes it hard. With the rich getting richer, it makes it hard for the lower classes to get a shot at being at the top with them. This also makes it hard to close the gap between the three classes.

The book called They Say I say with Readings contains multiple articles. However, chapter nineteen focuses on the American Dream. Chapter nineteen, “What’s Up with the American Dream?” indicates how the article will be focusing on the American Dream. The American Dream changes over the course of time as the income inequality widens between the higher and lower class. Few events occurred that affected the income, which led to a growing gap between the different classes. The income of a person depends on the education that a person possesses, which can affect one’s income. Consequently, causing inequality between the different classes. People believe the American Dream changes over time as situations and circumstances vary. Health care is affected by the income inequality because different choices of insurances and doctors are available to those with specific incomes. The impact of the Income Inequality on the American Dream by the gap increasing between higher and lower class, education, interpretation of the American Dream over time, health care, and gender roles. Various authors from chapter nineteen and others from different resources focus on how income inequality affects the American Dream.

According to Henslin (2015), “Weber illustrates, a large group of people who rank close to one another in property, power, and prestige; according to Marx, one of two groups: capitalists who own the means of production or workers who sell their labor” This is a dynamic that should be working currently in American society. However, in the past three decades there has been a gap between the poor and the not very rich. This gap has not happened by itself. According to Reich (2015), in the movie Inequality For All, “…the all

Brandon King, a law student who majored in political science, writes on topics of inequality and political structures in the United States. One of his published works, The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?, debates his interpretation of the notion of the American Dream and whether the concept is dead, alive, or on hold. The speaker emphasizes his belief that the common phrase is still alive within America and that one must work hard in order to achieve it. When it comes to the topic of the American Dream, King will eagerly agree that the idea is still alive and thriving in the minds of Americans; however, I deem that the idea is on hold within American society due to lack of upward social position and economic mobility.

Income Inequality is a major problem that has been going on in America for decades. Many people feel that it barely exists today, but those people are very uneducated and don’t really care about the huge problem in front of them the many people that feel that way are highly uneducated, and seem to not really care about which has been gradually increasing instead of decreasing. 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: Upper Class, Upper Middle Class, Middle Class, Working Class, Poor. The highest percentage of Americans fall in the Poor department, and it has been that way for decades, and will continue to be that way for decades to come.

There has always been, and will continue to be, economic inequality. The novel shows the economic struggle and disparity between different classes, the better-off “haves” and the poorer “have-nots.” The book shows the contrast between the Mexicans and the Americans in the 1840s and between the Californians and the Midwesterners in the 1930s. The Mexicans and were, economically, better off than the poor, hungry Americans traveling west. The Californians were also better off than the Okies, who desperately needed jobs. The novel and movie feature countless labor camps and Hoovervilles filled with dispossessed migrant workers from the Midwest. There is still economic disparity between different groups. Currently, there is unequal wealth distribution in America. According to the video “Wealth Inequality in America,” eighty percent of Americans collectively have only seven percent of all the wealth in America. On

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.

Here, in the United States, the “American Dream,” is a popular belief. There is a strong relationship between hard work and success. In this perfect scenario, those who put in multiple hours are on the road to success and can move up the social ladder. Thus stating, one could be thrust into the lowest of the social status, and with some hard work, one can elevate into the world of the social elite. As a demonstration to this global view of the United States, immigrants from all over the globe have made the excursion to the “land of opportunity” in beliefs of better education, employment, government, communities, religious freedom, and lives for not only themselves but the generations that come pursuing behind them. All of this survives based on a game of social stratification – a diagram on how to successfully obtain the American dream. This observation of social class is based on many mechanisms, some of which is bestowed to people at birth, and not rewarded for hard work and dedication. The class system at play in the United States has become incredibly complex – it no longer has the fundamental class values of our forefathers. Those trying to move up in the social ladder of America are often caught replication the actions of the rich and famous, but this alone cannot make them part of the higher social class. Some think that there are simple rules to follow to climb higher into another social class ladder, but there is more to being upper class than just talking the talk or having the right identity.One way to look at class is the model developed by Janny Scott and David Leonhardt's article, “Shadowy Lines That Still Divide,” in The New York Times. They assert that “one way to think of a person’s position in society is to imagine a hand of cards. Everyone is dealt four cards, one from each suit: education, income, occupation and wealth, the four commonly used criteria for gauging class” (Scott and Leonhardt 27). While being sure on these four criteria, a basic understanding of a person’s predicted class can be made. While this model works fine for providing an elementary level of perception, it must be recognized that a person could rate well on this scale and still be in a different class than those

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.

Imagine the cool, refreshing feeling of ice-cold water colliding with the dusty, dry-caked layer of your mouth for the first time after a strenuous day of working in the heat. At your construction job, you and 89 fellow laborers worked on completing the final floor in a sixteen-story building project in Lower Manhattan. After you took a swig of water from the share of the entire worker’s cooler, you returned to the cooler for another small dixie-cup round of water, but nothing came out. Unsatisfied, you looked around for a cool libation to suppress the uncomfortable frustration that started boiling inside of you in the hot, scorching midsummer blaze. You soon found a sense of sympathy when you realized that the guy behind you in line did not even get a single drop of water. In fact, out of the 90 workers, less than one-third of you actually got a single cup of water. After a few moments passed and the mental and physical stress started affecting your production, you gazed off at the building adjacent to your site. You never really payed any attention to the building for the last 8 months, but your eyes started to focus in on the actions of those inside it. The only person you could discern on

The debate over whether income inequality should be an important topic in comparison to other issues that our nation faces. Income inequality an be defined as “the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population (dictionary.com).”According to the Census Bureau who reported that there has been a “rise in income inequality in America, the gap between rich and poor in New York is getting worse (CQ Researcher, pg. 991)”. Right America has one of the largest inequality gap, in comparison to India and the African nation of Burkina Faso (CQ Researcher, pg. 991)”. This debate over income inequality has been inconsistent. Some do not see an issue with the way that money is distributed, while other see this issue as a major problem that our nation faces and strategies/ policies needs to be implemented to address this issue. I

Do you think the American dream is still a concept today? If so, is it still possible to achieve this American dream? The American dream can be described as the success of life, and the goals achieved. Sometimes, these dreams can not be achieved due to obstacles. In this case, obstacles such as inequality. Many may view America has the land of opportunity and the greatest nation ever due to our vast diversity and freedom, but is this thought to be true in America itself? There has been many cases of people facing inequality in history. Examples of inequality were unequal rights against African Americans, against women, and one that is more common today is the income inequality. Inequality makes it so the people who are made to be inferior have many obstacles to face, such as racism or being degraded as humans. African Americans were slaves and women did not get equal opportunity compared to men. Although inequality may seem like a thing in the past, many still face it today. Inequality limits a person from succeeding in his or her life, and puts a great struggle upon them.

The American dream is an elusive idea for many Americans; it allows access but does not provide equal opportunity to achieve it for every American citizen and varies wildly throughout different social classes in America. Inequality plagues society throughout these social classes, providing or denying certain opportunities throughout them.

For this essay, I have read Confronting Inequality by Paul Krugman and “The American Dream: Dead, alive, or on Hold by Brandon King. Paul Krugman argues that income equality makes it impossible to live a better life (The American Dream). The rich people are getting richer; while the poor are getting poorer. Krugman talks briefly the cost of Inequality, the math of Equalization in the United States if the idea of equalization was accepted and reducing market inequality. The Cost of Inequality talks about the difference in those of lower class and higher class and references Horatio Alger.

When one thinks of the “American Dream,” notions of unconditional patriotism and pride fill their mind, as if ‘red, white, and blue’ is coursing through their veins. In this metaphorical scenario, one is so enveloped in this idea of the “American Dream,” that ‘red, white, and blue’ is siphoning oxygen and blood from their brain, and they can no longer think clearly.