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Inequality in Social Classes

Decent Essays

Imagine living in a society full of equality, where everyone would have the same income, house, and social class, in other words a ‘perfect’ world, free of competition, greed, classes, and more importantly inequality. Unfortunately, living in classless society falls under the category of a utopia, as long as greed exists in the heart of society, inequality and the division between classes is not going to end. As Mary Douglas once stated, “Inequality can have a bad downside, but equality, for its part, sure does get in the way of coordination.” If in today’s society, social classes is more important than race and inequality is breeding more inequality, what effects is elevating the low income class going to have on our society and our way of living, will this further shorten the gap or perhaps break the balance between social classes?
In Matthew O’Brien’s article, “RIP, American Dream? Why It’s So Hard for the Poor to Get Ahead Today,” published on June 2013 in The Atlantic, the author presents how today’s economy is based in more inequality and not equality, and how it has affected the economy’s mobility by further widening the social class gap between the people at the top incomes and the less fortunate at the lower income. Listing several issues such as the deregulation in Wall Street, globalization, and even marriage, the author illustrates how America’s top one percent has caused the widening of the economic gap between the top and the rest of society. For instance,

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