Pros And Cons Of Inequality In America

Education still remains the institution that indorses equality of opportunities in America society as the textbook explains. Even though education diminishes inequality among individuals with different backgrounds, inequality still exists in the sense that not everyone who graduates from high school has the same opportunity to attend college. Individuals born into wealthy family will have more opportunities in attending college compared to someone born to a poor family. Although, opportunities are more limited in America, having education will compensate those that do well in school by rewarding them with life opportunities. Social class, race, and gender play a major role for education success, experiences, and outcomes.

Years ago, the United States of America was the prime example of prosperity and opportunity. In recent years, in the worst recession since the Great Depression, unemployment and interest rates have skyrocketed. The “American Dream” is an idea that was once a commonly accepted ideology in this country. It has since become only a fallacy. The “American Dream” is no longer an attainable idea, only a fantasy. The “American Dream” is not a true dream that will ever be equally attainable by everyone.

“The United States is a nation where people are supposed to be able to rise above their origins. Those who want to succeed, it is believed, can do so through hard work and solid effort.” (Andersen, pg 1) If this was only true we would live in a world in which we would all prosper based on how hard we work. The truth of the matter is that income inequality and institutional classism were simply built into the sheer fabric of this nation. Income inequality has affected many in the United States. For many the American Dream is simply that a dream.

Poverty in the United States is defined as a social problem. As outlined in the text, a social problem is “a condition that undermines the well-being of some or all members of a society and is usually a matter of public controversy”. It is easy to see that there is a large economic divide in the United States, but with only a small percentage of people in the highest income stratification and the vast majority struggling to get by, the majority of United States citizens agree that there is too much power in too few rich people. The “American dream”, the idea that if you work hard you will be rewarded accordingly, is a increasingly inadequate theme of the past. Today, average people who work hard have been struggling to provide for

The American Dream is the idea that any American can raise their socioeconomic status through hard work . However, for many Americans, that dream has become impossible. Due to economic hardship, many Americans are struggling to simply provide food for their families. Upward mobility seems elusive. Despite the fact that some believe the American Dream is still a reality, due to poor education, unemployment, economic downturn, and economic inequality the American Dream has become unattainable for most lower and middle class Americans.

First, the increased income inequality in the United States is due to increasing problematic issues in the education sector. Education plays an increasingly vital part in the economic success in the United States as technological transformations and globalizations increase. A weakening middle class leads to decreased improvements in the education system, while a stronger middle class leads to increased

In America after World War two, citizens were split between classes based on their economic stability. Americans today still look at these classes and defines these people as better off or worse off than the next person. Why do people judge others for having less money than them? Why do employers send lower class citizen away when they need the money the most? These are some question that citizens in the lower or lower middle class have when they are looking at their position in America’s economic system. Research shows that lower class citizens face more hardships to better their lives than those who are more stable.

“The American Dream” is advertised as being the act of a person having an idea, goal, or as the saying suggests, a dream, and then them spending time, energy, and money to make it come true. However, if you haven’t realized it yet, there’s a reason they call it a dream because it hardly becomes a reality. More and more people are realizing this so called “dream” is nothing but a hoax, and that the promises America assures and guarantees such as equal opportunity and equal success are nothing but pure manipulation. Furthermore, the American dream no longer stands by the virtue of discrimination and prejudice, overwhelming debt, and failed establishments.

In 1970, the top fifth of all families had incomes that averaged 223 percent of the national average, while the bottom fifth had incomes of 28 percent of the average. From 1946 to 1960, the difference in inequality did not change much, but from 1960 to 1968 there was a slight decline. On the contrary, between 1968 and 1970 the opposite had happen. To further explain the little difference in Income Inequality from the mid 1940’s to the present, a series of numbers and percentages will be used, but only the salaries made throughout the years are the only difference, it’s obvious that the gap between the rich and the poor keeps increasing. The salaries of course are going to be different due to the minimum wages increasing as time goes by, due to the higher cost of living. That does not mean that the Poor Class is living better, in fact, if anything, the Poor Class is having a harder time surviving due to the increased cost of living, yes the salaries rise, but not to the extent to keep up with the cost of living. It’s almost as if a poor person would have to work at more than one job in order to be able to survive, and in most cases that’s not even enough, depending on the situation that a person is in, family size, debt, etc. Due to those circumstances, if a person is working more than one job, then that will limit that person’s time to actually educate themselves at a higher education institution, and that will lead to yet another highly uneducated American

The American Dream has had people working and fighting to achieve the guidelines of “success” that society has created. The ideals in which equal opportunity and freedom are for everybody and success is possible to obtain if one works hard for it. American writer and historian, James Truslow Adams, stated, “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability and achievement.” (Clark, par 1). Is it possible to achieve or are we just holding on to an illusion and simply wanting economic stability? Equal opportunity to reach success is claimed to be for everybody, but how true can it be when social economic status has an advantage or disadvantage depending on

Income inequality has been seen throughout different societies. It has always been separated with the poor on bottom and the rich on top. Most societies in past and present have had little to no movement between the separations of classes. The reality for the poor in most of those societies is that they can almost never get to the level and quality of life of the rich. America compared to other societies in our past and present is a society that strongly believes in the idea of “The American Dream”. The American Dream gives hope to some people below the rich that they can someday be as prosperous as the rich if they work hard enough for it and show that they are capable. This idea implies that it is possible for anyone whether the person is middle or low class. It is not possible for low-income workers in America to move to the upper class because they lack the resources for better jobs, they are racially or ethnically discriminated in the workforce and the upper class takes most of the income in the US.

The American Dream is a fantasy that has not come true for the millions that are toiling in the system hoping to get a piece of the wealth which America so liberally shares with its rich upper class. Mansions, expensive cars, a happy family and of course lots of money. These images adorn the minds of the less privileged of this nation.

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.

Many years ago today, the United States of America was the prime example of prosperity and opportunity. It established America with the idea that its citizens would be guaranteed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Today, it is true that people have liberties and are free to pursue happiness. However, in recent years, in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Unemployment, growing economy inequality, and medical care have skyrocketed. Despite the odds, the American Dream is still a goal that many people strive for and hope to reach. In fact, an essay written by Brandon King, The American Dream: Dead, Alive or on Hold? He says, “the American dream is a dream in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with the opportunity for each according to his/her ability and achievement…” (King 610-611). Therefore, the problem with the American Dream lies not within the dream itself, but within the means people pursue to attain this dream.

In chapter sixteen, “Social Class and Inequality” the essays show different cases in which being rich, poor, smart or middle class can affect a person. In the writings of Angela Locke in “Born Poor and Smart” (338-339) Angela summarizes her life of what it was like growing up with a poor, yet smart mother. However, in “When Shelter Feels like a Prison” (374-376) Charmion Browne writes about being poor, and living in homeless shelters. Somethings in life, are no more than learning experiences, and only you can change it.