Essay about The Extinction of the American Middle Class

In other words, America has a widening gap between its wealthy and poor. As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, there is a problem emerging: the disappearance of the middle class. Low-wage workers continue to fall behind those who make higher wages, and this only widens the gap between the two. There has been an economic boom in the United States, which has made the country more prosperous than it has ever been. That prosperity does not reach all people; it seems to only favor the rich. Rising economic segregation has taken away many opportunities for the poor to rise in America today. The poor may find that the economic boom has increased their income; however, as their income increase so does the prices they must for their living expenses (Dreier, Mollenkopf, & Swanstrom 19).

On Christmas Eve in 2010, my grandmother received a gift from a hospice nurse who was assisting with my grandfather’s deteriorating health. Initially both surprised and embarrassed by the gesture, her emotions quickly changed once she removed the wrapping. A single package of Ramen Noodles was revealed. Embarrassment changed to confusion as she attempted to wrap her mind around what she had received. The hospice worker drove a 1997 Plymouth Voyager that she regularly complained about not being able to run properly for more than a week. She wore old worn out clothing and my grandmother claims she had never seen the woman wear jewelry before. It was evident that she was not wealthy. Although she could not afford a gift, the nurse in her

Today increasingly American are trying to get better jobs to have and give a better quality for them and their families. That is why poor people go to college or schools to get skills that qualify them to do so to improve their conditions of life. And then changing status socio-economic from poor to middle class. As indicated by the meanings of US social classes announced in 2014 the working-class wage run from 30,000 to 350,000 yearly being separated in lower, middle, and upper working class individually that relate to a 78.5 of the populace. Despite what many would state that the white-collar class is vanishing.It is somewhat unsure if yes or no and that could be wrangled as demonstrated by everybody: The American, working class, is winning because there are components that show the opposite is guessing(Harsanyi)such as more income, better quality of life and gaining economy.

In Robert Reich documentary “Inequality for All” he makes a compelling discussion about the serious crises that the United States faces due the widening economic gap. He looks to raise awareness of the U.S. economic gap between the rich and poor. According to Reich the widening divide in America is real and growing. Income levels at the middle and labor class is stagnant and are at it’s lowest levels compared to upper class incomes since the beginning of WWII and is growing wider each year. Reich suggests that the economy runs more smoothly when the middle class has jobs with fair wages, when unions are strong, and when middle class workers have some extra money to spend if possible when the government uses the tax policy properly and when it raises the minimum wage regularly to control the income gap between labor and management. In other words Reich argues that economically healthy middle and labor class equality is the foundation of a thriving economy and is necessary to maintaining a sound national infrastructure and educational system within

Debt in America now has grown to be at the highest it has been compared to the decades before. People now spend tremendous about of money now then they have many years prior. Many people today have borrowed money that they can not seem to pay back, which debt begins to accumulate and may cause distress in many lives. Basically now there is no one preserving their own money, they’re are just spending their hard earned money. Elizabeth Warren, formerly a U.S. senator and also a teacher, addresses the middle class in her essay called “the vanishing middle class”. There are abundant of good ideas that she states in her essay. Elizabeth Warren is very effective in her argument because of three concepts that stand out the most were having high incomes but at a price, savings and debt, how different we use our money now compared with how we have in the past.

The middle class is currently under attack due to changes in the sheer size of the middle class and number of manufacturing costs the middle class is shrinking. According to (Marvin 4) in the last two decades the amount of service jobs was around 18-20 million during the same 20 year period it went from 74 to 114 million people in service jobs. This is due to three things according to (Marvin 4) “ (1) Stagnating or declining real wages; (2) disproportionate growth in low-wage jobs; and (3) a decline in jobs that pay middle-class wages.” This amount of people going from high paying jobs to these low-income service jobs is clearly an issue. With so many companies sending the manufacturing overseas this is creating a lower demand for manufacturing jobs in the United States. The middle class is being flushed out sticky

According to the authors stated the African American middle class increases size, this group stays in the country. The author had interviewed other people information that the middle class as divided based on the social category and wealthy. The African American different from each other. According to the community, family income size, there is middle class and 75%. The national average college degree is 12% but the Groveland is 20% had this shown as slight differences and unclear. This neighborhood achieved and improve they are equal to most of those groups with which they will be competing with others.

In the previous 20 years, the middle class population has shrunk drastically mostly as an aftereffect of past political

From the perspective of middle and the wealthier classes of Americans, the United States society has a “Structural-Functional” (Macionis, p.12) approach of the current classes’ social structures that promotes solidarity and stability. This “sociological perspective” (Macionis, p.34) holds true for most of American social classes, except the lower middle class and lower class. These particular classes can provide evidence of a “Social-Conflict” (Macionis, p.13) perspective of an array of inequality of social and economic gain. Examples of these inequalities can be displayed in our society through social, educational, and economic standards.

Two important factors that determine a workers' income, regardless of their class, are their race and gender. Minority groups as well as women are less likely to receive an income they deserve, regardless of the job. They are seen as less educated and less capable of doing certain jobs, and they are restricted in advancing and achieving a more suitable income. Only the top capitalists, white males, are receiving the bulk of the nation's income revenue and all the benefits that come along with it. They are the richest people of the United States and instead of being taxed like everyone else, they are allowed even more lee-way. "There is a solution to this problem that will save small farms and businesses, eliminate the ‘death tax' for all Americans and still preserve the integrity of the federal budget: Tax the net worth of the very richest Americans on a regular basis during their lifetime" (Eitzen & Leedham pg. 40). The already rich continue to earn more and more money with their jobs, and they are not being taxed in proportion to their income. They have gotten away with accumulating more of the nation's wealth, while others struggle to make it in life.

This article discussing how the new tax cut plan that has been put in place under Donald Trump’s presidency will help the middle class. While this sounds like great news, it does not mean it will benefit everyone equally. The tax plan will most likely benefit the upper class with more tax cuts than the middle class and lower corporate taxes will benefit investors more than workers. Nonetheless, the middle class will benefit from these tax cuts because it will result in higher pay for many Americans, leading them to increase their spending. This means that a “typical” family will also find that they won’t have to pay as much in taxes this year. These tax cuts could also result in higher before-tax incomes for families. This might come from competition

In 1939, Norbert Elias a historian argued that in the shift from medieval to modern popular culture was quashed by an industrial middle class creating a veneer of cultural consensus, but also the roots of class conflict. (Class notes) The emergence of the middle class aspired to minimize crime and violence and desired a comprehensive system of law and order. Prior to the emergence of the middle class, specifically throughout the early modern world in Britain there lied an immense gap between the upper and the working classes of society. The division enabled the upper classes to oppress the working class to maintain hegemony. Argo, the emergence of the middle class threatened both the upper classes power and financial security. Contextually, the social and economic climate of the Georgian and Victorian era was

At this time, the descendant of Mathew Maule, Holgrave, lives with Hepzibah in the decrepit mansion. However, unlike Hepzibah, Maule is healthy and thriving during the industrialization. With the social change of the nineteenth century, Maule is given the opportunity to become more than the past would have ever allowed his ancestors, “[who were] generally poverty-stricken; always plebeian and obscure; working with unsuccessful diligence at handicrafts” (Hawthorne 15). In Colonel Pyncheon’s time, the Maule family was in the poor “plebian” class and easily erasable by the Colonel. Now Maule not only lives in the Pyncheon mansion but is prospering better than Hepzibah. Holgrave’s occupation is also different from his ancestor’s carpentry work. He is a daguerreotypist; the first profession to successfully create photographs. Melanie Archer, author of Class Formation in Nineteenth-century America: The Case of the Middle Class, states that “in the nineteenth century…The development of the middle class is rooted in the transformation of class and occupational structure” (3). Holgrave’s profession coincides with his and the emerging middle class’s progressive personalities and drive. Hawthorne utilizes the Maule family to contrast the aristocratic notions, to demonstrate the ever evolving America within the Maule family and to illustrate that, “the middle class comprised not only a significant segment of the nineteenth-century urban population, but that it was influential in

Due to the advancement of technology, middle class jobs are decreasing. This is leaving the middle class at risk for falling into poverty. There has been a climb in the low and high skill level occupations. If this continues, many will be forced to work

reform was mounted by an alliance that brought together wealthy industrialists and other members of the upper class, but moved beyond to well-educated members of the middle class, as well as middle class voters. Reformers aimed to break down the political organization that thrived on immigrant votes and claimed to break down the corrupt government that thrived on the public’s purse. Concerns about political corruption were closely connected to the rising fear of immigrants notably, the “Great Unwashed”. They wanted to make local government more efficient and accountable for the tastes and preferences of the middle class.