The Gap Between the Rich and the Poor in America Essay

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).

"How Economic Inequality Harms Societies." Richard Wilkinson:. TED Talks, July 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

America prides itself on being one of the most successful democratically governed counties. The idea of the American dream is that all citizens have equal civil liberties and a responsive government. However the effectiveness of democracy is being threatened by increasing inequality in the United States. “The dominant view holds that economic development and modernization are the key to the continued growth of democracy” (Snider and Faris 2001; United Nations, 2011). In the last decade especially the American Society has had significant moments of increasing equality. In 1960 the Civil Rights Movement changed how different races were viewed. Also in the 1960s the Women’s Right Movement push for equal rights between genders. Both of these

The American economy has been in a constant rise since the economic decline earlier this decade and keeps on being the vigorous beast it was amid the twentieth century. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute concluded that the income wage hole between the wealthiest and the poorest one fifth of families is altogether more extensive than it was two decades prior. The middle class has not seen the advantages of this powerful American economy. The middle-income pay has stayed level at 44,389, an assume that spoke to a 3.8% diminishing from its top in 1999. In 2005, the median income, when adjusted for price level change, really declined, a pattern that has proceeded since 2001. Since the 1970s as the salary for the wealthiest 1% of Americans has multiplied, wages for middle class families have stayed even, however this is simply in the wake of including a second household income. Even workers with college degrees, who were once viewed as first class specialist, have witnessed this wage stagnation, as income of laborers with 4-year professional education fell 5.2% when adjusted for price level change from 2000 to 2004.

My research project is going to be about how the wealth gap in America is causing a slowdown in growth for the United States. I think because there is no more middle class and most people are poor while just a very small percentage of people make alarming amounts of money that it has stopped the growth of America. Im going to try and corellate different points in time when america was growing while at the same time showing that the weakth gap was less at the time.

This paper provides insight, reasoning on the wealth disparity in the United States. After all, the social movements that have advocated over the years for equality. The wealth gap remains the same. It continues to be intertwined with politics and racism. Corporation increases the wealth disparity with their political agenda in mind. In the article, "Race, Homeownership, and wealth" by Shapiro Thomas defines wealth and income. Wealth defined as " the total value of a family’s financial resources minus all debts” (Shapiro, 2014); Income “represent the following resources earned in a particular time” (Shapiro, 2014). The two definitions have two very different meanings, but there often misused. Wealth is vague and can refer to many aspects of a person and families "total value" white income is only a particular value. Shapiro argues how “Income and wealth are often confused both in the public mind and in the social science literature” (Shapiro, 2014) Wealth and income carry an important purpose because it represents how society views a person who has wealth. An individual who obtains a significant amount of "money" it is believed because they earned a substantial amount of income. The reality is people who have wealth inherited because of their family. The majority of the one percenters are born into their wealth instead of working for it. The confusion of wealth and income creates a system that does not question individuals on the top of the social pyramid. The society

ever enjoyed and a time of great stability, the nineteen-seventies would have a far sinister outcome, with energy turmoil, stagflation, and federal policy failures that saw the decade as “the only decade other than the 1930s wherein Americans ended up poorer than they began.” [9] The economy of the nineteen-seventies experienced difficulty for a number of reasons. One of the prime reasons was the 1973 Oil Embargo, which had a very serious effect on the American economy. Another major shift to occur was a move away from government and the public sector towards the private sector. The 1970s saw a major decline in the trust of the federal government, as many Americans turned away from the public sector and began having "an unusual faith in the market.” [10] The ‘Great Inflation’ of the 1970s would lead to widespread use of credit, as Schulman points out, “The experience of the Carter years turned many Americans, previously conservative in their financial dealings, into speculators and investors. To let savings sit in a bank in the age of inflation was to lose everything.” [11] The stagflation and energy problems to plague Carter’s administration left many increasingly more frustrated with their government, which would help give rise to the New Right. As Schulman points out, “Desperate taxpayers readily accepted the New Right critique of big government and the conservative promise of low taxes and

The big story of the 1970s is all about economics. Twenty five years of broad economic expansion and prosperity came to a grinding halt in the 1970s meaning that our party was over. The result of long-term processes was the gradual decline of manufacturing in the U.S. and relation to competing manufacturing in the rest of the world. Part of this was due to American policy; after WWII, we promoted the economic growth of Japan, Germany , and South Korea and effectively subsidizing them by providing for their defense. In 1971 , Americans experienced an export trade deficit importing more goods than it exported. Moreover, the growing global competitions put American firms that

In the 60 the American economy was flourishing and rapidly growing. After the embargo the economy entered a recession as unemployment raised to 8.5 percent and inflation rose to 8.8 percent, nearly doubling itself (Stockdale, C., & A. McIntyre, D. (2011, August 12). In order to combat this President Nixon imposed a temporary import tax of 10 percent. By taxing the imports it would allow the American companies to be able to compete with the low prices of foreign goods. In return this would create more jobs for American

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,

Today, unfair treatment gradually emerging due to the rising inequality. It is no doubt that the issues which are brought by the growth inequality should be highly-regarded by the government. To be specific, there are there main challenges for the government that is produced by increasing inequality: it hinders the development of economic, it evokes political concerns, and generates the social issue.

The problem of poverty has always plagued the world, including developed countries, such as America. It is one of the main reasons that less developed countries have difficulty developing at the pace of other countries. Many different actions can cause poverty. Most people have different opinions on why poverty still exists. “Nearly equal portions of the public in advanced, emerging, and developing countries, cite the gap between the rich and the poor as a very big problem. And notably, it is the leading economic concern in the eyes of people in major economies such as China and Germany, at 42 and 39 percent, respectively, according to the new Pew Research survey. A global median of 29 percent say their government’s actions are to blame for inequality, making it the leading cause cited. People in advanced economies, in particular, believe that their governments are responsible for the rich getting richer and equally culpable for the poor becoming relatively poorer. A median of 32 percent in those nations blame government, three times the percentage that cite the failings of their educational system and double the share who blame their tax system” (Stokes). Some people that are wealthy are also greedy. Although they control a large amount of wealth, they are unwilling to share it. Although it should not be the responsibility of wealthy people to support people in poverty, it would be helpful to the advancement of society. Another contributing reason that poverty exists is

Take a moment and picture a child half naked in the streets. His body has been harshly neglected. Little to no calf muscles exist. His ribs are plainly countable. One, two, three up his left side. You can do the same to his right. Malnutrition only vaguely begins to describe his condition. The worst of anorexia doesn’t even compare to this child’s inhumane state. As for shelter, he lives in a dilapidated hut. Food is a luxury, as the child may be fed only three or four times a week. He’s expected to die by the age of five due to severe malnutrition and disease. This is the grim portrait of an Ethiopian child in absolute poverty. His life doesn’t allow for the basic essentials of food, shelter, or clothing.

"The first "decline" of the U.S. economy occurred" (Dezhao, 2006) back in the 1930s during the capitalist world 's great economic

The focus of the research is on the gap between rich and poor in the United States. Especially in income inequality, how the shares are distributed among families and in what ways are the poor affected. Also, to show how the gap between the rich and poor alternated throughout the years.