The Importance Of Economic Inequality In The United States

Living in a society that does not help its people to live comfortably and provide facilities for them to achieve their demands, is harmful. One of these harmful affections is “social inequality” in each diverse society. Social inequality occurs when resources in each society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. The United States contains one of the most common social inequalities for its population and that is “social stratification and mobility” and the government should strictly investigate this social inequality for people who are living in the United States.

A deafening and persistent roar reverberates against the glass walls, around the stone columns and through the rows of American flags, which billow above the financial hub of the United States. A sea of tens of thousands of American citizens begins below the iconic black and white sign that reads “Wall St”, and extends beyond the end of the block, filling each and every square inch of space in-between. Over and over again, in unison, they chant “We are the ninety-nine percent!” and collectively form a voice that is heard not just throughout the stock exchange, or the city of New York, but throughout the entire country and the world. Occupy Wall Street was a movement that brought together members of the “99%” — the bottom ninety-nine

The United States is often viewed as a wealthy and stable country, but as shown in 2011, “the richest fifth of American households received about 51.1 percent of total income, while the poorest fifth received about 3.2 percent” (McConnell). There are many sources of income inequality that effect poverty in the United States and the role that discrimination plays in reducing and increasing wages for different people and how the people of the United States are affected by it.

Living in a peaceful world would mean that no one (and I mean NO ONE) would go hungry or be without basic medical care; denying individuals access to food, clean water and basic medical care is both in-humane as well as ignorant. The inhumanity of denying food to individuals who cannot by no fault of their own feed themselves when we have supermarkets, refrigerators, and pantries over flowing a bounty of food. Turning away from a person who is hungry, while the US as a nations spends more on its household pets than it does in donations to local food bangs demonstrates ignorance of our understanding that perhaps the stem of violence both here and overseas could be stymied if we’d only offered not only bags of rice but a safe place to grow

The distribution of income in the United States, is a growing controversy. Far left and far right groups have distinctly differing opinions on income inequality and whether it is beneficial or detrimental to the economic growth of the nation. Mainstream politics, however, tend to be relatively devoid of discussion about the extreme wealth gap. The rising levels, factors, and opinions of income inequality as well as methods of income redistribution will be discussed.

“Inequality in the United States has prevailed on all levels, be it the justice and legal system, or the social class. This inequality is not only the basis of discrimination, but also encourages the increase in criminalization.”

One of the main topics discussed during this political science course is the political and economic inequality that has recently risen to staggering levels in the United States. Although political and economic inequality seem to be some of the most pressing issues we face today, little has been done to close the gap between the middle and upper classes. By looking at how our government and society behaves, one can see why the inequality barrier is such a difficult obstacle to overcome. Politicians may be more focused on staying in the good favor of their party than their people, but they are still elected by the majority. If more citizens took a more proactive approach to politics, social movements would be more successful and more balance would be brought to the political spectrum; however, money, powerful officials, and a general lack of interest prevent the government from maintaining a system that benefits everyone equally.

Social inequality exists in the United States through the Elite’s power to maintain their dominance in the United States capitalist system. The Elite Ruling class is made of the upper class and this class of individuals share similar ideology and are the members of the United State’s Superstructure. The Elite Ruling Class members of society are the decision and policy makers in the United States. Research and history has proven that many policies and decisions made by the Elite Ruling Class serve their own interest and promote their ideas. These decisions are the source of the inequality in the United States and it contributes to their ability to maintain their dominant status. The inequality is trickled down to the other classes through social policy and social institutions that affect our lives everyday citizens. A major example of this social inequality can be seen in the United States housing market or home ownership. A significant amount of studies, statics and data supports the evidence of social inequality within the US housing market or home ownership. The following passages will discuss social inequality in the United States as it is connected to Karl Marx’s theory of capitalism’s power and influence of the Elite Dominant i.e. the Ruling Class view as it relates to homeownership within the United States. Karl Marx’s theory however focuses mostly on economic s and the difference between upper and lower class not race. It is also important to point out that the Elite

Therefore, in order to make the American Dream achievable to everyone, income wages must increase for those in the lower class and government welfare should be provided to all Americans in order to increase the opportunity of social mobility. Though income inequality may seem as an inevitable issue that just happens to plague many Americans who choose to work in blue collar jobs, current economic inequality is more realistically the result of unfair economic policies that threaten to worsen if they are not immediately addressed. The poor conditions of the workers who work for long hours with little pay demonstrate that America is at a crucial point, and that without immediate action, the country will continue to plunge further downward into

There has been quite an increase in the level of economic inequality in the United States since the onset of the 1970s despite the fact that the country has experienced several years of stability.  This tremendous growth can be attributed to the fact that the United States is a greater supporter of free market capitalism which as a result has led to the consistency in its higher rates of economic inequality as compared to the rest of the developed nations. The country’s support for free market capitalism is evident in its economic policies (Gilens 38).  There has been a "middle class “emergence where the median income levels have doubled. Economic inequality is also evident in terms of wealth. The wealth imbalance in wealth is unequal to income

The main key idea in this film is that America’s economy has nearly doubled, yet almost all of the benefits have went to the top 1%. Robert Reich touches on the growing inequality between the middle class Americans and the top 1%. He talks about how in the last 30 years America has just been getting richer and richer. Despite all the success our country has been having somehow the middle classes rates have flattened out and they are being taxed much more than the richest people in the nation. He also talks about how the average middle class citizen has some form of debt and it is continuing to grow. The reason this is happening is because people in the middle class keep digging themselves deeper into debt just to live comfortably. If America keeps heading down this same path than eventually there will be an economic crash.

When most people hear the word inequality they go directly to the issues of race and rights of the people. I myself, was one of these people and had never stopped to consider the inequality within our economy. This is a very big problem, but there are many potential solutions to bridge the gap.

The conversation about economic inequality is not one that only exists in today’s contemporary society but rather one that continued through time, evolving with the changes in different societies. From before the existence of agrarian societies through the industrial revolution and even up till today, the topic of economic inequality is one whose moral implications to the equality of all individuals has been and always will be questioned. Today, it is one of the most debated issues in the United States. Regardless of the terminology used to discuss it—economic inequality, income gap, or wealth disparities—it is heatedly conferred and everyone has an opinion on it. Is it right or wrong? Should it exist? Is it justified? Does it corrupt our

As Americans, many of us take our socioeconomic status and right of equal opportunity for granted. However, there are many who lack the resources to raise their economic status thus creating a growing wealth gap. The only way to stop this economic inequality is to have private funders advocate for these poor people. There needs to be more of a focus on the economic portion of socioeconomic because it provides the necessities of life. Therefore, inequality exists in America and the only way to stop it is by having private funders be the primary advocate for those who suffer from this inequality.

However, economic inequality is not a new concept. Miles Corak points out in his 2012 essay the importance of understanding the dynamics of inequality over multiple generations and how this shapes current and future inequality. Corak highlights the disconnect in American society between believing one has “equality of opportunity,” and as a result, social mobility and capital, versus actually having access to economic opportunity greater than that of one’s parents. The interactions between the family, the market, and the state are important in comprehending the degree of intergenerational mobility in the U.S. and why children are likely to end up in their parents’ income brackets. In particular, the United States stands out as being one of the least generationally mobile among rich countries, while inequality is both the outcome and cause of the degree to which economic status is passed between generations. In recent decades, the stagnation in earnings for the bottom percent suggests that intergenerational mobility in unlikely to increase as in the labor market, where inequality translates to political power that determines the extent to which progressive reforms can be made to public policy. For example, top-percentage communities, who gain political power as a result of our market economy, are unlikely to aid lower-income communities in quality of schooling and health care, and therefore lower income communities have less social capital and opportunity to bridge