Inequality In Today's Socioeconomic System

Income inequality is on the rise and it is evident in most cities throughout the United States. There are individuals with six to seven figure incomes and then there are individuals whose income is just enough to get by. The middle class is not as prominent as the upper and lower class. This should be the other way around. There should not be so many cities with very wealthy neighborhoods right next door to low class, rundown neighborhoods, with little middle class households. Digging deeper, 47.6% of the money in the United States belongs to individuals that receive $98,200 or more (“Distribution of U.S. family income”, 101). The middle class should be much more noticeable with the upper and lower

Social inequality stems from many facets of life and mindsets reproduced continuously in America. The main backbone of systematic inequality is formed off of race, gender and class, which all contain crucial aspects that further oppress those subjected to inequality in various aspects of life. The resources-schools, occupations, invested parents- around one fuels the opportunity in their lives, a concept highlighted by Malcom Gladwell, in his book, Outliers. Situations one are brought up in or uncontrollable genetic aspects can very easily restrain their opportunities. Racial discrimination, gender roles and inferiority and the lack of fluidity in the low and working class push inequality, which simultaneously influencing the rich and privileged.

Imagine living in a world that consistently devalues your existence and is heavily populated with individuals who are quick to use and abuse your resources, but are slow to share the wealth that is accumulated from those resources. How would you feel? Unfortunately, certain populations do not have to visualize the disparity that is pictured above. This is because inequity is one of the most demoralizing social issues that plague America today. The worst thing about inequity is the fact that it continues to disproportionately burden individuals who are categorize as being minority in today’s society.

Despite beliefs to the contrary, the increasing disparity in real wealth between white and black Americans during the past half century shows that the economic system is unjust. Considering factors such as less intergenerational inheritance, higher unemployment and lower incomes serve as key components in economic disparity. Disparity can be viewed as a systematic design to keep a specific group of people continually oppressed through a mixture of inequality, injustice and power. When there is an inequality that is also an injustice (Wright, 2009).

In all economies, in all times, and in all places, there has been inequality. Sometimes it has been in the form of forced and immobile classes and sometimes the disparities have been the result of forces outside of the population’s control. There have been those who conquered and those who were conquered. History documents early civilizations organizing class systems within each new civilization. It is human nature to organize in this way. There have always been those who have more and those who have less. Yet, that does not make it okay for those suffering in our lower classes. It does not make it okay for those forced into this lower class who are unable to rise above it. The attitude toward those in the lower classes can be improved upon. There are many who believe that there are “plenty of jobs available for poor people, that government programs breed dependency and that most poor people would prefer to stay on welfare” (Lauter). The standard of living needs to be raised so that the impoverished people in America continue to be richer than those

Everyone should have equal opportunities regardless of their social class and income. In his article, “Confronting Inequality” Paul Krugman, a professor

Social inequality stems from many facets of life and mindsets reproduced continuously in America. The main backbone of systematic inequality is formed off of race, gender and class, which all contain crucial aspects that further oppress those subjected to inequality in various aspects of life. The resources-schools, occupations, invested parents- around one fuels the opportunity in their lives, a concept highlighted by Malcom Gladwell, in his book, Outliers. Situations one are brought up in or uncontrollable genetic aspects can very easily restrain their opportunities. Racial discrimination, gender roles and inferiority and the lack of fluidity in the low and working class push inequality, which simultaneously influencing the rich and privileged.

Social inequality can practically be made apparent at any moment of someone’s life – whether at work or school amongst peers or simply watching the news in the morning. According to Dalton Conley, social inequality is narrowly defined as “a condition in which a difference in wealth, power, prestige, or status based on nonnatural conventions exist” (2017 p.241). Moreover, social inequality is a process whereby society can determine how a class of people is expected to coexist within predetermined social, political, and economic boundaries. The affected class will live within the predefined constraints, and the affected class will then pass the predefined constraints on to future generations. It is imperative to understand that social inequality is a result of social stratification, which according to

Inequality is a problem that has had an effect on the United States for many years. Although throughout the years the severity of inequality has fluctuated, it has increased greatly within the past two decades. There are many factors that could have influenced this increase. Some of the factors include technology and deindustrialization.

(1) The question of economic and social mobility is important to the question of inequality because less economic and social mobility is an indicator of inequality. Unequal access to resources for children in their formative years, affordable higher education, private business ownership, and inheritances all perpetuate weak economic and social mobility.

Income Inequality is a tough policy issue to tackle and relate to the texts the class has been assigned to read. This particular policy issue is rather difficult to give insight on because income inequality is widespread and immense, yet most of Washington and mainstream America will not address this critical matter in question that is happening all over the country. Beliefs are blinding the majority of America when it comes to how money is distributed throughout the social classes and minorities in this nation. Americans have a distorted view of how unequal the pay gap is between the top 20% and the bottom 40%, according to Nicholas Fitz (2015). For instance, in the first study done by Michael Dorton and Dan Ariely, 5,000 Americans guessed that the richest 20% own 59% of the wealth and the bottom 40% own 9% of the wealth (Fitz. 2015). Consequently, the actual statistics are that the top 20% own more than 84% of the wealth, whereas the bottom 40% own a scarce amount of the wealth of 0.3% (Fitz.2015). Elitist view of power, also, is another term that relates to this issue of income inequality due to how government in this country, with regards to how only a few people with power actually know economically, what is happening in America, leaving the majority of American citizens in the dark about how money flows and how discrimination of minorities is hindering their ability to earn livable wages (Fitz.2015). The Federal Poverty Level which is based on the amount of income

A gap in income leads to many socio- economic differences that are clearly visible all around us. Those who are financially well off enjoying a multitude of privileges that the underprivileged do not enjoy. Among some of the privileges are a better standard of living, better healthcare, better education as well as power and prestige. It is then obvious, why most people long to be in the higher income group. The established belief is that anyone with merit can climb the social ladder to a better standard of living. But the question we must ask is: is that possible for everyone? Is the ideology of equal opportunity for all, entirely true? The point is that lower

Income inequality has been a major issue in American history. There are many different factors that contribute to inequality. These include education, wealth, discrimination, ability, and monopoly power.

The 21-st century is characterized by the continuous economic downfall. The relationship between race, class and gender should be evaluated to identify the life chances of people to improve their relative position in our socially stratified world. The increased rates of unemployment, homelessness and poverty show that our society requires implementing a transformative approach to reduce social stratification. The term social stratification is applied to identify and asses different forms of inequality that exist in the US society. Patricia H Collins suggests, “while a piece of the oppressor may be planted deep within each of us, we each have the choice of accepting that piece or challenging it as part of the 'true focus of revolutionary change'” (p. 680). Inequality has become a universal feature of our society; therefore, it exists everywhere and concerns race, class, and gender as the key categories of society.

Society holds many structures that mould human performance and produce opportunities for some, but inequalities for others (Morrall, 2009). These structures in society are organized by the hierarchies of class, ethnicity and gender (Crossman, 2016). Due to having a society based on hierarchies, social inequalities are inevitable. Social inequality refers to the ways in which a group or individual of a certain social position may receive unequal opportunities or distribution of ‘goods’ such as education, income, living conditions and healthcare (Walker, 2009). These unequal opportunities may be given to someone because of their ethnicity, gender, income, religion or social class (Walker, 2009). For example, people in a high social class will be able to pay for their children to go to a good private school for a good education, whereas lower-class or working class people will struggle to afford the same education.