The Rich Get Richer And Middle Class Gets Poorer

James Madison once stated inequality of the rich and poor predicament to be “evil” and believed that the government should avoid an “immoderate, and especially unmerited, accumulation of riches” (Johnston, 2016). As one of the founding fathers of our nation, James Madison had a concern about the separation between the rich and the poor. He felt the government should do what it could to avoid the separation, which one can infer that he meant for the government to tax the rich by a greater percentage, thus reducing the financial burden on the poor. A rift has always been present between the rich and the poor throughout history. Depending upon the job, the working class may or may not make enough to support a family. At this point, the

If left unchecked, the decline in the middle class will creates a larger gap between the wealthy and poor in America. If the middle class continues to dissipate, the cost of living will continue to trend in the favor of the wealthy, which will create an unprecedented level of poverty in America.

Situations like these create problems and make it hard for all people to move up in society, which is something that Alger does not point out. For years, many people continue to work hard in order to one day to reach the upper class. However, for most of us making high amounts of six figures or better is really a dream and never shapes into reality.

Middle-class workers can no longer compete for the those positions of high rank as the education becomes too expensive and too strenuous, therefore they must maintain their current position or risk falling victim to poverty. Following generations are further affected by such a cycle; those born into wealth inherit the private property, but those who are born into the low-income family have less opportunity to overcome the existing gap.

The higher class individuals have more opportunity because of their wealth. They are able to pay their education funds and pay their way through the system. Whereas, lower class people have a difficult advantage because they don’t have enough money to fulfil their dreams. According to Semuels, “the distribution of that growth is more unequal, and more benefits are accuring to those at the top. Those at the bottom, are not able to achieve as big a share as they once did.” The economy is growing, so wealth is an important factor to achieve in America. Wealth is a major key to making through life in America. If they are born into wealth, most likely they will continue the legacy. Seldomly, the individual will

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

It can be said that money is power in the United States, and this is brought out in the essay, “Class in America---2012” written by Gregory Mantsios. He says that even though many Americans do not like to discuss class, “it can determine where people live, who their friends are, how well they are educated, and what they do for a living” (Mantsios). Many Americans do not speak about class type, and most find it unacceptable (Mantsios). Unfortunately, we can see that there are laws that are built to help and better the wealthy, while it cripples the rest of us. According to the Economic Policy Institute, “The richest twenty percent of Americans hold nearly ninety percent of the total household wealth in this county” (Institute) Gregory Mantsios without reserve describes the majority of people are at a disadvantage in their social class, while the upper class is compensated.

In Edward McClelland’s essay “RIP, the Middle Class: 1946-2013,” McClelland discusses to his audience that the middle class is slowly vanishing and soon enough we will only be left with the rich and the poor. Throughout the essay, McClelland uses various examples to demonstrate how the middle class will no longer exist. McClelland talks about how education is vital for pursuing a job at a reasonable pay that a person can live off of. Before, people were able to leave high school and go straight into a job with a pay that could support them. Nowadays, the same jobs that were supporting people before require a lot more education and still aren’t giving enough money that will allow them to live comfortably. Even though there are still jobs people can thrive at that will make more money without a serious education , the middle class is struggling to make it economically, because it is harder to find a job without education and financially it’s harder to make ends meet.

Nowadays, the middle class is shrinking, while majority of people are either moving into the lower or upper classes. This is due to the major economic and policy changes that have occurred throughout the past thirty years. Based on the Basic Economy Security Tables, one in four full-time working-age adults are not earning enough income to meet economic needs for themselves or their families. This is a serious problem in America today, the fact that the median income today is six hundred dollars less than it was in 1989 is proof of this epidemic. It is much harder now, than ever, to work your way into the middle class, much less stay there. The percentage income growth since 1967 for the top 5 percent of earners is 88%, top 20 percent of earners grew 70%, and middle-income households only grew 20%. (Camp) In simpler terms, the upper classes income has increased tremendously, while middle-income households have seen very little growth in their income. Since the middle class is not receiving any income growth, it is declining and moving towards the lower class. It is not nearly as easy as it was thirty years ago to get a decent job and make

On top of it all the rich seem to get richer, spending their money on bigger houses, better cars, always trying to out do each other while the middle class continues to struggle. Paul Krugman describes this very well by saying,

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

This could possibly make them lose the ones they love and even have the wealth person put in jail. This could ruin their chances at a normal life, it could make then lose their fortune, some of their personal belongings could possibly be taken away from them. Some wealth people let the money get to their head and they end up doing idiotic things with it. Other percent of wealth people who handle their money seriously can go far with it. They may open a business with the fortune can start their line of products. Middle-class people can go a long way too. Some may decide to go to college and start something new of their own. They could end up in trouble just like all the other classes do. Lower-class would have a hard time starting most things up. They do not have the nicest cars, clothing, etc. They will do anything they can so they can provide for their families. Seems like our society looks down on the lower-class because they do not have all nice things. This ruins chances of them getting good jobs or going to college to get to the good jobs. It is a hard time when you are living pay check to pay

An important factor in the creation of inequality is variation in individuals’ access to education (Becker, et. Al, 2007). According to Bosworth et. Al, (1999) education in a field that requires or demand a high number of workers, creates high wages for those with advance education. As a result, those who are unable to afford good quality education or choose not to participate in schools or colleges, generally receive much lower wages and thus it lowers aggregate savings and investment. In particular, the increase in family income and wealth

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 the article “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%” Joseph Stiglitz, a noble prize winning economist, argues that the upper 1% controls about 40% of all wealth in America. This top 1% has taken about a quarter of all income in America, and has seen their income rise about 18% in the past decade. This has made the inequality between classes in the US expand. Eventually, this inequality gap will even hurt the top 1%, because the other 99% will either fight for a bigger piece or just stop working all together. The top 1% can buy anything they need, but their fate realizes on the other 99% to work hard and not fight back. If the 99% stopped working, there would be a simple way to gain back money… that would be to raise taxes on the rich. However, the rich get rich by capital gains, which have a low tax policy. So overall, the upper percent can eventually learn, but a majority of the time it is too little too late.