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Wealth Inequality In America Summary

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In the 21st century, the American media has portrayed the wealth inequality in the United States in a very black and white way. Poverty has become an ongoing problem and has accelerated the appalling wealth divide. In 2010, the poverty rate in the U.S. reached fifteen percent which was the highest it had reached in almost two decades. Obligations to providing equality and adequate living conditions have been removed; there is no more “moral code or ethical principle” that can be used to contradict this growing American atrocity. On one side of the spectrum there is the upper class, the esteemed one percent of the social hierarchy in our country; however, on the other side there is the desolate and extreme poor that are constantly being used …show more content…

Eviction effects many people throughout the nation, however, it is most prevalent in Milwaukee. One of the reasons this book is so compelling and is important to read is because of its ability to show the disparity between people. Desmond writes each sentence carefully. Instead of stating direct facts, he connects it to the emotions that humans feel; he discusses subject matters that are able to be understood and reacted upon, such as the emotions that carry an immense amount of weight. “It was the look of someone realizing that her family would be homeless in a matter of hours. It was something like denial giving way to the surrealism of the scene: the speed and violence of it all.” This shows that the act of eviction cuts deep into the resilience of people; it is able to be sympathised with by everyone because each person has been in a situation where they have been stripped of something. This portrayal of emotional loss is shown in many of the families and individuals’ stories; one of which is about a father. Lamar Smith is a war veteran and a father of two with amputations to both legs due to frostbite due to being homeless during the winters. This particular part in the book shows the devastation that stems from poverty. It is important to understand that this wealth divide is created within these living conditions and …show more content…

Although the themes in the book illustrate a crucial problem within one of America's poorest cities, they only depict a minimal look at the ideology behind class, poverty, and socioeconomic issues from colonial times to present day. The reason it is so important is because it connects to a large concept which is how money has not only shaped U.S. history, but has influenced civilization as a whole from its beginning. One example of how class and poverty has impacted society over the past decades and centuries can be clearly seen through the American Revolutionary War. During this time, the wealth gap grew. Wealthy citizens’ sons would most likely be given the position of a colonel or captain in the army, in return making several times the amount of what an infantry unit would make. This again highlight even today with the ever looming concept of privilege and the advantage it gives to certain groups of people. Families that have a higher income and are - in most cases - able to provide better education to their children which leads to ceaseless rise among the economic food chain. Whereas families that struggle to obtain a stable income often cannot afford to send their children to higher educational institutions. Consequently, our society enters a domino effect where the rich continue to prosper and the poor continue to suffer. There are countless other examples of how this critical topic is rooted

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