This week and next week we are reading The Iron Heel, which talks a lot about economic classes and class antagonism.
For simplicity's sake, there are usually three economic classes: poor, middle, and upper classes. One definition of middle class is this:
Based on 2010 census data, the middle class would be the sixty percent of Americans with household incomes from $28,636 to $79,040 a year.
In America, the number of poor are increasing. The middle class is getting smaller as more people fall from middle to working class. And it is increasingly difficult for poor people in America to climb up from poverty to middle and upper classes.
Workers and the shrinking middle class in America work more with fewer days of leave, less maternity leave, and fewer days of paid vacation compared to others around the world. Click on these images for a better picture of the emerging situation in the US:
At the same time, the wealthy are fewer and getting richer. CEO pay keeps going up while worker pay stays about the same.
The gap between the wealthy and the working class is getting bigger -- while many citizens keep imagining that it is not, as this video shows:
Some people, however, see an increasing conflict between the classes -- as these graphs from Pew Research show.
What do you think? Are there classes in America? Is the gap between the classes too large -- is there too much inequality? If you think that gap is too large, what should be done to close the gap between the wealthiest and the poorest? Or, is the gap between the wealthy and the poor just about right? Should our policies aim to keep the wealthy wealthy and the poor poor? Are there any potential political problems of high levels of inequality?
I believe there are classes in America, but more than just three. For example, I think there is a difference between people who work and are "poor", and people who do not work and are "poor". The working poor are at least trying to better their lives, while most nonworking poor take advantage of the welfare systems. This creates a major gap between the poor, middle, and rich classes. Most poor remain poor because they decide to live off of welfare programs instead of using them as a rebuilding tool for their lives, as Bill Clinton once said. It's not only the people, but the policies that allow for the gap to increase.
ReplyDeleteOne of the problems with the class system today is that many middle class citizens are slowly dropping into the poor category. This is bad for one main reason, they are the backbone of this country. The middle class pays for the welfare programs the poor use. At times the middle class can even be taxed at a higher rate than the rich, because the rich know ways around taxes. With the middle class dwindling at a fast pace, it makes the gap seem even bigger.
The smallest, but most wealthy class is continuing to be rich for all sorts of different reasons. One way is that they continue to own or have some sort of ownership in major companies. Some way or another, someone worked to achieve this goal, so if they continue to benefit for it they should not be punished. Some would say that our policies are to blame for this, and the growing class gap, and I would agree. With the way our social welfare policy is set up, the poor will continue to be poor, the middle class will shrink, and the rich will grow wealthier.
There has been and there always will be political problems, especially when it comes to inequality. The poor class will continue to side with whoever will offer them the best welfare programs, the middle class will want lower taxes, and the rich will want no more taxes. In the end, the world will always have poverty. Poverty and the other classes have been around just as long as the first tiny settlement was created.
Austin Cline PSCI 100.04
Austin,
DeleteI deeply agree with all of the points you made about the different classes in America. I specifically like your point about how the "poor class" remains poor because they tend to abuse the welfare programs instead of helping them get back up on their feet. Your conclusion also was very strong and I, too agree that their will always be political problems when it comes to the different classes due to the unequal treatment each receives.
Great insight,
Shelby Pendergraft PSCI 100.04
I do believe that there are classes in America, and that the gap between those classes is astoundingly unequal. However, I don't think it is something that can really be helped by government involvment. I believe that circumstances, personal drive, oportunities etc. all play just as big a role in establishing class in America as the government's policies do. I also agree with Austin (above comment), about people taking advantage of welfare, and also that a major problem in America is the fact that many middle class people are slipping into the poor catagory. Yet, I feel that if our governemt today "helped" the poor more it would lead to more things like welfare, (which is not a bad thing, at all, if one is actually in need of it)that could be taken advantage of. I think that instead more opportunities need to be offered to those in the "poor class" especially for those that are actually trying to climb their way back up to, at least, the middle class. As for the wealthy, I certainly don't think they deserve special treatment, but nor do they deserve to be extremely taxed. I believe wholeheartedly that there are some wealthy who worked hard to get where they are, and they derserve to be respected for that, but not exempted from tall hings they were once responsible for as poor or middle class men. Complete class equality is not a plausable idea, it simpky does not exist. HOwever, I think fairness is a more attianable goal, even if it may seem far off. The wealthy pay their fair share of taxes and are not treated as special, the middle class is not overly taxed to pay for the poor class' welfare and such, and those in the poor class (that actually are trying to make it better for themselves) are offered opportunities that will help them rise back to the middle class.
ReplyDeleteChloe Powers PSCI 100.05
I believe there is classes in America, but I agree with Chloe Powers in that the government can't really help when it comes to class inequality. The government could try to help the working class by creating more programs like welfare, but have higher requirements before the program can help them. Many people that are in the working class abuse welfare and it should not be like that. The gap of classes I believe will always be there no matter what we try to do. The wealthy should not be heavily taxed because its unfair and they have worked hard to achieve where they are. The wealthy most likely have gotten their wealth from motivation and dedication to working hard, so that gives hope to any person even a person in the working class. A working class person may not reached the wealthy class status, but maybe makes enough to live comfortable. There is plenty of opportunities for all the social classes that could help them out, but its up to the person to use it in order to rise up in class.
DeleteKenny Romero PSCI 100.05
I believe there is class status in America. I believe there is a very large gap between the hungry poor and the ultra rich. In order to discuss inequality as an issue we would have to define inequality so I will stick with class differences. I think the gap between poor and rich is huge in many ways. Based on the information given in the rising executive pay chart and put into simple terms, capitalism for capitalism’s sake breeds greed. So the real question is: How much is enough? My perception of capitalism, the one I was taught is that rich investors/businessmen take a large percentage of their profit and invest it in their people. Now they just put it in their pocket. Things like loyalty, honor and taking care of your own come to mind. This mentality, assuming it ever existed, is lost in today’s business methods. People don’t stay in one job because there is always something better? Business owners don’t support their people through long term planning anymore because the business could go under anytime.
ReplyDeleteWRT (With Regard To) government/political problems I refer to earlier comments by my classmates. Specifically ‘there are poor on welfare and there are poor working people’ and ‘the poor working people are trying to climb up and better themselves’. Current policies, the loop holes in the policies and the abuses of the policies have allowed people to believe that a welfare state is not only okay but it is expected. So we have people on welfare who believe it is a way of life. Poor people who work don’t have to be trying to climb out. It is okay if they just want to earn their own way and pay their own bills, these people display pride and personal integrity by their actions.
There is a new category of class in America. It’s called the satisfied class. No one complains too much as long as they have the necessities, food, cloths, cell phone, car etc. So the government subsidizes the poor to keep them satisfied. At some point you have to stop caring about people who don’t try to contribute anymore.
Joe Woodburn
PSCI 100.05
I know and see in everyday life that there are classes in our country. I am quite sure that there are three; however that is not to say that there isn't more. The funny part about when I hear people talk about their lives are is that they assume no one from the lower class can rise and become something better. In my opinion I believe that statement is false. I come from a family who had nothing and all of my family now has college degrees, jobs, and on my father's side we even own a multi-million dollar business now. So when people think just because you come from nothing that doesn't mean you can't be or do whatever it is you want to in this world. In today's society I feel that people have this idea in their head that it is okay to want to do nothing in the world because people know that there will be some sort of assistance for them. The way the government has setup the welfare program is horrid in my eyes. We have actual people who are out there trying and barely getting by however we can't help them. It is really tough to see working people who are barely making it struggle. And people look down upon them because they don't have this or they don't have that and that is one reason why I feel class systems have been created amongst the people.
ReplyDeleteThe systems are completely out of whack and I feel the way that the government has been doing things these past few years is only enabling the systems to go downhill. The problem is that many middle-class working families are helping to support those on the welfare system who just don't give a damn frankly. They want to sit around and not go out or try to find a job because they believe they do not need too. I understand that there are people out there who do use welfare but are trying to get a job and better their families and for them I have the upmost respect. Another problem I see is that the richest people in this country are getting taxed less than the middle class. Someway or somehow the rich people and corporations are always able to swindle their way out of paying more taxes. And even if they did have to pay more taxes it wouldn't even affect them as much as it does the middle class. Unfortunately with the way our welfare and policies are set up, the poor will never have a chance to rise, the majority of the middle class will end up in a lower class, and in the end the rich will always stay just as rich as they have always been. Our country will always continue to suffer until things are changed, the class system will always be around because there is no way that our country would ever have the population of people be in the same class.
-Cassiana Roby PSCI 100.04
I am in complete agreement with what Cassiana has written.
DeleteI'm currently the first one (besides my dad's sister and my mom's brother - not sure about my one cousin since I don't hear much about her college days anymore) that is going to college. Not to mention, I'm 20 years old and I STILL don't have a job no matter how much I have tried over the past 4 years. I find it a bit difficult for this to change, since most if not all job applications are online (and when you're supposed to call the place you applied to you honestly have no idea what phone number to call since it is not given most of the time). I can't rely on applications anymore for this reason.
This shows another way how the systems are crazybad.
-Jessica Ott, PSCI100:05
I do believe that there are social and economical classes in America. But i only see two, the Rich and the Poor. There's no longer an in between or "middle" class. And I also believe that it's almost impossible to bridge the gap between the classes. Our current economy is setup for either major success or failure. The presidents and CEO's of companies are getting paid an enormous amount of money while the people who are doing all of their work are barely getting pair a dime. The jobs in this country that pay the most either require multiple degrees, and in many cases the people who aren't in the "rich" class can not afford to get a degree non the less multiple degrees. I believe that the only way to really attempt to bridge the gap is to lower the costs of a college education. If all people had an equal education then the gap could be bridged but until then taxes are our only hope. But i don't believe that its fair to tax someone who works for their money simply to give it to someone who isn't willing to work.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hussam, the middle class has nearly disappeared. A lot of status comes from connections in today's society. For example, having a friend who works for a company is a HUGE advantage. Since most places don't hire as frequently anymore, they almost always prefer a reference as opposed to interviewing random applicants from the street. Another example, just to add onto Hussam's point regarding CEO's: Professional athletes are paid a ridiculous amount of money for essentially just being an entertainer. I don’t argue that they are talented, but getting several million dollars a year for playing a sport is completely unbalanced when you have people struggling to feed their families that work 10x as hard. I personally do not have any viable solutions to bridge the gap between the rich and poor, but I can most certainly identify that there is a severe social issue in regards to finances.
Delete-William Slifer, PSCI 100.04
This issue came up in my intro to sociology class a few semesters ago. I think that there are a break down of multiple classes. There are the working poor, as Austine said, those that are working yet just are not able to make the ends meet up all the time. These are the unrepresented underemployed. There are also the unemployed - those that for whatever reason have been laid off or are out of work. There are the disabled - and in our current country this number is increasing. There is still a middle class. There are also the upper middle class and lower middle class - most of all of these have a college degree or caught a lucky break. Then you have the upper class. And finally the 1% or those that are highest on the economic ratio controlling much of the money and government with their monetary influence. I think that with education this gap could be bridged some as Hussam stated however in this day and time education does not mean everything. A bachelors degree is quickly becoming equal to what a high school diploma used to be and a masters degree is about as influential as a bachelors degree used to be. This is a scary and anxious realization for many college aged students as we work so hard to obtain a degree that frankly wont be worth much whenever we graduate.
ReplyDeleteJordan Clark
PSCI 100.05
I strongly agree with Jordan that there are multiple levels and a high complexity to what we consider poor and rich. Also, we enforce that education is the key to a better life and could possibly lessen the gap between classes and in some cases this is true, but I do believe that an undergraduate degree isn't enough in today's society. Many graduates that don't continue education cant obtain a job that is relevant to their degree.
ReplyDeleteKaitlin Drake PSCI 100:04
There are many classes in America, they need to be re-evaluated to show the true middle class, as I think it is much lower than before. The whole American Dream is about moving up the classes and the right and freedom to become wealthy. Most will never make it but there is no real limitation to the wealth you can make. Taking away the classes and making everyone even isn’t right, I work hard for what I have. I may not have Trumps money but I have more than those in poverty. I work to better myself, the opportunity I have to be better pushes me. To equalize the playing field would remove all need to work. Why bust my ass 50 hours a week, working a full time job MWF and 12 credit a semester TR at school if I can sit back and wait for the government to “equally distribute” the wealth? There is the need to stop the influence money has over our government. Money buys politicians, the same ones who lie to our “lower income” faces that they are working for us. Then you see bailouts for the richest, bailouts for those who made poor financial decisions that the American Lower classes have to repay through higher taxes. Higher taxes that those bought politicians “loop hole” ways that the rich can bypass. Our Government needs to be controlled not the people.
ReplyDeleteThe separations of the classes are fairly large but there is nothing that can be done to fix it because the people staffing our government are the problem. These people spend their time keeping more money in their pockets than going to help the citizens of their states even and until our our government is staffed by people who care more about our country than themselves. Even if they start by not funding wars that are not entirely necessary because our country needs to fix itself before the rest of the world.
ReplyDelete-- Jessica Fry PSCI 100.04
There are definitely classes in America today. As we grow older, we recognize the different classes in everyday life. We walk down the street in D.C and see people in business suits and think to ourselves: “That person must have a high paying job.” But take the other side as well. We can see a person lying on the street and we immediately distinguish that person from the person dressed in the suit. I believe there is a gap between classes. As the rich get richer, the middle and lower classes are struggling to make way in today’s society. I have heard people talking about taxing the rich more and more, but would that solve anything? Taxing the rich wouldn’t benefit the other classes at all, unless our government uses that tax money towards the lower classes. If more opportunities were given, the gap between classes should shrink. If we don’t take advantage of our opportunities, than we will gain nothing and keep the status that we currently hold in society. Our policies should aim to give equality to everyone. But on the other hand, just because people are rich, that doesn’t mean we should punish them for that. Most people in those cases have worked their way to the top. High levels of inequality could definitely cause problems in the near future. Since the labor market, taxes, and education are linked to inequality, politics could either hinder or amend the process of creating equality. But as inequality grows, it affects society, which leads to affecting countries.
ReplyDelete[Matthew Tark: PSCI 100.04]
I think that there are many classes in America but no one wants to classify themselves as anything but the middle class. The reason i see it this way is because people dont want to look poor and others don't want to look really rich. I think the way America is set up it will be hard to change any gaps that we have because if people are constantly hitting on rich people that are bosses and all that set wages the rich wont let it affect them as much. I see it all the time in business if you make a company spend more money on something they either lower wages, let people go, or not issue a raise that year. I mean every business wants to prosper so they dont want to keep handing out money to gov programs that help people who dont want to help themselves. Then some people who use gov programs really do need the help if they are truly disabled or if their main source of income we have unemployment. Its to hard to separate the ones who really need help and the ones who are just to lazy or they dont try to make something of themselves. I think drug test should be a requirement to get gov help. I have to take a drug test to make my money why shouldn't people on welfare have to.
ReplyDelete--Jeffrey Martin PSCI 100.04
I do believe that there are classes in America and the gap between these classes are rapidly increasing. I believe it will be very hard to close the gap between the wealthy and the poor because the wealthy would rather help themselves than help the less fortunate. I understand that some poor people take advantage of the welfare programs instead of finding a way to get back on their own two feet, but we can't generalize and say that all poor people take advantage of the system. I agree with Jordan that obtaining a college degree won't be worth much in the years to come, but sometimes having a diploma from a accredited four year college will guide you in the right path. It may not be the path you thought of after graduating from college, but its a start. For example, a friend of mine that just has her high school diploma has been working for the same people for over 15 years. My friend would be an excellent director but because she doesn't have a college degree is stuck with a part time job as a janitor.
ReplyDelete--Keani Chinn
PSCI 100.05
Significant divides between economic classes is clearly evident in the United States. In addition, the data clearly show that the gap between the classes are increasing. The question should not be whether there are significant gaps between the classes but whether the current class conditions are an acceptable consequence of having a democratic capitalistic system.
ReplyDeleteOne such consequence includes the wealthiest becoming the only citizens capable of running for governmental positions (due to the current need for incredible wealth to run viable campaigns), which in turn produces public policy that favors the acquisition of wealth by the wealthy while neglecting, for the most part, the needs for societal improvement. With a society as large as the United States, and an economic system such as hours, class distinctions are going to inevitably occur. This in my opinion creates a necessary and ethically prudent need for welfare programs and policy that equally benefits all people, rather than an elite class. This does not translate to 'distribution of wealth', or penalties for success. In my opinion, the democratic capitalistic society must evolve in policy rather than adhere strictly to the historical rules and 'manners' of its definition.
If the current trends continue in regards to the three classes, the ideals of democracy within our system would increasingly decrease and the threat of aristocracy become more threatening.
Severin Condon PSCI 100.05
In my opinion there are classes in America. The gap between the upper class and middle/lower class have a huge gap in comparison. I believe the wealthy who are CEO's and have other high rank positions should not get higher wages while the lower level employees should get raises. This can slowly help with closing the gap between the classes. The middle/low classes will never shift classes and move up, if they are not given higher pay opportunities like executives or CEO's.
ReplyDeleteKendall Dozier PSCI. 100.04
There is no question of whether there are classes in America, it can be seen everyday. The gap between the 3 major classes is huge but more so between the wealthy and the middle class and it continues to grow. the ability to bridge that gap is growing more dismal. The wealthy continue to get richer while the middle and poor class continue to lose jobs. Even with a higher education, in today's society it has become difficult to find a job for many fields. There is a problem with the classes in America but with 1% of the nations people controlling the most of the country's economy it is unlikely that there will be a change.
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious to me that there are classes in America. It's also obvious to me that our system is set up to keep the rich rich or keep the poor poor. I don't necessarily have a solution to this problem-whether to raise taxes for the rich, or to stop allowing the poor to live off the government. I do believe though that a solution would be found much more quickly if people who ran for office weren't all high middle to upper class individuals. Why would a rich guy in Washington want to pass a law that's going to affect his pay negatively? The biggest problem with high levels of inequality is that it leads to an unhappy country very quickly. One that is no longer docile and fat and entertained. So, what does an unhappy country do? Revolt.
ReplyDeleteCassandra Nipe
PSCI100.05
I believe that there are classes in America. There are the poor, lower middle class, the upper middle class and the rich. I believe that there is not too much inequality. If someone has the desire to get rich, then there are other ways to do it instead of working for one person who give you horrible pay. The gap may be too large between the wealthiest and the poorest people. But that doesn’t mean there should be a cap on what the wealthiest people should make or how much taxes they should pay. I believe that everyone should pay the same percentage of taxes out of their own paycheck. We should keep the wealthy wealthy because they worked hard to become rich. We are not keeping the poor poor because this is America. This is the country where anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it. If someone desires to be rich they will get up, think and work hard to become who they want to be. Getting rich may take some time and hard work. But what is wrong with hard work? Only the people who absolutely cannot work should get handouts from the government. Furthermore if it were harder to get government help, then people would be out doing their best by working and doing what the rich people did to become more wealthy. The wealthy should not work hard for others who take handouts and not work there hardest.
ReplyDelete-Blake Hoffman
PSCI 100.05
I do believe there are classes in America, and I do believe the gap between the extreme of both sides is very large. However, I don’t have a concrete answer on how the gap should be shortened. I don’t believe in redistribution of wealth; so I would suggest tax breaks and the use of Trickle down Theory. Even though I find the amount of money some CEO’s get paid to be atrocious, I don’t believe anyone should have the right to tell them they make too much money and thus must pay higher taxes. I believe there should be tax breaks for all, the rich have more money to create jobs, the poor/middle class work at these jobs, and everyone has more money now, so everyone spends more and stimulate the economy. I don’t believe our policies should focus on keeping the wealthy wealthy and the poor poor, I believe everyone has a chance of turning their lives around and becoming successful. In the future, possibly the near future, I could see potential political problems because of the class indifference.
ReplyDeleteMatt Santmier
PSCI 100.05
I Believe that there are obvious classes in america. People in america are getting poorer and the middle class is starting to become more scarce. The poor class is becoming much larger and it is a going to be harder to get back up to the class that they were in or to even get up to the rich class. the gap between the rich and the poor is becoming much larger and with the possible loss of the middle class the gap will be even larger. I believe that we should lower the taxes on the poor and put more taxes on the rich to close that gap.
ReplyDeleteHeather Brown
PSCI 100:04
I believe that there are classes in America. We see it by the way that people dress, talk, and their dispositions. We also see class differences from the jobs and cars. I believe that the middle class is dying out, and more and more people are going into poverty. Switching from class to class will be more difficult going up in the chain rather than going down, degressing. The gap between the rich and poor is so large, but the gap from the poor and middle class isnt much of a difference. The government is trying to impose taxes on a certain class, so this proves that there really are class differences in America.
ReplyDeletekatlyn frund
psci100.05
I believe there are different classes in America although I do not believe that at this point government can do anything to fix or change that fact. The gap between "poor" and "wealthy" is enormous, but I do feel that there are different ways that people who are in these classes became the way they are. Many of these ways are by personal achievements and personal losses. Others may have been due to government funding, decisions, etc. Even though this is the case, there is not a one answer that can do anything to change the classes in America and create 100% equality in the nation. In a perfect world, classes wouldn't exist and everyone would be in the same "class." Unfortunately, that is not the case. Class is defined by the amount of money one makes. The amount of money one makes is defined by the job he or she has. Not everyone is able to acquire a high salary career, therefore are making less money and automatically placed in a lower class. This subject is one that is unable to be changed in America today.
ReplyDeleteOlivia Amorati
PSCI 100.04
The only way that the government can close the gaps between the different economic classes, i think, is to remove the capitalist system that is currently in place and regulate everything to make all financial opportunities equal. However, this would be impossible to do without upsetting the population. People already feel as if the government has too strong a hold on their lives, and stripping them of the opportunity to financially surpass their neighbor would be seen as stripping away their freedom.
ReplyDeletestephon hummer PSCI 100.04
I do believe there many classes in the united states. Upper, middle and lower class. The gap between these classes is pretty big. As shown in the video, a small percentage of the people control most of the wealth. One of the reasons why I think this happens is because there is a conformist attitude that makes this gap between the poor and the rich increase. This is also seen in education. People are conformed with a mediocre education and don't push themselves to learn more. This makes the masses so easy to manipulate as opposed to the smaller more educated percentage of people who control most of the wealth. I believe that if the masses were more concerned in their economic status they would educate themselves more in order to fight back. In America this is easier since K-12 is free and the government provides grants and loans for higher education. This is how rich people got to where they are right now, by investing money on their education. Why can't everyone else do this when there are many opportunities in this country.
ReplyDeleteFernando Velez
PSCI 100.04
There are definitely classes in America. The middle class is shrinking at an alarming rate but, I'm not sure there is one sure thing that will fix it.
ReplyDeleteAs we talked about in class, the minimum wage in America, working 40 hours a week, is not enough to pay for rent ANYWHERE in America. During the huge growth in America in the early 1900s, people like Henry Ford paid his employees wages that allowed them to purchase the items they built. This is what America was built on.
In countries like Australia, minimum wage is raised every year, and is not equal all over the country because cost of living in places like Sydney, is completely different than places like Melbourne.
I think these two ideas could start to get us back on the right track. Employers paying their employees livable wages and minimum wage being raised dependent on where you live.
-Michael Skaggs PSCI 100:04
There is no denying that there are classes of wealth in the United States, or rather, in the world. When there is difference in any way among people, we have this habit of separating into our own groups of those similar in these aspects. Therefore, the existence of financial classes is imminent unless we all made the same amount of money and the same amount of assets. This isn't possible to remedy, even in the ever so feared socialist government. I do feel that there is so much more we could do to aid the poor, and help tighten the gaps between people. I feel if we as a people made efforts to aid the poor, we would be an overall stronger public of people. However, all the conjectures that we have found that could be the answer for the poor require sacrifice by the wealthy. These options have been proposed and denied many times, and likely will never end up being agreed on by those who hold the power. In the state of mind that the American public currently resides, no one will hear something that requires them to give up their own means. Therefore, it seems the poor will stay poor until the unlikely chance that those who can help agree on a plan to do so.
ReplyDelete-Adam Jordan PSCI 100.04
I strongly agree that there are classes in America. There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor, and it is only getting larger. However, I do not think that there is anything that can fix this gap. I believe there are ways to close the gap a little but not enough to make a difference. I think individuals also have a huge role in what class they fall in. Education comes into play in todays society, a person with a high education such as a masters degree is obviously going to make more money and get a better job than a person with an undergraduate degree. Todays society is very competitive and it takes hard work and a good education to be successful. So if anyone has a way to lessen the gap between the rich and poor it is individuals themselves.
ReplyDelete-Georgia Karr PSCI 100.04
Yes, there are classes in the United States, and while the middle class still exists in my opinion, it has become much poorer, and the upper class is too separated from the rest of society. The line graph of Rising Executive Pay is a powerful illustration of the injustice that big CEO's have perpetuated in recent years. Of course they deserve to reap the rewards of their hard work and success, but I think there should be more regulation to make sure the 1% is handling their money fairly and legally, since we know many very wealthy Americans find ways to skip out on taxes. We should always work towards making higher education available to more individuals without compromising the quality of our education institutions which would hopefully help dig the middle class out of the hole, and yes minimum wage should be more of a living wage as we discussed in class Wednesday. Sure people take advantage of the welfare system but it is a good thing. If possible, more provision in programs like welfare would help the government's budget, but the wealthy's tax money would probably help considerably as well.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are classes in the United States, and while the middle class still exists in my opinion, it has become much poorer, and the upper class is too separated from the rest of society. The line graph of Rising Executive Pay is a powerful illustration of the injustice that big CEO's have perpetuated in recent years. Of course they deserve to reap the rewards of their hard work and success, but I think there should be more regulation to make sure the 1% is handling their money fairly and legally, since we know many very wealthy Americans find ways to skip out on taxes. We should always work towards making higher education available to more individuals without compromising the quality of our education institutions which would hopefully help dig the middle class out of the hole, and yes minimum wage should be more of a living wage as we discussed in class Wednesday. Sure people take advantage of the welfare system but it is a good thing. If possible, more provision in programs like welfare would help the government's budget, but the wealthy's tax money would probably help considerably as well.
Delete-Emily Jones PSCI 100.4
Judging by the rate of growth in the gap of wealth between classes in the United States, I would say thing will be abysmal for the lower end at some point. Possibly back to the late 19th century when the rich owned most of the businesses(if not all) and the poor were mostly at their mercy in order to feed their families and survive. Every system tends to go this direction at some point and fall apart.
ReplyDeleteNathan Lewellyn PSCI 100.4
I get what everyone is saying there but becoming rich doesn’t always require hard work and determination. There are people out there that have worked really hard and became very successful and rich, there are also people out their that were born with a silver spoon in their mouth and did nothing to get rich, just simply lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family. There are also people on reality tv shows, such as “Jersey Shore” that are rich and all they had to do was get drunk, act like idiots, and sleep with a lot of people to become successful. So if that is considered hard work, then I am doing something wrong, I guess. ;)
ReplyDeleteI have an uncle that has a Bachelors Degree and also served this country for almost 30 years, was a chief in the Navy, he has worked his butt off since he was 14 years old and now at almost 70 years old has nothing. So even people that have worked their butts off their whole life can still get knocked down.
You can’t put all people that get “handouts” in the same category. Yes their may be people just taking a smooth ride off the state but there are people out there to get the assistance they need to get on their feet and get ahead in life. I am a single mother of four little guys and if I didn't get the assistance that I receive then I wouldn't have this opportunity to be going to school right now. Some people do not have their parents that pay their way through college, so when making statements like that, take all cases into consideration. In fact according to the WV Works program in the Department of Health Human and Resources, the majority of the people getting “handouts” are young mothers (in some cases fathers) that have been abandoned by their significant other; and the majority of those young mothers or fathers are only in the program for the 3-5 years while they are working hard to get through school to get a degree, and raising children at the same time.
On another note, I am sure there are some that abuse the system to get what they want but DHHR is a pretty strict place. I know that people think that DHHR just hands out money, but there is a lot of bs that you have to go through and all kinds of information they need and a lot of proof of your living situation as well. They also make people either work or volunteer at charities, churches, schools and whatnot and I believe it is about 40 hours a week. So its not like you just walk into DHHR and you are granted 500 bucks of foods stamps and Medicaid. ;)
I don’t really know how to answer any of the questions logically, or statistically, I feel that in some cases it is just a matter of luck, honestly. I think the gap may stay where it is for a while, maybe some of these “poor” people getting handouts will make a change and bridge the gap. I don’t know just a thought. ;)
N.Francesconi 100.04