So I’m curious about what you all think about those classes on inequality and power. I suspect that a lot of you have a general impression that there is a pretty extreme distribution of wealth, but I also assume that most of you also have this gut-level belief that it’s all how it should be — that people who are wealthy have earned their wealth and that a certain amount of inequality is necessary.
Let me unpack the second assumption by saying that I agree. We will always have inequality because some people will want more resources than other people and will work harder to acquire them. They will either play by the rules or they will not. Some people will always play the game unfairly…and most will get away with it.
That takes me to the first assumption and many of you probably have and it’s one that I tried to help you dig into more deeply. My struggle is never with people who work hard and do well; I struggle with people who cheat and “game” the system and give themselves and their friends and companies unfair advantages. If I am voted into a leadership position and then use my insider knowledge to give myself advantages, that to me is a problem and the scope and extent to which it occurs is something that few people understand.
In any case, I’ve been trying to give you some sociological tools that would help you to envision how this stuff happens all around us. I’m curious about what you think. What did I miss or not address? What did I get right. Here are some of the graphs and tables that I used last week: IT’S THE INEQUALITY, STUPID.
Do me a favor and read the posts of other people and then comment on their ideas…if you will.
It is very unsettling to look at the wealth distribution chart of this country. Majority of the billions of dollars this country is wealth is within the hands of less than 5%. That is a problem in my opinion. There is a social and economic struggle going on for funds and resources yet there people that are sitting on billions of dollars and don’t want to share any of it. Most of which they did not work for. I would call these people greedy; twisted in the power that comes with money that they forget to be human. Sadly for many these families wealth was not built from hard work, dedication, education or knowledge but instead was handed down or off the back so the people they oppress.
They should be no reason why people are homeless, starving, or even struggling to pay for school. We like to throw the phase around that people should pulling yourself up by your own boots straps but what if you don’t have shoes on your feet. And the very people who say this are the ones holding people down so that they can’t go anywhere.
As a person who understands the dynamics of who holds the power in this country I am upset at how people are allowed to stole, cheat and lie their way to the top. Not only do congressman and politicians do what they please and what puts more money in their pockets but so are governors. Hence the budget crisis we are currently having in Pennsylvania. We have allowed the governor to come into office and cut higher education funding. Of all the places he could have taken money from he decided to take it from schools, and for no other reason but to invest it in more state prisons.
The more and more I open my eyes to the institutionalized corruption in this country, the more and more I lost trust in human beings and the decency of the my fellow man. People are busy getting richer well others are dying and struggling to make ends meat. I just want to know when will it stop.
It is very unsettling to look at the wealth distribution chart of this country. Majority of the billions of dollars this country is wealth is within the hands of less than 5%. That is a problem in my opinion. There is a social and economic struggle going on for funds and resources yet there people that are sitting on billions of dollars and don’t want to share any of it. Most of which they did not work for. I would call these people greedy; twisted in the power that comes with money that they forget to be human. Sadly for many these families wealth was not built from hard work, dedication, education or knowledge but instead was handed down or off the back so the people they oppress.
They should be no reason why people are homeless, starving, or even struggling to pay for school. We like to throw the phase around that people should pulling yourself up by your own boots straps but what if you don’t have shoes on your feet. And the very people who say this are the ones holding people down so that they can’t go anywhere.
It is very unsettling to look at the wealth distribution chart of this country. Majority of the billions of dollars this country is wealth is within the hands of less than 5%. That is a problem in my opinion. There is a social and economic struggle going on for funds and resources yet there people that are sitting on billions of dollars and don’t want to share any of it. Most of which they did not work for. I would call these people greedy; twisted in the power that comes with money that they forget to be human. Sadly for many these families wealth was not built from hard work, dedication, education or knowledge but instead was handed down or off the back so the people they oppress.
They should be no reason why people are homeless, starving, or even struggling to pay for school. We like to throw the phase around that people should pulling yourself up by your own boots straps but what if you don’t have shoes on your feet. And the very people who say this are the ones holding people down so that they can’t go anywhere. As a person who understands the dynamics of who holds the power in this country I am upset at how people are allowed to stole, cheat and lie their way to the top. Not only do congressman and politicians do what they please and what puts more money in their pockets but so are governors. Hence the budget crisis we are currently having in Pennsylvania. We have allowed the governor to come into office and cut higher education funding. Of all the places he could have taken money from he decided to take it from schools, and for no other reason but to invest it in more state prisons.
The more and more I open my eyes to the institutionalized corruption in this country, the more and more I lost trust in human beings and the decency of the my fellow man. People are busy getting richer well others are dying and struggling to make ends meat. I just want to know when will it stop.
The wealth disparity lecture was disconcerting to me but it was not particularly surprising. Of course the wealthy want to stay wealthy and become wealthier. There is not really much that the working class can do about it. In an ideal world we could all share wealth communally, but we do not live in an ideal world and there are greedy people, dishonest people and looks out only for their own interest. I also feel that some of the elite rich believe that they deserve to have this much wealth and thus deserve their immense wealth. I honestly believe that there is little that one can actually do to deserve THAT much money. Most people do work hard in their live and are still in the poor or middle class. That is bad enough but what makes it worse are those people in those rich, high positions who make it easier for themselves to become richer and richer and keep everyone else in perpetual poverty. And of course the more money you have, the more money/power you are able to get. Just as we saw in class, the rich oil used their money/power to get tax breaks that benefit them. And with such a lack of transparency on these things it is hard for the people at the bottom of the pyramid to even understand what is going on. I really do not think that most people think this gross disparity in wealth is fair. I think that most people do not actually understand it. I know that I did not understand just how much wealth was controlled by this elite class. And you also have to be paying good attention to realize how impossible they make it for this to ever change. We just accept what is without really having in-depth knowledge on the nitty-gritty truth. There is an attitude of deserving, when one has been successful at something. I deserve this salary because I worked hard in college, I deserve this job because I rocked the interview. I deserve…….. which I think a lot of people have. But as Sam says most of it are those invisible strings. And while the elite don’t realize that they have that exact attitude, which coupled with billions of dollars is a dangerous thing.
I think that many people didn't know about the inequality because they just didn't care enough to do some simple research on their own to be informed or they are apathetic about the country because they may be doing good in this system. Not that doing good is a bad thing but people should at least know that others may be suffering also. The graphs and charts that were showed were not that surprising to me. What is even more sobering to add to those graphs is the recent news, as the economy took a turn for the worse in 2010, the pocketbooks of the Chief Executive Officers got a huge infusion of money. Just in bonuses! The average bonus for the CEOs went up 30.5% compared to bonuses from 2009. That is the largest increase from the past three years. That disgusts me beyond belief. We also hear now that banks are going to take the federal money they’ve been given by tax payer money and are going to use it to pay back TARP instead of using to give out loans to the people who gave it to them in the first place. Then they’ll parade around saying they’ve paid all the TARP back and that they are a trustworthy institution and that we should invest with them. People are afraid of big government? Corporations run the damn government. Sam did a great job of describing lobbying and how corporations “sponsor” campaigns, usually receiving a ungodly favor whether in tax breaks or loopholes made just for them. Take Dick Cheney and the specially made Halliburton loophole, that we call thank for the rampant unregulated drilling that is sweeping the nation. Money is power since the common man doesn’t have the money, he has no power. He only has the illusion of power because he casts a ballot for people that he thinks have the best interest for country and not just the elite. That is why people like Michele Bachman, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrinch and Mike Huckabee can even be mentioned for president. Ad campaigns in today’s world are more important than the content that the person speaks, the proof for that are some of crazy people that elected to represent the people.
The distribution of wealth in our country has always been skewed towards the rich and higher classes. That being said, however, in recent times that distribution has become more and more shifted their way, primarily in the last 50 to 60 years. I’ll agree that there will always be differences in wealth throughout the classes, it just seems fair that if a person is willing to work harder than another they should be rewarded for their extra effort. Where this breaks down is in modern times, where the executives and CEOs of companies make more than most of their employees combined for the whole year. This mostly arises because the rich just want more, and are in such a good position they are able to get more and more with little resistance. This means that as they are getting richer, the middle class and lower are being hit by burdens caused by this. In recent times the upper class’s margin of wealth has skyrocketed and has been increasing due to reduced taxation on the wealthy, shady business practices, and a lack of ethics and morals. The charts we saw in class illustrate this, with the upper classes getting higher and higher profits, while everyone below them have had their incomes stagnate over time. This trend has reached a point where I believe it won’t be able to support itself without major opposition from the lower classes. How long it will take for them to realize this and rise up could range from years to decades. What will be guaranteed to happen will be that there will come a place in time when the practices of the extremely wealthy will no longer be tolerated by the lower classes and extreme action will be taken to shrink the divide between all the classes, should this disturbing trend continue. It’s still hard to believe that in America, where all people are supposed to be equal, such a dramatic divide exists and segregates groups of people solely on income. The problem with the wealthy is that they can influence those people who have power, which allows them to keep their wealth through powerful friends making the laws, all the while exploiting those beneath them.
There is undeniably a large gap between the rich and poor. I'm glad that Sam at least agrees that this gap is necessary. Equality is an extremely idealistic term- sociologically speaking, there's no such thing. Neither should there be. Equality will take away competition, and therefore, quality in everything, from the job market to education. One of the points I see being repeated in comments is that those with power only use it for their own interests. So those without power aren't concerned about their own interests? Let's face it, everyone is self-absorbed. We all want to help ourselves and those we love. The rich simply have the assets to help themselves more than the poor. And to an extent, they deserve the benefits they get. If it were so easy to become a doctor, go through school for extra time, and start earning salaries like $600,000 a year, why doesn't everyone become a doctor? It's not that simple. If everyone can handle the stress, workload, and time commitment of a stock broker or hedge fund manager, then why aren't there more of them? These workers are paid because they provide a service to society that satisfies some need that can't be met easily. Even if I don't use the skills I learn in college for my profession, by going to college and studying hard, I show my determination. It also increases competition for these jobs and provides a higher level of quality in these individuals. Even if some of this comes from people in power using it to help themselves, anyone who says they wouldn't do the same is fooling themselves. We always will look out for our friends and allies, that's the way it's supposed to work. I would do everything to help my loved ones get ahead, whether I am in a position of power or not. Why do we still insist on pointing fingers at the rich? They're doing what any other person would do. I'm sure we can all live on an income much lower than what we receive. Why is it okay for us to keep the rest of the money, while it's not okay for the wealthier class?
I have a lot of problems with the way people perceive the unequality of wealth in America, but in a way I do see where some people are coming from. Of course I agree with Sam on the fact that a lot of people cheat the system whether it be by scamming people, stealing from people or other unfair practices in the corporate world. However, I also think that a lot of people feel that everyone that’s successful, unfairly aquired their status and cheated their way to the top. I also believe that people like minorities which Sam showed us have a much harder time of getting ahead have a chance to get ahead. Although it is small, it is there, but unfortunately they have to work ten times harder than everyone else to get the same position as someone who is not a minority.
Id like to use my dad as an example. He is 100% Hispanic from Colombia and he moved here when he was 8 years old. He did not speak a word of English nor did anyone else in his family. However, despite these obstacles, in high school he started working for some smaller companies working his way up the corporate ladder while supporting himself since his mom and dad had very low paying jobs. , When he got out of high school he did not go to college, rather he kept working until a few years later he opened his own company. Today he runs 5 companies, 3 of them being multi million dollar companies all by himself. This is why my outlook on inequality isn’t really as strong as some others may be, except I still have a good idea on how it can be a negative effect. One of my unless lived in America all his life, except he is African American. He struggles to find work and support his family, and you cant help but say that it is because he is black because it is. Hes a very skilled electrician, but he constantly misses out on job opportunies because a white man may apply for the same job as him.
So, my outlook on inequality is different than others based on my own experiences. I know it exists, and im very aware of how it effects different people, but I have a strong feeling that it can be overcome with an extremely large amount of very hard work. Its very unfortunate that it exists, but unfortunately it doesn’t look like this problem is going away anytime soon so we have no choice but to deal with it.
I have to say, after in class seeing the extreme and pretty much "unfair" distribution of wealth, I can safely say, along with many others, that the distribution of wealth in America is very severe and outrageous. Now, while I say that statement, I also believe that a majority of those extremely wealthy people have earned their wealth. It is not very fair for people to judge or criticize those who have worked very hard and obtained wealth; they are living what we like to think is the ideal "American dream". However, I do agree that the tax breaks that many of these wealthy people receive are unfair. I am not an expert in economics or anything along the lines of that, but it's just not right to me. However, after reading the one section in our books that discussed why there will always be poverty and why the world needs poverty, some things started to make a little bit more sense to me. Obviously it will be difficult to eliminate poverty entirely, no matter how hard we may try. But poverty is a vital part of the world, it is seen in every single country, even in America. However, I can't help but to sympathize for these people, especially for those who will never have their voices heard. It is really outrageous that many of these wealthy people will play the game unfairly and get away with it, just because they have the money and they can. But money is what makes the world go round, whether we like to hear that or not.
After seeing the graphs presented in class, we can ask the question, "who is really benefiting from all of this?" Obviously it's the super-wealthy, and as much as some of us may not want to believe or accept, as long as they have the money, they can make the rules, or even break them, with little or no consequences. People with wealth are always going to be in cahoots with other people who have wealth; this trend has continued throughout history and isn't going to change anytime soon. It's a little shocking that things of this nature aren't reported on as much, but then again, it really isn't that surprising. We've all become pretty accustomed to this distribution of wealth and know that it would be very difficult to change. And as long as these people have the money, it's going to remain this way.
I guess I’ve always had the impression that you get what you deserve. The wealthy deserve to be wealthy has always been my opinion. They work hard and they get rewarded. However, I don’t think I have been adequately exposed to both sides. The fact that the people that control the wealth make all the decisions causes come controversy in the motives of some people. But as we talked about in class, of course you are going to do what benefits you. It’s just human nature.
So how do we deal with this inequality? Well I agree with Sam when he says that we are never going to get rid of it. That would be impossible. I guess the question is, how important is it to close the gap between the rich and the poor? I think how you answer this question depends on where you fall in society. Of course the rich think everything is fine. In the meantime, the poor insist something has to be done. Obviously, there needs to be some middle ground.
(sent in two comments)
Even when exposed to the other side, I still think that the rich deserve to be rich. But I think that policy makers and politicians should be more unbiased when it comes to making tax cuts and things like that. However, we don’t live in that kind of a world. I don’t think that the wealthy should be punished for being wealthy by being forced to pay extremely high taxes. However, I don’t think they should be rewarded by being given tax breaks. I think that everyone should pay the same percentage of taxes regardless of their income. That’s what seems fair to me.
don’t think that the more money you have means the more percentage of your money you have to give up. However, I don’t think that tax cuts for the rich means not tax cuts for the poor. That doesn’t seem fair now does it? I guess what bothers me the most about what I’ve learned from this is how much the upper class income has escalated in recent years compared to how much lower class income has plateaued.
When it comes to the topic of wealth and income in America, I get extremely frustrated when people can honestly say that the wealthy don't deserve to be where they are. Whether a person inherits wealth, or they work for it on their own, they've still earned this money and shouldn't feel guilty saying that they have it. If someone inherits a company and inherits a great deal of money, they're going to have to work hard to keep the company alive and their profits consistent. The wealthy should never be ashamed of the money they have. Hard work leads to great things – this is how America works.
One of my friend's fathers owns an enormous business in Pennsylvania, and his son, my friend, will inherit the company when he graduates from college. This company has been passed down from generation to generation through their family. Is it fair to say that my friend isn't earning the right to own the company, even though he's getting a full college degree and has grown up working with the company? He's going to own this company and work for this company for at least 30 years, if not longer. Doesn't that prove that, while he will inherit the company before he puts in his hours, he's earned the right to be wealthy?
I do agree that life isn't always fair, and that sometimes we're handed bad luck. I feel terribly for those who have to deal with this bad luck in large doses, I really do. I don't think it's fair to be angry at those who have been successful and worked hard for their money, though. I think that everyone has a chance, at some point in their lives, to come into wealth of some sort. It may not be billions of dollars, but I think that everyone has an opportunity to achieve success in their lifetime, and it's those who take the chance and run with it that end up with a great deal of money.
All in all, I feel as though our world puts too much negative emphasis on wealth in our country, and those who are wealthy are often made to feel guilty for their success. It shouldn't be this way. Yes, there are poor people in our country and yes, they do need help, but the burden cannot fall solely on those who are billionaires. We as a country must work to balance our economic ladder and keep our world as far above the poverty line as we can.
There will always be a distribution of inequality within any human society. Throughout history, the top echelons of the socio-economic scale has always had a nearly infinite deathgrip on the distribution of wealth and power. In ancient civilizations such as Ancient Egypt, the Pharoah and his court controlled every single aspect of the peoples’ daily lives, and most of their belongings and earnings went directly to the king himself, which isn’t even half of a percentage of the wealth’s distribution. Along with medieval Europe, Lords, Earls and Kings always controlled the wealth and surplus wealth of their subjects living within their fiefdom. Sociologically, humans as we know are social creatures, we gravitate towards others for our needs and our dependencies. When in such a position of power as the top 20% of the income curve, more people are actually dependant on you and the income you make since you have a part in the control of it and in these terms that object is taxation. In terms of voting on tax breaks for the wealthy, people in that income bracket all have the same exact ideals upon the subject because they don’t want to have to give away a lot of the money that they have strived to earn throughout their careers. In terms of my personal opinion on the matter, I don’t necessarily agree or disagree with the continued practice, I just accept it as an inevitability that we as the human race suffer not unlike disease, death, war etc. I am aware that there are people who cheat their way through the social ranks via crime and exploitation, but that is still a generally small portion of the upper class and many people within the upper class have really strived and worked hard to make themselves wealthy through years of study. However, it is not right to say that people in the lower classes don’t work just as hard or even harder, granted that they face obstacles in life that those in the upper class don’t have to experience due to their wealth and power.
Let me start by saying that I do not believe the distribution of wealth is how it should be- that people who are wealthy have earned their wealth and that a certain amount of inequality is necessary. I understand to a point that some people have earned their wealth. But when we talk about this, I feel like we have to take into account the king of the mountain. Once you obtain power and wealth, you do your best to stay on the top of the mountain and keep others down. And by doing so, you increase your wealth. I don’t think this is right at all. I think that once you’re on top of the mountain, you should help those around you. There are a few though however, who have rightfully earned their wealth and have done so in a respectable way. I would also like to comment on the second point, that a certain amount of inequality is necessary. While I understand how we need inequality for the world to work, I still believe there has to be some way to erase all inequality. Maybe I’m a little naïve to believe that our world should have no inequality. It’s just hard to look at the world and see that we live in one of the richest countries and our poorest people don’t even compare to the richest people in other countries. Ernso made a really good point the other day in class. Haiti is in our backyard and we haven’t even helped them out. It makes me a little sick to think that so many people are selfish and don’t help others. I’d like to think that all people are good and willing to help one another. I plan on dedicating my life to helping those less fortunate than me, and I just wish that others had the same mentality as me. I think the world is so corrupt. Just the other day in one of my classes we discussed our world view. Most people said they have a positive world view but I expressed how my world view is negative. I mainly think the world is negative because of this inequality. You’d think people would realize that we’re all humans and we should all look out for one another.
Just like most of my classmates, I have friends and family who are not as wealthy as most people and are struggling to pay for their education. Some of my friends are not even planning on going to college because of the lack of funds and lack of confidence of being able to pay the loans back. It is extremely uneasy to think about the wealth distribution in our country. Ideally, the wealth would be distributed to equality through out the classes, but obviously we do not live in this fantasy world. The majority of the money in our country is within the top part of our classes (which is only about 5%). After seeing the slideshow that Same showed in class that showed the distribution of wealth in America, I couldn’t describe it any other way than shocking. Although I am not completely sure what class I would be classified in but I am sure that it is well above other people in my family and most of my friends. Its hard to watch them struggle to get things like education, work, and to just live comfortably. Its hard because many of these extremely wealthy people are playing the American system of business unfairly and not only getting away with it, but becoming extremely rich off of it. The worst part about this problem of wealth distribution is that it is not a new phenomenon. The partnership of the wealthy and dominate figures in the country have been not only doing things like making the rules that we live by, but also breaking the ones that they have made. To the wealthy classes defense, it is not like they are doing nothing and still receiving insane amounts of money. They have worked hard to get where they are at and it is not completely right to blame them on the wealth balance of America. Yes there are a lot of poor families and individuals in that need help but we can’t solely blame their failure on the wealthy peoples success. Luckily in this country, there are ways to climb the ladder of society and become middle class or even wealthy. I feel we need to worry more about our counties economic status, and we all need to do our part to make sure that our country stays ass success as we have been and stay up the poverty line as much as possible.
“Spread the wealth”. That phrase right there might just be my least favorite phrase of all time. I hate the thought of the words even being put together. People in this country have many issues backwards and it needs to be cleared up before the United States goes down the drain. Here in America we have what is called the “American Dream”. The American Dream is simply the freedom of having the opportunity to make a good living in the United States, to have a family, to be friends with whomever you choose. The American Dream is a privilege and lately people have but a burden on it due to stupidity. Recently in America, people believe the “American Dream” has turned into the “American Gift”. What I mean by the American Gift is that people honestly think that they can just receive money from the rich and wealthy due to a few simple tax cuts. Are you kidding me? This is why are economy is so bad. You cannot just give money to people.
(continued) People need to work for their money and jobs need to be created. It is that simple! Big corporations and businesses need tax breaks so they can create the jobs for the lower classes. That’s how the world goes round. When you try and spread the wealth, it is just one big step towards Communism. Many people in America do not understand this. They feel like if the wealthy businesses get tax cuts that they are not going to benefit from it but they are wrong. It is called “Conservatism”, and it is the way our county has to be run. If we continue on the spreading of the wealth path then our economy will never get any better. We’ll just be passing money around like were playing Monopoly. America’s main problem is simple. People have to stop being so lazy and stop pointing fingers. We need to enforce the true meaning of the “American Dream” back into the minds of us Americans and until we do this, our economy will suffer.
I do believe that there needs to be a balance of wealth in a society and the distribution of wealth in America is in no way balanced. It is a little ridiculous that .1 percent of the country holds the most wealth of the country. The reason for this outrageous unbalance of wealth in America is due the corruption of the government by the those who are already rich. Just like we talked about in class the rich fund the politicians and the politicians look out for those who funded them. Because of this the majority of the country is being stepped over and used.
Politicians, good or bad, have an obligation to those who through money at them because in this country money is power. I would love to see a presidential candidate run for office without accepting donations over 10,000 dollars and WIN. That way, if this is a good candidate, they will have no obligations to the rich and they will be able to fully do their job which is to protect the American people. But I don’t believe this will ever happen. I think no one has the guts to do this because although they might seem good to the majority of America the rich will still fund those who will look out for them in the end.
Overall, America will never be a balanced society because of the greed of the rich but we cannot be mad at the rich because if we were in their position we would probably do the same thing. It’s the downfall of human nature.
it’s hard to find out to what level people can get in life with the forces outside of their control. Also the fact that with people we gain power unfairly and then give more power to others unfairly. In the United States it seems like we are told time and time again that we can be and do anything we want if we work hard enough which I’m finding at a more increasing level is completely untrue. iI watched a children's show the other day and one of the songs said that you could be president in a list of ideal careers including doctor and lawyers etc. I remember laughing at that part of the song because I realized how very untrue that was. most of us have the an almost impossible unlikely hood of being president an in fact have a large unlikely hood of achieve many of the dreams that are promised to us are fully possible when we are children. In school I remember being bombarded with you can do anything you want to do but as I’ve gown you can actually do anything you want to do within your own social confinements which is really truly saddening. And increasingly it seems to be mostly true that working hard just isn’t going to be enough. Inspiration stories of people raising up against there social limitations are inspirational because they are rare. That’s not to say that they’re are not many many people working to better their situation but there really aren’t as many stories of success are there are failures. In fact failure does not even seem to be the right way to describe it because the limitations place on people are so confining that it is like having a huge road block in the middle of any path to success one could have. Then when looking at the flip side of the perspective of people who have success and earned it seem to be the minority of the people who are success. And even those that are success seem to be limited in their continued success because they are not willing to go to the lengths others will stoop to get success. It seems that most of the time the people you hear about who have power are most likely abusing it in some way and giving power to those that will misuse it as well. The aspect of that I can say about that fact is that another aspect we are very silently taught is that you have to step over others often to get the the place you want and once you’re there the best way to stay there is to put people you trust around you. Everyone wants security in their lives and within reason it’s hard to not understand when people who understand how unfair the united States is to not follow the system when any other way is nearly impossible.
After observing and relooking at the graphs, charts, and data about the distribution of wealth, I honestly am not surprised. Economic growth has been a constant topic in today’s world and is also can be to blame for the unequal supply of money. It was crazy to see that the top 0.01 percent of people actually own the majority of all the wealth. It just goes to show that the people who are wealthy do not share their wealth, in most cases that is. In general, most millionaires are selfish and keep everything to themselves. There are however, a few members of the 0.01 percent that break the barrier. People like Oprah Winfrey donate millions of dollars every year to the poor. Even though she is donating huge sums of money, she still keeps an extremely large amount to herself. I mean come on, why wouldn’t she? She is Oprah Winfrey!
Another reason the wealth distribution is so unfair and drastic is because economic welfare in general usually follows patterns. I remember reading in the Intersections Collection that the wealthy people could not live without the poor people, and vis versus. Both ends of the spectrum (people of very high class and people all the way at the bottom of the totem pole) rely on each other. In general, this is how society has worked since the beginning of time. Social status and tiers of classes of people will never go away. The people with power will generally continue to be in power and are also the most likely to be wealthy. The people who are at the other end of the spectrum, the poor that is, will continue to live off of a few dollars each day and struggle to make ends meet.
I come from a middle class family and I experience a little of each side of the spectrum. In hard economic times, my family will cut back on little things such as driving less if gas prices go up or staying in and cooking at home instead of going out for dinner. At the same time, my family also splurges on material items such as a designer handbag. In the end though, I am grateful for what I have and where I fit into the spectrum of wealth.
The question of wealth inequality has been discussed by everyone today, and its continually broken down and analyzed by everyone. The basic discussion is that everyone is different in how much money they have earned, and how some people find it unfair that others have more. Sam brought up a good idea about how people “cheat” the system to ultimately do better in society, and I believe that Sam’s idea has an important part in the problem, mainly because the discussion revolves around why do others earn more than some. The problem is, people still can’t figure out the reasons, which is ridiculous because it’s a basic theory. You work hard, you earn more, you cheat (and get away with it) you earn more, you do nothing but slack off, your life has little meaning.
I don’t want to explain how the government could balance the wealth across the nation (which would be basic communism), nor discuss how some will continually cheat to get ahead, but I feel that the fact that this discussion is still around is completely unbelievable. People question why some earn more than others, and then complain about how life didn’t treat them as well as the more successful people, yet what this situation basically comes down to is, which people worked harder in their lives? I know for a fact that I have friends that constantly cheat in class, and I keep thinking that they will continue to cheat until they get to the top (or caught). Yet I work hard in school everyday, and pull the same grades as these cheaters, which is a perfect example of how this system is unfair. Its not unfair for people to make more money than others, or for people to be raised better than others, but the reason why these people are so successful is because they worked hard in their lives.
I know that this idea seems far off, mainly because of all the people who cheat, or because of the people that were well off as a child, yet no matter how much people complain, the system is going to stay the same. People who work hard, will have respectable wealth, people who cheat might as well (as long as they get away with it), and people who sit around all day and smoke pot or do other drugs will earn what other burnouts earn, a modest living that will get little out of life.
intoxication, or its common name botulism, originates as a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum, which infects people as a toxin named Botulinum. Botulinum is the deadliest known toxin to humankind. This toxin causes paralytic illness, which means a paralysis of muscles and tissues occurs. This may cause respiratory failure, which is the leading cause of death by those who are infected by this bacterium. However, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) states, “In the past 50 years the proportion of patients with botulism who die has fallen from about 50% to 3-5%” (2011, para.7). This is due to the advancement of technology and patent access to ventilators. The CDC explains that symptoms of botulism includes double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness. Although rare, some patients who are severely infected by botulism may have to endure many years of therapy to treat fatigue and shortness of breath (CDC, 2011). People become infected by ingestion of the toxin, by exposed wounds, by bacterium spores, and by accidental overdose of the botulinum toxin (very rare). Adults are primarily infected by consuming the bacterium through food. Botulism usually occurs in adults when homemade canned food is done improperly. These foods have a low acid content when they are in anaerobic conditions, which do not let oxygen in. Most people think that concealed food is safe because it does not let in little oxygen. However, a complete lack of oxygen and improper handling in some situations leads food to develop botulinum; “Botulinum grow best in low oxygen conditions” (CDC, 2011, para.2). The CDC estimates that 15 percent of all botulism cases are from eating contaminated food. Vegetables such as asparagus, green beans, beets, and corn are the leading foods that are mishandled and become infected with this disease. Twenty percent of people who are infected by botulism every year contract the bacterium through wounds.
The population most susceptible to contracting this disease is infants between the ages of 6 weeks and 1 year (CDC, 2011). Sixty-five percent of botulium cases involve infants (CDC, 2011). Although infants are unable to eat “adult foods,” they acquire botulism through bacterium spores. Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium, comes from soil, so it is often in the air in the form of dust and dirt. This bacterium enters the infant while he or she breathes. The bacterium forms spores that enable the bacteria to survive, once it is in an environment that allows the spores to grow, such as the immature digestive system of infants. The bacterium evolves, proliferates, and creates the botulinum toxin. Honey is considered to be a major source of the dormant bacteria (CDC, 2011).
The social and economic differences between the upper class and lower class are apparent to almost everybody, I think. Most people know that the way they experience is vastly different from the experience of a person from the upper class. I think the statistics that were presented in class show that people may not understand the numerical differences in exactly how large a percentage of the country’s money is controlled by the top 10 percent, but I still hold on to the idea that people know the extent of the differences between their lives and the lives of the upper class. People use their imagination concerning the things they would do with boat loads of money; also, several shows on television depict the lives of the upper class. My first point is that contrary to Sam’s belief, I think that a lot of the people in the class understand the social and economic inequalities.
This second part is my opinion of the inequality situation. Like Sam said in class, many people do not rally against the actions of the upper class for two main reasons. A lot of people, especially students who attend Penn State University falsely think that they will be members of the upper class. Due to that belief, they think that if they can put up with the inequalities for a period of time, that they will eventually reap the benefits of being rich. Like I stated before, many of the people who think this way will end up not making it to the top like they thought. Still, for the rest of their lives, most of them will continue to fight to claim a piece of the prize. As for the other reason, most people are correct in this way. Most people have resigned themselves to the fact that the inequalities that exist are just a part of the way that the world works or that they are part of a culture that cannot be changed. This is most likely going to be true. While it would technically be possible if everyone in the country and/or the world came together to make a stand against the upper class upholding the inequalities, this type of situation would surely never happen due to lack of organization and laziness.
I completely agree with Sam on this one. I believe it’s ok to work hard to get what u really wants. If you put your mind in to it, you can achieve anything in life. There are some wealthy people who had to climb up all the way from the bottom to the top by working extra hard and spending all their time to achieve their goals. Then there are the others who just think they can do anything in the world that they want by cheating and manipulating the people and the system. They don’t care who they hurt along the process. I personally can’t respect that.
I feel like the main reason why people try use people to put themselves in a better decision is because they are just playing old greedy and selfish people. That really disappoints me. The reason is that they already have enough power and money so why cheat the less fortunate. That’s just wrong in my eyes. I just can’t imagine myself doing that if I was in power. I’ll always try to do the right thing even if the right thing isn’t necessarily going to benefit me. There are some extremely wealthy people who have enough power and money and they still feel like they should get more that to me makes no types of sense. It even angers me sometimes because I just can’t bring myself to understand why they feel like that. Like they already have enough of everything, they should e giving it to someone who really needs it and also qualifies for it.
I don’t believe that equalities will ever end. I’m sad to say this but I think it will just get worse and worse as the years goes by. The younger generations are just becoming more greedy and selfish. They just don’t feel like they have enough so they tend to do many unethical behaviors to get what they want. I believe this is a serious problem today and we need to try to solve it as soon as possible or at least somewhat fix it.
I feel like there’s always going to be inequality; or at least some form of it. People grow up taught one thing by their parents, and sometimes act in a similar way. Because of the way I dress, cars drive by me walking (with my friends) and yell “faggot” and other terms. The people that do this are probably always going to be like this, and aren’t going to learn how to cope with that there are gay people, and that people do indeed dress differently. Not everyone has to shop at the same stores. This reminds me of one of my favorite Dr. Seuss animation I remember as a child – the Star-bellied star bellied Sneetches. The story starts out with a group of creatures (sneetches) whom some have green stars on their stomachs, and some do not. The ones with the stars are discriminatory towards the others. Then another character appears, and has a rather awesome looking machine (in my opinion), that can take the starless sneetches, and give them stars. Well the previous Star-bellied sneetches don’t like this, so they want to change, so they all remove their stars. This continues, both types of sneetches alternating between machines, and in the end, all the sneetches become mixed together, and you can’t tell one from another, some have no stars, some have one star, some have two stars, and so they learn to live together. This is a good story to teach kids about how people are different, and that’s ok. Unfortunately, as I said previous, I can’t imagine this type of discrimination towards any type of people will ever disappear. About using this inequality in leadership ways, of course people are going to due it. No one wants to run for president, and then vote for the other person. When trying yo get ahead in anything, people will do whatever it takes to win. In America, winning seems to be everything to people. Competition is so important here, and being better at something, whether it be a physical thing or even being better looking is what people want, and I don’t think this will go away anytime soon.
It’s unreal that the inequality level in the United States is so far apart. Like seriously it makes me sick to see how much money is being taken from the average men or women and given to the next rich cheat. Whether it’s oil, stocks or technology people in power will always find the money to get rich. I chose to comment on this social issues because currently I am struggling to pay rent, bill and school expenses. With scholarships, loans and earning I still don’t have enough to be secure. My parents of course support me in any way they can but the big issues is that college to too expense. Something I don’t understand is that by society’s standards you have to go to school to get a decent paying job yet the price of tuition is high enough that only a select few can attend. I don’t know about anyone else but that seems odd to me, why isn’t school afford? Why is it not the case that most than half the population is or attend college? To me this seems like a set up to keep under represented or low social economic people at their same level.
Dr. Richards was correct in his assumption people will always play the game when the opportunity presents itself. Many people who are making money by cheating the system does so because it benefits themselves, partners and family. Selfishly they don’t think about others who may be suffering. But of course they wouldn’t. I know if my father was bring home six figures or more in a year I would not complain or think about the other people on the other side. My life would be good and I would have all I needed/ wanted to life. Unfortunately the people who are suffering are left to think about themselves. They are left to survive by any means necessary which in return lead to stealing, killing and destruction. Instead of helping the United States is allowing people to suffer. For example why do professional athletics are paid more than the average doctor? And why does the Governor of Pennsylvania think it’s a good idea to cut education funding? This just means while 85% of the country are maintaining the other 15% are living in wealth. Until the American people wake up the wealth distribution will always be this way.
As most people have posted, wealth is unevenly distributed and the division between the social classes is vast. One thing that I don't agree with most people is that they are saying this is especially like this in The United States. Being an international student and having traveled most of Europe and some other countries I can say that wealth is unevenly distributed all over the world and the division between social classes is vast everywhere and the situation is worse than America in many places. One thing about what I see here in the states that seems strange to me is that people have this idea that it doesn't matter where you come from or who you are, if you try hard enough you'll get to the top. This might be true in some very rare cases but in general it is not. I don't know if its pessimistic or not but where I come from people know that to get to somewhere in life you have to know the right people or come from a family that can get you there(which is almost the same thing as knowing the right people since your family names gets you in contact with the right people). I feel that this idea is closer to what we've been talking about in class. Where we end up in life depends on which social class we come from, like the example's Sam gave in class about the 2 guys who end up exactly where their fathers were at, not because they were smart/stupid ,but because of the social class that their family is part of. A personal example that I can give just happened recently, I was looking for an internship this summer but I was having hard time finding one here in the united States, so I contacted my cousins back in Turkey and in a matter of two weeks I had more than 4 options. Like I said in the end it all comes down to knowing the right people, do I think it's fair for me to get an internship when I'm sure there are other candidates that are way more qualified than I am ? Absolutely yes, but I guess just because I'm in the "winning" side I'm ignoring the problem that is out there.
(1/2)I am not going to deny the fact that there is wealth distribution in our country. That is blatantly apparent through the graphs and such we have seen in class, but there are some issues I have with the way people treat it. Yes, the people who have the millions upon millions have to be cheating the system and need to someone be put back in their place and on a level more close to everyone else. I come from an upper middle class household though and I need to vent about some issues here. I understand that some people are poor and they need help because they work their ass off every day, and I am glad that some of the taxes my parents pay go towards their welfare. I do not understand the people and am not okay with the people that live their life off welfare, even though they don’t have to. How is it my family’s problem that your homeless drug addict who doesn’t understand how to get to Planned Parenthood for some free birth control because you have 10 kids that you can’t take care of.
(2/2)People who do not deserve the help should not be getting any help from our government. My parents work 6 days a week to keep my family in the lifestyle we have and to keep me in such an accredited school. They do not go to work every day to pay for people to mooch off the government as they sit home all day doing nothing. I think that the government should mandate that in order to continue receiving welfare you must prove that you are truly searching for a job. It especially annoys me when people who could get a job but just don’t want it don’t take it. They should be grateful to be able have any type of job. I also think that the wealthy who are in the ten percent of our population with the millions and millions of dollars should be mandated more. What are they even going to do with all that money anyway?
I think in one that the rich are super rich and they will on be getting richer. They suck the money from all of the rest of people. They normally do not even care about how the economy or other people are doing. Just like the enron scandal a couple people that were high ranking inside of the company just pretty much lied to the rest of the people in the company took their own shares and wasted many jobs and reitrement savings. Then there is martha stewart who also put her insider knowledge to work when she got caught in the stock exchange people who are rich typically are their because of sociological strings and they are not aware of it and the poor people will stay poor there is nothing more to discuss it is what it is and nothing is going ot change about the lovely unfair world we all live in, know of, and love. And I was reading some ones post saying life is not fair like It or not and that is completely true there is people who are rich and they did many different unethical and illegal things to get where they are today and they probably even killed people but what about the many different hard working people who get fired and who are fathers who had kids of 9 and they went to college and their in debt but the rich guy is not getting into toruble but the poor guy who worked hard his whole life and just gets fired or the kid who prayed every night but he was walking down the street and gets hit by a bus it is tough and you can only expect the worse to happen I wish it would not work this way but it does I can think of many dfiferent situations where the good guy who has nothing but good deeds but at the end of the night he gets screwed over while the bad guy who just lies and cheats his way to the top gets to not only stay there but keep rising and it is completely wrong and I wish I could change it but I cant