In an ideal and just world, all people, from all walks of life, should have access to healthy foods, decent clothing, proper shelter, quality healthcare, quality education and energy to contribute positively to the society. Resources such as income opportunities, education, medicine, clean water, electricity and food should be readily available to citizens despite their ethnicity, race, economic status or religion. In such as society, narratives of homeless and old elderly people dying in the cold while a few affluent individuals live in huge air-conditioned mansions (Sanders, n.d). It is a society where teenagers are not forced to choose between either going to school hungry or working a minimum wage job to put some food on the table.
The economic disparity between the poor and the wealthy in the USA is astounding. Historically, US is the wealthiest nation in the globe. However, most of this wealth is owned by a few individuals. According to Sanders (n.d), the economic gap between the rich and the poor is at its widest since 1920. This gap increased significantly in the mid-1980s when the vast transfer of wealth from middle-income households to the richest people in the country began. Statistics show that one-tenth of 1% of the richest persons in the US has approximately the same wealth as 90% of the poorest American citizens (Sander, n.d). A report by the Institute for Policy Studies indicates that 100 of the richest families in America have the same riches as the wealth owned by all African American households in the country (Thrasher, 2015). This report also shows that the richest 186 individuals on the Forbes’ 400 wealthiest US citizens list own approximately the same wealth as all Latinos in America. The picture painted by these statistics is not only appalling but also sad. It is unfair, unjust, and unacceptable.
It is surprising that people refer poverty and economic disparities as income inequality. This reference makes the whole issue sound like a little accident that can be easily fixed by making small adjustments to economic policies and systems (Thrasher, 2015). The wealth disparities evident today in America are as a result of an economic system that, by design, puts those at the bottom at a disadvantage. According to Thrasher (2015), Americans at the bottom of the wealth pyramid can only dream of attaining income equality. They have no real hope of going up the economic ladder. In fact, they have almost inexistent opportunities to meet even the most fundamental needs. In Beattyville, for instance, communities have no hope for a better future so much so that youngster in this town feel trapped and have limited access to good education (McGreal, 2015).
According to McGreal (2015), a significant portion (about 57%) of residents in Beattyville is unemployed and, thus, dependent on food stamps for their daily bread. Wilma Barrett, a Beattyville resident, says that she relies on welfare checks and the food bank despite having worked on her farm and the coal mines (McGreal, 2015). Despite significant economic growth in California, poverty rates are still high (Kirkham, 2015).Declining wages for low and middle-income earners attribute to the persistent high poverty levels, notes Kirkham (2015). Apparently only the rich seem to be benefitting from the economic growth.
According to Thrasher (2015), the vast economic divide between the wealthy and the have-nots in the country has been propagated by structural racism, sexism, and child abuse. Racial and ethnic orientation plays a significant role in determining the economic welfare of an individual. The fact that white people earn better incomes than African-Americans even with less education is well known (Thrasher, 2015). Unemployment rates in the White American population, is half that of their Black counterparts, adds Thrasher (2015). Notably, the majority of poor neighborhoods in American towns are usually inhabited by African-Americans and Latinos (Thrasher, 2015; McGreal, 2015). High levels of poverty and unemployment exist among Native Americans. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 27% of America and Alaska natives are impoverished and have no jobs (NoiseCat, 2015). Economic discrimination against women has also contributed to disparities in wealth. Women, especially black and Latina women earn less compared to men and are discriminated at their places of work due to their childbearing and domestic duties (Thrasher, 2015).
A sense of economic equality can only be achieved if opportunities for wealth creation are made accessible to all. The structure of the commercial design should be in such a way that even the people at the bottom of the pyramid have access to activities and opportunities that allow them to meet their fundamental needs and lead decent lives. Some people are of the opinion that the rich have worked hard to earn their wealth while the poor are doing nothing to change their situations for the better. I agree, some of the wealthiest people in America grew up in poverty but made by working hard and seizing economic opportunities. However, such people had access to resources and opportunities that made making wealth a possibility. Regrettably, a majority of the wealthy folks use wrong or unethical strategies to move up the economic ladder. According to Sanders (n.d), the billionaire class is adept at breaking investment laws and redistributing wealth to the richest people in the land. As such, the rich continue amassing wealth at the expense of the poor. I cannot help but wonder; how is a pregnant black woman who cannot find a job because she is carrying a child, expected to work hard and provide for herself and her unborn child?
References
Kirkham, C. (2015, Nov 13). California’s economy is booming, so why is it No. 1 in poverty? Los Angeles Times.
McGreal, C. (2015, Nov 12). America’s poorest white town: abandoned by coal, swallowed by drugs. The Guardian.
NoiseCat, J. B. (2015, July 30). 13 Issues Facing Native People beyond Mascots and Casinos. Huffington Post.
Sanders, B. Income and Wealth Inequalities. Retrieved 26 Feb 2016. From https://berniesanders.com/issues/income-and-wealth-inequality/
Thrasher, S. W. (2015, Dec 5). Inequality is Fundamental to U.S Capitalism: Tweaking the Edges Will Accomplish Nothing. Alternet.
