While the United States is slowly emerging from economic recession since 2011, the national unemployment rate has dropped from a peak of 10 percent in October 2009 to the current 6.7 percent. More people are now able to savor the joy of a paycheck. But it would be foolhardy to assume that this recession has been felt by every American in equal measure. As a matter of fact there are some individuals whose net worth increased tremendously within the recession. In 2012, economist Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty estimate that the top 1 percent took more than one fifth of the entire income earned by the Americans. This is the highest that the United States has seen since 1913.
In the same year and on a winter day, over 633,000 remained homeless. Basing my argument on the average annual single room occupancy which costs an estimated $6,696; any one of the ten richest Americans could have been able to pay for a single room for all these homeless people. More astounding was the fact that within the same duration, the ten richest made more money than the annual housing budget. It is demoralizing that currently, 47 percent of poor Americans own virtually nothing as compared to 1983 when they owned at least 2.5 percent of the wealth in America. But these grave inequalities are sometimes ignored because within the same time, American Gross Domestic Product (GDP) nearly doubled. This state of affairs puts the United States in a “remarkable” fourth in terms of inequality.
Our definition of power is surrounded on political office, but does political office really grant power? History can teach us a few lessons in this regard. From 1776, the richest have had more leverage on winning political power. George Washington was a revered landowner of his time. In this day and age the large conglomerates would be the main drivers of policies. Their policies will mostly look innocent and in the interest of capitalism, but in combination, they work to drive the economy and the country towards the direction they see fit. This class domination theory may seem far-fetched but their influence on issues such as taxes, labor unions, and trade agreements, will ultimately set the rules within which policy battles will be waged. With proper political manipulation, these super-rich eventually have their way. Any attempt at positive policies will be rendered socialist, but America will be much better when inequality is addressed.
References
Bealy, F., & Chapman, R. (2009). Elements in Political Science. London: Edinburgh University Press.
Schram, S., & Caterino, B. (2010). Making Political Science Matter: Debating Knowledge, Research, and Method. New York: NYU Press.
Weisberg, H. (2009). Political Science: The Science of Politics. New York: Algora Publishing.
