1. The two concepts of the key term in Bardes that I find most difficult to understand is aristocracy and capitalism. Aristocracy is a hereditary class ruled by a small number of individuals or a noble family. Capitalism is an economic system that produces and distributes privately or co-owned development from accumulating and reinvesting profits gained in free markets. Since I’m not into politics, these two key term makes it hard for me to distinguish upon trying to understand what types of different governments there are.…
The U.S. is home to some of the world's wealthiest families and corporations. It is a land of opportunity for many; however, among developed nations America has the highest rates of income inequality. Income inequality has been rapidly rising in America since the late 1970s. Income inequality has a host of social-economic consequences, and the topic has become a cornerstone issue for the socialist senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. His campaign is heavily focused on the economy, but more than that, his economic policies are heavily focused on reversing the upward trend in income and wealth inequality.…
As a result of this issue, numerous policy debates are ongoing with the aim of ensuring that the rising levels of inequality are contained. According to Weinberg & Steelman (2005), from the 1960s, the issue of rising economic inequality has been a major issue not just in the US but globally. The two cite wage inequality as one of the factors that has led to the current income inequality issue. They are of the view that from the 1970s, the issue of wage inequality has been addressed sufficiently and as a result, this has led to the current predicament that the country is in. While there have been arguments that the current income inequality is as a result of globalization because it has facilitated increased cases of global immigration and trade,…
Capitalism is a hegemonic global, economic, and social order that increasingly shows a fatal contradiction between reality and reason, where it threatens human welfare as well as but also the continuation of most sensitive forms of life on the planet. Three critical crises make up the contemporary world condition originating from capitalist development: the emergence of global imperial instability associated with shifting world hegemony; the Great Financial Crisis and stagnation/depression; the growing threat of planetary ecological collapse.…
With unreliable data and few resources to gain evidence of a faulty system; American politicians sometimes turn a blind eye or demean the importance of the issue. Obviously unemployment and economic deterioration are serious problems, but they are problems that would be further eased by addressing the current, historic, and growing imbalance in income inequality. The avoidance of such a current dilemma, such as the enormous gap of income, is an issue itself. For the problem to start resolving itself, we must bring the issue into the spotlight to be addressed by the officials who run our country. Income inequality, by contrast, is getting worse over time. Doesn’t it make more sense to focus attention on the problem that’s getting worse rather than all the problems—unemployment, the deficit, limited opportunity—that are not? But in turn, they could be resolved with addressing the prevalent income gap. (Noah 368)…
Many people in the world blame inequality in the world on race, religion or the amount of intelligence of a civilization, but that's not why. Inequality is simply caused by geography. Geography affects the way a civilization becomes more developed compared to others because, geography controls climate which affects the type of food a civilization can grow, and what type of animals it can domesticate. Domesticated animals and efficient crops give a civilization time to develop new ideas and invent tools that can help the dominate other cultures.…
Economic inequality in the United States has increased tremendously throughout the past decades and has consequently led to many social conditions that negatively impact the lower and middle class. The unequal distribution of income and wealth is primarily due to the capitalist government economy that deregulates markets as well as globalization and technological advances. Political inequality is similarly another consequence that results from the economic disparity that further affects democracy and political representation of many Americans. This likewise leads to the creation of social movements, in which many unprivileged Americans seek government attention to overcome the inequality that exists amongst the socioeconomic classes.…
A crucial controversy of America today is the growing gap between the wealthy and the poor, and the discrepancy is caused by capitalism run wild and only the helping hand of the government can only fix the problem. A question that turns the tables is what if the growing wealth disparity in America is actually caused by the government? For years, the idea that inequality is economically neutral has been the prevailing view not just among traditionalists but also between most Americans outside the further reaches of a political audience. There could be ideological or moral reasons to object to a growing gap between the wealthy and the rest but for economic reasons, there are no such. Furthermore, there are many ways inequality places itself in America. In our society, a good amount of the population is forced to stand up and work for our country while hardly being redeemed for their time and effort, thus the problem of income inequality. An estimate of these people live from paycheck to another, barely coping with life itself, not because they cannot manage their money well, but the reason is that…
Foremost, it is inevitable to live in US without inequality, people are always productive which evidently leads to capitalism. However, when does inequality become a problem? Reich states that US has the most unequal inequality. By comparing the earnings of the top one percent with middle typical worker, within the years of 1978 and 2010, he provides with gaping information. In 1978, a typical worker would make 48,302 where a typical 1% worker would make 393,682. Shouldn’t income increase in the future? In 2010, a typical worker would make 33,751 where a typical 1% worker would make 1,101,089. The sinking middle class no longer has enough purchasing power to keep the economy growing and creating sufficient jobs. The share of working-age…
Inequality exists around us. One of the inequalities is the income received by a person or member of a family. Income inequality refers to the various incomes within a given population. This income includes wages, salaries, pensions, and interest derived from the assets. The economy nowadays is very dynamic and is constantly growing, but the top is absorbing the biggest portion of the growth. As Arthur Okun once said: “Inequality is the price America pays for a dynamic, efficient economy; we may not like it, but the alternatives are worse. As long as the bottom and the middle are moving up, there is no reason to mind if the top is moving up faster, except perhaps for an ideological grudge against the rich—what conservatives call the politics…
Inequality is the unequal distribution of valued goods and opportunities in a society. Over the past two decades, there has been an increase in economic inequality in the United States. Four major reasons for this increase is the changing relationship between technological expansion and education, deindustrialization and restructuring, government policies, and decline of unions. Technology in the United States has advanced immensely since the 1970s. This has led to peoples jobs being replaced by technology, for example bank tellers have been replaced by ATMs, and a higher level of education is now needed to use the technology for jobs.…
Income inequality in the United States is the highest it has ever been since 1928, and when compared to most other developed countries the U.S. is more unequal in its monetary aspects (Desilver, 2014). To understand this statement it must first be addressed about what income inequality means. Income inequality is the unequal distribution of income whether it be through the number of jobs available or the wage in which a person earns for doing a certain job. This unequal distribution is important because over the years the gap between the wealthy and the poor has continued to grow. The continuous growth in the gap effects many things not only the economy and that is why the government should put into effect policies…
Life in present-day America is very unequal. There are wide gaps in income distribution which causes negative impacts on the everyday lives of most Americans. This income gap is wider than at any other time in the past century. The United States has the largest gap between rich and poor than any other democratic country in the world. Income inequality has negative effects on the entire society. American minority groups and women earn less money than their white counterparts. The educational system in the country is suffering ranking fourteenth among industrialized nations. Research shows that the wealthier a person is the longer their lifespan will be. Increased crime rates in the poorer inner cities…
Income/wealth inequality in the U.S has grown rapidly over the last few decades. “Today the richest 1% own 34% of the wealth and top 10% own 74%” (Hodges). The main causes of this discrepancy are attributed to the technology boom, the need for companies to outsource production and inherence of wealth as well as company differences. Though the growing gap is alarming to Americans, it is important to remember that income and wealth inequality is an accepted result of a capitalistic economy. The whole idea of capitalism is the ability for any individual to freely develop, trade, and in turn increase their social status without government interference. By adhering to these base principles it allows us as Americans the freedoms not seen in…
Capitalism is one of the economic systems, characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, investments that are determined by private decision, and prices production and distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in the free market. Korean society had a rapid economic growth under capitalism. From the birth of sociology, the major concerns of a sociologist were work and employment. This rapid economic growth affected the Koreans' lives tremendously. In a capitalist society the work effect directly to private property thus work has more significant meaning to the peoples’ life. Work or labour can be defined as a productive activity, especially for the sake of economic gain; the body of persons engaged in such activity, especially those working for wages. This essay will discuss how peoples’ work has changed under authoritarian regimes toward to democratic society as a capitalist country such as labour market, welfare system, woman’s work, advantages and disadvantages.…