Throughout mankind 's history there 's been constant strife between society 's wealthy upper class and the less fortunate lower class, with an ever expanding gap between the two. Notably, our nation, which operates under a capitalistic economy, has unavoidably been plagued by unequal economic opportunity, in spite of the mythical belief that all Americans have an equal opportunity at success. The issue arises when although two individuals may put forth the same effort and possess the same exact talents and intelligence, they may not have an equal shot at success because of their economic standings. This inequality is seen as a truly critical issue by many, even being called the essential problem for the next generation …show more content…
Recently, a term known as income inequality has been thrown around in the debate between the rich and the poor. Income inequality is the unfair and ever expanding disparity between the nation 's highest-income households, and the lowest-income households. Although it 's impossible to establish 100% equality, due to it being unfair to give everyone the same exact income even though certain individuals work harder than others, thus it should be our nation 's goal to at least provide Americans with an equal opportunity at becoming wealthy. However, with our nation 's income inequality gap spiraling out of control, the rich are becoming richer, while the poor are becoming poorer, resulting in less opportunities for the common American to rise to the top. As of 2007, our nation 's wealthiest 1% owns 34.6% of the wealth, the top 10% owns 73.1% of the wealth, while the lower 80% owns a mere 15.1% [1]. Evidently, our nation 's wealthiest individuals have an insane amount of wealth compared to the large majority of the nation, resulting in what is known as income …show more content…
Unlike previously, our nation 's widening income inequality gap does not appear to be slowing down, rather it is constantly increasing. This infinitly expanding gap puts a heavy toll on the nation 's less fortunate who find themselves seemingly against insurmountable odds. However, with effective action being taken by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, the issue of income inequality can finally be tackled. Ultimately, it should be our nation 's priority to decrease income inequality, once more establishing the United states as the land of