Wealth Gap
The Social problem of Americas Wealth Gap
Frankie Fischer
Social Problems
November 1, 2012
To research and write this paper I first defined what I meant by the wealth gap. As opposed to income, wealth is the assets minus the debts an individual has. Therefore when I refer to the rich or the poor I define them as people with either a vast amount of assets or very little assets. I also lumped lower income individuals and families with the poor since most lower income families do not have very many assets. Since there are many different opinions and claims about the wealth gap I decided to focus this paper on the social game of the two main claims Americans listen to and discuss.
One of Loskes main points in Thinking about Social Problems is to see Social Problems as a game. “The social problems game is a set of activities (social problems work) and players who compete, and there are competitions and strategies for wining. The metaphor of social problems game is good because it draws attention to power and politics”(2003: Loseke 20). One of the best examples of comparing a social problem to this game metaphor is the social problem of the Wealth Gap. This exemplifies a game because there are two sides, both with many different players, making different claims about the Wealth Gap. These two sides “compete” over political offices in order to make their claims known and put into action. There are strategies of how these two sides make their claims and the main purpose of this social problem game is to see who has the power to influence society through politics.
Claims Being Made
Different groups of people make different types of claims when it comes to the wealth gap in America. Loseke says, “people create meaning because meaning is not inherent in objects”(2003: Loseke 25). These different groups of people try to create meaning out of the wealth gap because these meanings reflect their values and beliefs of how the world should work. Loseke says
Frankie Fischer
Social Problems
November 1, 2012
To research and write this paper I first defined what I meant by the wealth gap. As opposed to income, wealth is the assets minus the debts an individual has. Therefore when I refer to the rich or the poor I define them as people with either a vast amount of assets or very little assets. I also lumped lower income individuals and families with the poor since most lower income families do not have very many assets. Since there are many different opinions and claims about the wealth gap I decided to focus this paper on the social game of the two main claims Americans listen to and discuss.
One of Loskes main points in Thinking about Social Problems is to see Social Problems as a game. “The social problems game is a set of activities (social problems work) and players who compete, and there are competitions and strategies for wining. The metaphor of social problems game is good because it draws attention to power and politics”(2003: Loseke 20). One of the best examples of comparing a social problem to this game metaphor is the social problem of the Wealth Gap. This exemplifies a game because there are two sides, both with many different players, making different claims about the Wealth Gap. These two sides “compete” over political offices in order to make their claims known and put into action. There are strategies of how these two sides make their claims and the main purpose of this social problem game is to see who has the power to influence society through politics.
Claims Being Made
Different groups of people make different types of claims when it comes to the wealth gap in America. Loseke says, “people create meaning because meaning is not inherent in objects”(2003: Loseke 25). These different groups of people try to create meaning out of the wealth gap because these meanings reflect their values and beliefs of how the world should work. Loseke says