1. The statistic on wealth inequality that was very glaring to me was that the top 1% owns 40-50% of the nation’s total wealth stocks, and more then the bottom 90%. The fact that its considered “the bottom 90% is absurd because it includes both the 50th percentile as well as the upper percentiles (90th percentile), It goes to show how unmeasurable the wealth disparity is between the 1% and the rest. Their money is significantly large than that of those even considered 10% below them in terms of income households. Stocks is a significant factor of making non labor income, so it comes to no surprise to me that the lower class lacks significant amount of stocks but to be greater then 90% is way too high.
  2. Living in a society with such a huge wealth inequality leads to a massive differences in political views and creates a divided nation where people are fighting each other. The reason for this is because, this wealth inequality cause massive percentages of households to be living under the poverty line and demanding for programs that will aid them. Households in the middle percentages in terms of income will also face challenges as the idea of the American dream, and being able to live their dream life seems more far out of reach as the amount of money needed to be apart of that life increases. As for the top percent of earners, they will do what they can to go against these policies for programs for the poverty struck households because they don’t see any of the programs going to them. Instead, they will see massive losses in their income through taxes raises without having that money comeback to them. These issues are already playing out currently with our politics where the rich are finding ways to avoid paying as much taxes as they can and are in many cases paying less taxes than lower income earners. Middle class earners additionally, are finding it harder and harder to reach their house-owning goals, as housing is becoming more and more expensive and seeming more like a luxury than a necessity in life.

Leave a Reply