1. The affluent get richer by underpaying those of us who can produce their things, but we don’t perceive the advantage. We are exploited because of our talents, the value we can provide to the corporation, the amount of money we can make, and how quickly we can do it. I’m not sure I ever thought of it like this, but we gave our skills and abilities, and instead of earning a return on our investment, only the owners or those in positions of power benefited from our work.

2- Discrimination and injustice are more likely in a society with massive economic disparities. When there is a significant disparity in wealth, people feel alienated and have nothing in common. As a result, there is a lack of empathy for people from other socioeconomic classes and hatred. Oppression will be widespread in a society where everyone is only focused on rising to the top while ignoring others.

1. Which statistic on wealth inequality in the US (discussed on p. 29) made the biggest impression on you? Explain why?

“If you are not rich, it is because you lacked the foresight to pick the right parents at birth. Studies show that, despite the well-publicized cases of “self- made” fortunes, rags-to-riches is a relatively rare exception. Most people die in the class to which they are born. The super rich usually come from families that have inherited vast fortunes. And the poor usually stay poor, no matter how hard they toil.” 

This quote led to me changing my views on how to live. I realized that as many other POC think of “coming up from the struggle” and having this mindset won’t actually change anything. Being a person of color, this is something that I thought I had to do / have a more difficult time with because I did not get an inheritance. 

I have to work because of what I came out to be / who my parents are. The people who have the money don’t work as much to keep their money. It confirms my beliefs on the cycle of poverty; people who are struggling economically, will always struggle. Knowing this, allows me to persevere and know that I will have to work hard no matter what, even if it means I can’t get rich.  The struggles make me want to investigate the wealth inequality in other countries, to see how it is in comparison to us. 

2. What could be some of the implications of living in a society that has such huge wealth inequalities? Do you see this dynamic getting played out in everyday life in our society? How so? Example?

Living in a society with such a huge wealth inequality, there are going to be individuals who are in danger because of their wealth. Those with money will be less likely to commit crimes / be involved in negative situations because they have the resources (money) to get whatever they need. For the individuals on the other end, there will be more of a necessity to steal and commit crimes because they need to in order to survive. 

Generational wealth is not something that could not be established for many POC because of the mass incarceration in the 1970’s and 1980’s. This created a barrier for many POC and further supported the huge wealth inequalities.The dynamic between both sides of the huge wealth inequalities rely on the balance of power between both parties. Those with money have the power / privilege to do anything they desire, while those without money can barely afford to go get a coffee. The “rich” say that we could become wealthy if we stopped buying Starbucks, but in fact it’s this huge wealth inequality.

1. One of the statistics on wealth inequality in the U.S. that made the biggest impression on me is that 90 percent of American families have little or no net assets. It is shocking to read that a country as powerful as the U.S. has 90% of its population who lives with no net assets. Take liabilities out of these families’ lives, and they have nothing. They earn what is enough to maintain or sustain their subsistence. About 40 to 50 percent of America’s wealth lies in the hands of the capitalist who continues to grow their wealth at the expense of the working class.

2. In the United States, a person’s social class plays an essential role in determining their future. Only a few have come from lower classes to join the upper middle classes. And these cases are even rare. If you come from a low-income family, your chances of making it is shallow, whereas if you come from a wealthy family, you can attend private schools and Ivy League colleges, increasing your case to a better life. There is a particular privilege awarded to the most affluent families in the U.S, which the low-income working class does not get. The implications of such colossal wealth inequalities lead to the low-income earners chasing wages all their lives while those on the peak of the wealth stratum amass more wealth. Also, sometimes the most affluent people use their wealth to suppress and become delinquents in society. Not all, but we can think of Jeffrey Epstein and Richard Huckle as examples of wealthy people who took advantage of their wealth to abuse people. On the other hand, people from low-income families either end up going to prison, school dropouts, junky, drug dealer, or a hardened criminal because they want to keep surviving. The wealthy people are sitting on the wealth and not paying them good salaries for their labor, so they end up going astray.

1. The biggest impression on wealth inequality from the reading is the following quote, “What they really mean is that they are using their money to put human labor to work, paying workers less in wages than they produce in sales. That’s how money “grows”. First due to the meaning of the quote, the richer get richer by under paying us, the actual individuals that are able to produce their product, yet we don’t see the profit. We are exploited for out skills, wha we can produce for the company, how much of it and how fast. I think I never really thought about it this way, but we provided our services, our skills and rather than us seeing the return of our work, only the investors or those higher up actually get to enjoy what our hard work does.
2. In our country there are huge gaps in wealth equity, it starts at a young age. We are either born into the money or will have a rather chance to become Bill Gates. The biggest wealth inequality in our country is, education. This lone problem in my opinion holds the key to having more people reach the top. Because black and brown communities don’t have the same means of income, the kids at a young age are already falling behind on getting ahead. Money is not split evenly within districts, rather than giving a higher budget to lower income schools, the budgets go to the wealthier schools, due to higher scores in state testing. The inequality then continues for years in the school system until the student has the chance break barriers and push forward.

1.One of the statistics on wealth inequality in the U.S that made the biggest impression on me is that in order to practically have a life you would have to be born in the wealth. According to reading 5.2, “If you are not rich, it is because you lacked the foresight to pick the right parents at birth.” This shows that living in wealth is a choice and I believe that wealth is not giving, it’s earned. For example Halle Berry once lived in New York City homeless shelters before becoming an oscar winning actress. 

2. Implications of living in a society with huge wealth inequalities is a higher risk for discrimination and injustice. When the inequality gap is large people tend to feel disconnected and that they don’t have things in common. This causes a lack of empathy and disregard for the other social class. In a society where everyone only thinks about being at the top and belittle others, oppression will be rampant. 

1. Which statistic on wealth inequality in the US (discussed on p. 29) made the biggest impression on you? Explain why?

The statistic on wealth inequality in the us that made the biggest impression is that the majority of people in the country are poor people as it says in the article, “90 percent of American families have little or no net assets.” While the wealth of the nation belongs to the minority of people. This situation reveals the fact that capitalist or reach people had conquered the market increasing their fortunes and preserving the most prestigious class in society at the expense of all other classes which are deprived somehow from having assets in a country in where they are belonging.       

2. What could be some of the implications of living in a society that has such huge wealth inequalities? Do you see this dynamic getting played out in everyday life in our society? How so? Example?

The implications that could be driven from living in the society where the wealth inequality emerges is the increasing of social phenomena and many health deficiency typically mental health and thus increasing the crime’s rates in the society because by the virtue of living in such circumstances, probably poor people will resort to find various way by which they could compensate that deficiency. In fact, they could commit violence, stilling or any other way that permits them keep up their living. For example, student who are deprived from the basic supply of studying they are forced by those circumstances to quite their studies in order search for a better way of leaving. While student whose parent are wealthy, they have more opportunities to continue studying and thus having more advantages to be the future wealthy persons.           

1. Which statistic on wealth inequality in the US (discussed on p. 29) made the biggest impression on you? Explain why?

It surprised me when it said that,“the top 1 percent own between 40 and 50 percent of the nation’s total wealth , more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent.” It means to me that no matter how hard me and my family work, we won’t really be able to have much wealth, since the top 1% are holding that much of the nation’s total wealth.

2. What could be some of the implications of living in a society that has such huge wealth inequalities? Do you see this dynamic getting played out in everyday life in our society? How so? Example?

I would say that the rich people can keep their wealth based on the work of their ancestors, they might be poor like us now in the past, their wealth inherited to the next generation, one by one. But still, only a few people who have this huge amount of wealth are not equal, they can have many privileges and just watch the people who have lower class competition with others to try to climb up. Humans are always competing, for learning to get a good grade, for getting a better job, everyone always hopes they can have a better life.

1. Which statistic on wealth inequality in the US (discussed on p. 29) made the biggest impression on you? Explain why?

One of the statistics on wealth inequality in the U.S that made the biggest impression on me is that in order to live a good life one needs to pick the right family. According to the reading “If you are not rich, it is because you lacked the foresight to pick the right parents at birth. Studies show that, despite the well-publicized cases of “self-made” fortunes, rags-to-riches is a relatively rare exception. Most people die in the class to which they are born. The super rich usually come from families that have inherited vast fortunes. And the poor usually stay poor, no matter how hard they toil. In fact, there is less upward social mobility today than a generation ago.” In today’s society, people are most likely having a right to choose whatever they want or need. For instance, people can pick which country or city to travel to, to which restaurant for dinner, who I want to make friends with, or who I don’t want to get along with. There are many things people can pick. However, no one can pick their parents, no matter wealth or poor.

1. What could be some of the implications of living in a society that has such huge wealth inequalities? Do you see this dynamic getting played out in everyday life in our society? How so? Example?

In the United States, a young person’s life and future depend largely on the income and education level of his or her parents. If the parents’ income is high, their child will live a better life, eat organic and healthier food, see an expert doctor, and have the best medical services. Parents with high levels of education or children from wealthy families can get a better education. They will most likely go to a famous private school, and interact with upper class’s friends. They will exchange resources with each other. Groups in the upper echelons can purchase privileges for their offspring that others cannot obtain. Of course it is their right to do so. However, it is certain that under the premise of lack of equality of opportunity, those born at the lower classes distribution are likely to always be at the lower classes: the resulting inequality will become more and more serious. The inequality of the present generation will be passed on to the next generation, and even each generation.