1. The statistic that was most shock to me on is that the top 1 percent own between 40 and 50 percent of the nation’s total wealth (stocks, bonds, investment funds, land, natural resources, business assets, and so on), more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent. This was shocking to me because it really puts into perspective how rich just a few individuals are.

1. Access to resources: People with more wealth may have greater access to resources such as education, healthcare, and other amenities, which can contribute to their overall well-being and success. This can create a cycle where those with more wealth are able to pass on advantages to their children, while those with less wealth may struggle to provide the same opportunities for their children. Political influence: Wealth inequality can also have political implications, as those with more wealth may have more influence in the political process. This can lead to policies that disproportionately benefit those with more wealth, further exacerbating the wealth gap. Social mobility: Wealth inequality can affect social mobility, or the ability of individuals to move up or down the socio-economic ladder. Those with more wealth may have more opportunities to advance in their careers or invest in businesses, while those with less wealth may face more barriers to upward mobility. I do see this being played out in everyday life. For example, people with more wealth may live in more affluent neighborhoods with better schools and access to amenities, while those with less wealth may live in neighborhoods with fewer resources.

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

One statistic on wealth inequality that made an impression on me is the fact that the richest 1 percent holds more than 40-50 percent of the nation’s capital. This saddens me and also upsets me. I feel this just goes to show unfair America is and the priorities of our nation. America struggles with poverty, homelessness,etc. many people cannot even afford to put food on the table or clothing on their back but the 20% of the nation’s richest people makes 13 times the amount of 20 poor people. How can this be possible. Our nation needs to find a way of balancing the wealth inequality. How come everyone can’t live comfortable. I do believe fixing that gap will help lower crime rates, poverty, and homelessness.

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?

Well, some implications of living in a society with a huge wealth gap is what we see here everytime we walk out our front doors. Poverty, homelessness, crime, etc. I do feel that the gap help create these problems. Many people are out here working for the minimum wage meanwhile the cost of living is 50 – 60 times that. When i recently move if I did not exceed 40 times the rent i would not been able to move. This is not ok. People are going hungry and are running out of options so they are turning to the next best thing which is robbing/ committing crimes to help them meet their everyday needs.

1. Which statistic on wealth inequality made the biggest impression? Explain why?

There were many statistics that surprised me. There were two in particular that really stood out to me. I was stunned to read “In the last twenty years, the 500 largest U.S industrial corporations more than doubled their assets while eliminating over 5 million jobs” this revealed the drastic increase of income for the upper class. Though their capital grew it did not provide an opportunity for equal wealth distribution as they eliminated opportunities. On the contrary, it equipped the upper class to stretch further away from the lower and middle class. The second was “The top 1 percent own between 40 and 50% of the nation’s total wealth…more than the the combined wealth of the bottom 90%” this wasn’t so much as shocking as it was difficult to process the extreme inconsideration to the inequality present in the upper and lower class. This creates a shift in the economy. Impacting prices for products such as food, clothing, rent, things that are a necessity to life.

2. Implications of living in a society that has such huge wealth inequality. Is this dynamic played out in everyday life in our society? How so? Example.

The U.S depends on capitalism for the fluctuation and increase of money. Capitalists provide jobs and products. Workers provide labor and use their money to serve as customers. The capitalist system depends on the “Owner” v “Worker” relationship. However, this implies that “Owners” can look for “Workers” in a place where labor would cost less, which causes their surplus value to increase. So this allows “Owners” to spend less on labor and market their products at a substantially higher price. In this scenario, only the capitalist continues to grow. There is no backup if companies decide to “export their industries overseas to cheaper labor markets.” Leaving workers in the lower and middle class to fend for themselves as jobs no longer become available. An example of this occurred in 1995 when companies like Victoria’s Secret, Jcpenney, and others moved their means of labor to prisons. This granted companies the freedom to pay little to nothing for a prisoner’s work. The wealth of owners gained a dramatic increase and job opportunities were eliminated. Living in a society with immense wealth inequality keeps the lower and middle class at a stagnant disadvantage because

1. They depend solely on capitalist to advance the public: “Giant corporations control the rate of technological development and availability of livelihoods.”pg 31
2. Job Opportunities and Livelihood: “A small number of giant corporations control most of the U.S economy.”pg 31

Credit:
Corporate Abuse of Prisons

1. The finding is that the wealth imbalance in the United States persists in expanding. The affluent families have a ton of acquisitions and have employed the low-income families as subordinate workers, paying them wages and salaries; this measure impresses me. The wages support the poor meet their day-to-day needs, including fundamental ones. But I am also curious about what drives low-income families to persist in getting poor and rich. I suppose the low-income families could use the little that they have to start their investments hence curbing the cases of monopoly in the market and be in a rank to evade enormous consequences created by inflation and regularize the unequal allotment of income into a favorable condition.

2. The existence of society with colossal wealth inequality is facilitated by measures that incomparable favor the top families, including the availability of market strategies that favor affluent families. Such a society encounters cases of unequal distribution of income and capital. For instance, low-income families are paid meager wages and salaries for labor power. Some affluent families also invest in abroad countries instead of building their country. Wealth inequality is deemed in every life in our community since affluent families mistreat the poor as they gain more wealth (JaléeP, 1977). For instance, some government policy, including taxation on a consumer product, deprives the poor of purchasing power. However, affluent families do not feel the effects; instead, they benefit via higher profits from investments.

1. The biggest impression that resonated with me based on wealth inequality in page 29, was that the top 1 percent own between 40 and 50 percent of the nation’s total wealth. This is goes to show how big the gap between the working class and the wealthy is. This is not to be ignored as it is a big reason why the wealthy are where they are today. The inheritance of this wealth when being born into a wealthy family serves as a big reason why the paradigm never seems to shift to the working class.
2. Living in a society where there are major wealth inequalities can lead to situations such as the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. In other words capitalists are always looking forward to having as much as surplus value as they can get. It does not matter to them if it is at the detriment of the working class, by keeping wages low and raising prices at a significant rate. Also, another implication may be that homelessness can rise significantly due to the working class not being able to keep up with the standard that capitalists set economically in order for them to achieve wealth.

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

In reading 5.2 M. Parenti states that in 1973 CEOs earned 30 to 40 times more than their workers, and in 2009 they were making around 317 times more. This means that the wage gap between the super-rich CEO and the average worker is swiftly expanding over time. This statistic stood out to me the most because while CEOs are living exorbitant lifestyles, buying private jets and fancy sports cars, half the people in the United States are living paycheck to paycheck, living on food stamps, and struggling to pay their rent. For example, during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, countless amounts of essential workers were forced to face death to maintain their jobs and provide for their families while billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk were able to profit off the pandemic by earning money from those who lent them their labor power.  

As the money obtained by the CEOs continues to increase, the worker’s wage remains stagnant. At the same time billionaires are planning their next trip to space, the average worker must resort to using public assistance to meet their basic needs. In turn this can lead to major financial burdens for the state or country at large. This form of extreme financial inequality can also cause a worker to get sick in an environment where they’re unable to afford healthcare, may trigger sever social unrest, make it impossible for them to afford food, pay the utility bills, find the money for car insurance, and can decrease business productivity due to low morale. Contrary to popular belief, these workers aren’t unwilling to work hard. They struggle to live in a country of astronomical prices, and high rent and taxes, while they’re barely getting paid enough to make ends meet.  

Massive inequality is a type of economic violence where specific policies benefit the wealthy and privileged few and hurt the majority of average workers. Most citizens within the United States are outraged because they see the wage gap between CEO and worker as profoundly unfair. There’s also a convincing argument for change within the business world because these wage gaps are demoralizing for workers. These days many business establishments struggle to find competent employees because they refuse to pay a living wage, as well as implement union protection. If they just found a way to address these pay gaps, I believe they would have a much safer and more productive relationship and work environment for their employees.  

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? 

There are many consequences to living in a society that has such tremendous wealth inequality. One repercussion of living with these inequalities is the massive amount of poverty that has plagued the country. As stated in the Parenti reading 37.3 million people were facing poverty as of 2007, and the number continues to grow. Parenti also references that a quarter of the workers facing abuses in their place of business are getting paid less than the minimum wage. As of recently there have been disputes amongst politicians whether the United States should raise the minimum wage. In some parts of the country the minimum wage has remained just above $7 for over a decade. Unfortunately, the minimum wage was never a living wage. The compensation the workers receive does not reflect the true value of their labor power, nor does it support the employee in the way that it protects their health and keeps them out of poverty. People working at minimum wage jobs cannot afford the most basic necessities such as food, shelter, childcare, healthcare, transportation.  

These calls to raise the minimum wage to $15, although well intentioned, don’t even begin to cover the amount necessary to provide for working families. People would need around $20 or above to support a basic standard of living. Furthermore, it would have to constantly adjust to inflation as well as the increase in cost of living. It is common for minimum wage workers to identify as women. Two out of three people who suffer from poverty are women, and many of them are single mothers. This is not to mention the unfair gender wage gap that women experience, getting paid 77 cents to every dollar paid to men. Another large group of people who get paid less than the minimum wage are those who work in the service industry. People who have retail, fast food, hotel, restaurant, childcare and home care positions tend to be paid less than $15 an hour. These employees also receive no employer-paid benefits. These include health insurance, sick leave, family leave, paid time off, and fair scheduling. This means that these workers must pay out of pocket for health insurance with their low wages. Some end up going uninsured, working while sick, and avoid taking the time they need to recuperate. Americans work longer hours than most other countries, but they get offered the least vacation time getting only two weeks, while other countries receive five to six. 

Many groups suffer through poverty in the United States due to enormous wealth inequalities, but none as much as people of color. African Americans and Latinos experience unemployment, and poverty twice as much as white people. When white people and African Americans apply for the same position, white people are three times more likely to get hired. Additionally, many people of color encounter discrimination while applying for mortgages, regardless of how much money they make.  

Along with low wages also comes food insecurity. More than 36 million people in America go hungry at least once a month. People in front line positions such as food service, childcare, grocery store workers, and people with part-time jobs are more likely to experience food insecurity. Food insecurity and health are also intertwined. When people don’t have enough income to pay for basic necessities, sometimes they are forced to skip meals, or buy food with extraordinarily little nutritional value. As explained in the reading, the U.S. shows many records of obesity and high blood pressure amongst its citizens. Food insecurity also impacts a child’s physical and mental development as well as their performance in school. If the minimum wage were raised to $15 per hour it would help support the millions of people suffering from food insecurity in the United States.  

When people do not have enough money to afford food, shelter, and other basic needs, their mental and physical health suffers. The low wages of hard-working citizens can cause depression, high blood pressure, emotional problems, drug addiction, suicide, and involvement in criminal activity. Having an adequate amount of income reduces stress and depression induced by poverty, and other physical and mental ailments. Reducing poverty related stress and improving the health of employees can also result in fewer sick days and better-quality performance. 

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 on me is stated on page 29 when it says,” The top 1 percent own between 40 and 50 percent of the nation’s total wealth (stocks, bonds, investment funds, land, natural resources, business assets, and so on), more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent. This really stood out to me because it’s very unfair how the rich people stay rich while they pay the middle class and the poor very little wages which is nothing compared to what they actually make. No amount of money can make something for you on its own only human labor can do it such as building a house or a machine. Capital cannot produce anything. This top 1 percent owes a huge percentage of the nation’s total wealth while they aren’t even the ones producing anything. The article states, “the real producers are those who apply their brawn, brains, and talents to the creation of goods and services”. I agree with this statement and believe they should receive more money.

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? In the article, it mentions that a common problem of modern capitalism is inflation and I can agree with this because we see this in society every day prices are going up and many people can’t afford this. The article states even a modest annual inflation rate of three or 4% substantially reduces the buying power of wage earners and persons on fixed incomes over a few year’s although inflation is going on there are many things that families need and must still buy such as food, fuel , housing and health care. These things add up to 70% of the average family income. Another example of wealth inequalities in society are homeless people who have no money and many people who stay in homeless shelters need to find a job since most cities do not provide sufficient affordable shelter or food for the homeless populations this is why many people are out in the streets since they can’t afford to stay in a shelter.

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

I think all of the statistics made big impression on me. However, the one that made the biggest one is the one of the U.S Census Bureau income studies. They said these studies refer to the “richest 20 percent” who earn thirteen times more than the poorest 20 percent. The author stated that if you made $350K ore more you are not considered as be part of the richest people. Per the author this income does not represent great wealth. First of all, I thought that someone with this yearly income was rich. I am surprised that 350K is part of the working class. Secondly, I did not think the 1 percent richest people were only 145,000 individuals or the 400 richest Americans were only billionaires and also the gap between rich and poor was so enormous. I always knew Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk were the richest people. Nevertheless, I thought there was a scale in a descending order of thousands multi billionaires, single billionaires, thousands multi millionaires, thousands of single millionaires etc. This makes me review my idea about some people that I thought who were rich and they are not. And it makes me think that percentage of chance for someone in the working class to move up to that 1% is very difficult, even impossible.

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?

The implications due such huge wealth inequalities in a society are really important. The inequalities in wealth caused a lot of issues that can be destructive for a society. Because for people that are low paid, they cannot afford what they need to survive. As financial power is only on a small percentage hand, prices of all essentials tend to be manipulated. Those essentials are: Food, fuel, housing and health care. In this inflation time for example, since the pandemic a lot of people were lay off and went on unemployment. While most of them, did not get back to work or are not working as part time. All of those essentials price went up. Rent, food, gas costs are rising. Those who own the wealth of this country manipulates the elections in their benefits. They fund campaign of who they think will be in their favor and most the time, these people get to the governmental office head. One example is, when Trump got the presidential office, the wealthy, banks, and other corporations, the tax reform package was considered a victory given its significant and permanent tax cuts to corporate profits, investment income, estate tax, and more. Financial services companies stood to see huge gains based on the new, lower corporate rate, as well as the more preferable tax treatment of some companies. Additionally, the poorest are the ones with most debts such as, credit card, student loans. Income is being spent just to pay interest on accumulated debt.

Example: If I take like 100k for nursing studies, after obtaining my bachelor, I will work to pay these loan. It will be impossible to get out the working class and can even being considered in the poor class.

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

The surplus value notion as a whole was the statistic that had the biggest impression on me. It is astounding that people, or capitalists, essentially slave their labor until they are exhausted in order to keep practically all of the profit for themselves. According to the article, capitalists can even raise surplus value by cutting the amount of time that work takes. Due to the creation of “relative surplus value,” the owner is able to earn even more money, leaving the workers with the small change and the struggle to make ends meet while the owners invest the money in bonds and investments.But the most malicious part is that the capitalists know what they are doing. They are aware that a rise in labor productivity without a corresponding rise in pay leads to a strengthening of the exploitation of workers. And they are also aware that without surplus value in general, they will lose and have nothing.

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 stark wealth disparities has some consequences, including the fact that the poor will only stay and continue to remain poor. Homelessness will increase, illnesses will spread, it will be difficult for people to get food, and people will forever continue to struggle. I believe it is obvious that the income disparity has a significant impact on how social issues are addressed in America. The growing prevalence of homelessness as a result of the wealth divide is a practical illustration of this phenomenon. Instead of using their wealth to address the issue of homelessness, many wealthy people choose to pretend that the destitute and homeless don’t exist. In our society, there are many people who must make some compromises in order to pay for necessities like bills so that they may keep leading stable lives.

1. People who are writing books and wasting their precious time writing the books just so that they can earn money off their hard work. Book writers should be getting the amount of money they deserve and they should not be tricked by the system of the capitalists. Simply, capitalists are putting humans to work and then paying them low which is extremely unfair in my opinion because the book writers have sweated and worked their absolute best, they should be earning what they deserve. If I would write a book one day, I would not be able to believe that the capitalist is going to take half of my hard work which is again unfair. Page 29 states “ The real producers are those who apply their brawn, brains, and talents to the creation of goods and services.” This proves my point that people who produce the goods are using their brains, talents, and time just so that the capitalist can basically rip them off. 

2. Some of the suggestions for living in a society that has such huge inequalities is for one to educate themselves and know what is going around them outside in the real world. We will not be able to accomplish or change anything, but we can definitely fight for a better life. I certainly see this dynamic getting played out in everyday life in our society because we have people who have extremely different incomes, health care, gender inequality and etc. The income gap between the social classes is insane which demonstrates how I view wealth inequalities getting play in everyday life.