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. 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.

1.) Although page 29 of the text included various statistics on wealth inequality in the United States, there was one that specifically stood out to me. “True, about 40 percent of families own some stocks
or bonds, but almost all of them have investments of less than $2,000.” This quote is a statistic that specifically talks about the middle class, a social class that continues to struggle in creating a clear difference in wealth. I believe this statistic stood out to me the most considering the somewhat high percentage, which is 40. I actually thought it would be more like 10-15, possibly 20 percent because the middle class is still not quite wealthy or in a place of good standard. They still have to deal with many responsibilities such as debt and mortgages/rent, which all require an immense amount of money. I’m honestly proud that the middle class has a decent percentage of people who own stocks and bonds. What is not so good about this though, is the fact that it is equivalent to roughly $2,000 or less, which is nearly nothing when you think about it. Obviously, it would be better if it were a higher amount but I think that is still worth thinking about because it’s in the thousands rather than something very small-like a meager $100.

2.) Living in a society that has such a huge difference in wealth that causes inequalities can cause various implications. For starters, it exploits disadvantaged populations such as the middle and working class Although the middle class is believed to be “better off” because they are people who obtain higher yearly income and are able to possibly achieve things that are of worth, such as a home. But they are struggling to keep this difference between themselves and the working class because they can’t seem to maintain a stable or higher income to achieve more. Also, these classes seems to statistically just keep getting bigger whilst the upper class remains the same because those who are wealthy remain to be. Also, it will hinder economic growth because without a middle class being more present, there is not enough room for people to work and contribute to the country’s development. There needs to be some sort of balance where people are able to sustain their lives without missing out in another aspect. An example I can give of this is in pertains to the working class families. Many of them struggle to have the basic necessities; food, clothing, and shelter. Although many of them have jobs, a great amount of others do not-hence the rise in homelessness. People see no other option but to rely on the government for benefits, such as “SNAP” or the supplemental nutrition assistance program. We see this example in our everyday lives, especially now considering inflation. The prices of things were at an all time high, food was no exception. In order to qualify for such a government program, your yearly income must be close to almost nothing. With such high prices for food, the money given from this program would not be able to support someone a lot because the prices have increased-meaning the money would not stretch enough to allow someone to have more. Not to mention, since inflation started to raise the prices of many things drastically this year more than any other, it is safe to say that people struggled more than anything. People started to see poverty more and rely on the government in hopes of seeing a way for themselves given the current circumstance of today.

1. Which statistic on wealth inequality in the US (discussed on p. 29) made the biggest impression on you? Explain why?
   1. The statistic on wealth inequality in the US that made the biggest impression on me is in the reading it states that “Today, the combined farm debt is much greater than net family-farm income.Only 2 or 3 percent of the price on a farm commodity goes to the farmer; most of the rest goes to corporate distributors.” When you look at farmers they are the life line to the foods that we consume. So in that you would thing that they would be making a larger profit and return on food that feeds a large population of people. Farmers only see a small percentage of profit and agri-business control 80% and close on 90% in profit. It was shocking to read that corporations control what is placed in foods like pesticides and herbicides and they also control food productions like gene splicing in laboratory to retail sales in supermarkets. All of these contributions are all unhealthy and it makes sense as to why these big corporations are driving independent farm owners out of business and putting them in major debt. Those who are still small business farm owners are still suffering due to contaminated soil or pollen from agribusiness lands. There is a cycle where there is no room for small business to win.
   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?
      1. Some of the implications of living in a society that has huge wealth inequalities is that the poor will only continue to get/be poor. Homelessness will rise, malnutrition and diseases will rise among children, people will have a hard time gaining access to healthy foods, in many peoples retirement will be nonexistent due to defaulting on private pension payments. Older people who should be at retirement and continue to have to work because the need of basic necessity will be harder to get.
      2. I do see this dynamic playing out in everyday life in our society, I know of a few people who have had to take out loans from their pensions and 401k in order to make basic payments on their homes and cars so that they can continue to live this American dream or maintain their livelihood. In New York City homelessness is at an all time high and finding shelter and housing that is suppose to be affordable is extremely hard.

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.