How Does Income Inequality Affect The American Dream

Introduction Income inequality in the United States has come to metaphorically be seen as a ladder of income success in which the rungs in the top become further spread, implying that the top ten percent on the ladder own a much bigger share of the national income. The question therefore is proposed, does income inequality impair the American dream of upward mobility? As part of Intelligence Squared US we hear from Elise Gould and Nick Hanaver arguing for the proposition and Edward Conard and Scott Winship in the opposition. On the proposition we hear from Elise Gould and Nick Hanaver who argue that income inequality is a major factor in regards to the poor being able to achieve upward mobility. Gould as well as Hanaver aim to enforce the …show more content…
Furthermore, they argue that income does not play a role in upward mobility in the poor rather it serves as an incentive for the bright minds to reach.
Discussion
The propositions main argument was that income inequality impairs the American dream, because low income families don’t have the resources the wealthy have in order to climb the financial ladder. Therefore, we have the argument by the proposition that we have an impediment for the poor, in which not being able to afford a quality education or the necessary glasses needed in order to be molded in a path to success. Gould calls it a self- reinforcing cycle for the wealthy, something the poor are not able to afford. The opposition enforces the idea that having income inequality actually helps the middle class and although the wealthy hold a large portion of the national income, there’s a larger portion that still remains for the poor and the middle class. According to Conard inequality accelerates growth in high wage economies, therefore our economy aims to maintain a balance in which we can maintain high employment rates and adequate salary. Furthermore, having an economy with high income inequality benefits the poor because there is