Wealth Gap: Why America is threatening Democracy
The democratic ideal that “All men are created equal" is in the Declaration of Independence and is deeply rooted in American history. However, this ideal is not as realistic when looking closer into American society. For instance, the idea of equality is never actually mentioned in the Constitution. The United States is known for being built on freedom and foreigners look to it as the possibility for the American dream, but there have been many key events in history that show the fragility of civil rights and the reality of inequality in the United States. Democracy is defined as a government created by the people and for the people. Human rights are necessary for a democratic system. Pursuing …show more content…
There are a multitude of causes for the wealth inequality in the U.S. Some causes could be Wall Street greed, political shifts, the great recession of 2008, deregulation, apathy, and even technological advances. The wealth gap in the U.S has been steadily increasing for decades, and now has reached levels not seen since 1928 which was roughly the same time period as the Great …show more content…
In “Why Income Inequality Threatens Democracy” Ray Williams states “In 81 percent of American counties, the median family income, about $52,000, is less than it was 15 years ago. This is despite the fact that the economy has grown 83 % in the past quarter-century and corporate profits have doubled. American workers produce twice the amount of goods and services as 25 years ago, but get less of the pie.” The income inequality in the U.S has been steadily increasing for decades. Not only is the wealth gap highly concentrated to the wealthiest people but also the income gap is just as unequal. Movements such as Occupy Wall Street in 2011 have rose awareness to the income gap, but have barely dented the fabric of wealth inequality. CEOs in 1965 earned about 24 times the amount of the average worker. In 1980 they earned 42 times as much. Today, CEOs earn 325 times the average worker (Williams 1). This is problematic in that income inequality can worsen wealth inequality because people near the bottom have less money available to save and invest. In a 2011 study, people severely underestimate the actual pay gaps between a CEO to worker ratio. These levels of extreme inequality in the United States is bad for business, For example, retailers recently were bracing for a miserable holiday
The democratic ideal that “All men are created equal" is in the Declaration of Independence and is deeply rooted in American history. However, this ideal is not as realistic when looking closer into American society. For instance, the idea of equality is never actually mentioned in the Constitution. The United States is known for being built on freedom and foreigners look to it as the possibility for the American dream, but there have been many key events in history that show the fragility of civil rights and the reality of inequality in the United States. Democracy is defined as a government created by the people and for the people. Human rights are necessary for a democratic system. Pursuing …show more content…
There are a multitude of causes for the wealth inequality in the U.S. Some causes could be Wall Street greed, political shifts, the great recession of 2008, deregulation, apathy, and even technological advances. The wealth gap in the U.S has been steadily increasing for decades, and now has reached levels not seen since 1928 which was roughly the same time period as the Great …show more content…
In “Why Income Inequality Threatens Democracy” Ray Williams states “In 81 percent of American counties, the median family income, about $52,000, is less than it was 15 years ago. This is despite the fact that the economy has grown 83 % in the past quarter-century and corporate profits have doubled. American workers produce twice the amount of goods and services as 25 years ago, but get less of the pie.” The income inequality in the U.S has been steadily increasing for decades. Not only is the wealth gap highly concentrated to the wealthiest people but also the income gap is just as unequal. Movements such as Occupy Wall Street in 2011 have rose awareness to the income gap, but have barely dented the fabric of wealth inequality. CEOs in 1965 earned about 24 times the amount of the average worker. In 1980 they earned 42 times as much. Today, CEOs earn 325 times the average worker (Williams 1). This is problematic in that income inequality can worsen wealth inequality because people near the bottom have less money available to save and invest. In a 2011 study, people severely underestimate the actual pay gaps between a CEO to worker ratio. These levels of extreme inequality in the United States is bad for business, For example, retailers recently were bracing for a miserable holiday