• The middle class is fading because our system is set up to benefit the wealthy. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and the gap between upper and lower class continues to spread at a substantial rate.
• Since 1979, 40% of the overall increase in household income has gone to the top one percent. The 1% of America has increased their wealth by over 250% while the rest of the population struggles to make ends meet.
• The lack of intervention from the government and American politics are at the heart of the problem. The government has promoted inequality by deregulating the economy, which allows the wealthy to gamble with their money and put everyone else at risk in the process of their economic gains. Politicians discovered early …show more content…
My parents taught me that if you work hard your entire life and make the right choices, then you’ll be somebody in life, but that’s not the case for a lot of people. There are so many good-hearted families in America that do the right thing, work hard, and still struggle to put food on the table, yet our government does nothing to fix it. Our government’s focus is entirely set on keeping the rich happy and in power, because in turn, it keeps them in office. You said in class that a lot of people don’t vote because they believe that their vote won’t matter; I couldn’t agree more. That is one reason why I don’t vote. I realized at an early age that we don’t live in a democratic society, maybe at one time we did, but not anymore. Money runs this country now, and will continue to run it until it implodes on itself. The idea of the “American Dream” is becoming dust in the wind. To move up the social ladder you need to be born at the top, the movement between classes is continuing to decline at a steady pace. It took mankind thousands of years to create this social ladder for people, and America is managing to tear it down within a century. Having said this, I don’t think it’s impossible to be successful in America, I just believe it’s becoming harder and harder by the day to reach the top of the ladder. My father is a living example that an individual can move up the social ladder, but society would only let him climb so high; his family was dirt poor and he was one of seven kids to go college and actually make something of himself. He is the most driven and goal-oriented man I’ve ever known, always reaching for the stars, but society doesn’t allow him to move past the clouds. I guess I should feel fortunate that I was born into today’s society, as opposed to 5 or 6 centuries ago. Back then, the odds of living a privileged life were not in your favor, you were either born into royalty or born into peasantry; no middle ground existed. It
• Since 1979, 40% of the overall increase in household income has gone to the top one percent. The 1% of America has increased their wealth by over 250% while the rest of the population struggles to make ends meet.
• The lack of intervention from the government and American politics are at the heart of the problem. The government has promoted inequality by deregulating the economy, which allows the wealthy to gamble with their money and put everyone else at risk in the process of their economic gains. Politicians discovered early …show more content…
My parents taught me that if you work hard your entire life and make the right choices, then you’ll be somebody in life, but that’s not the case for a lot of people. There are so many good-hearted families in America that do the right thing, work hard, and still struggle to put food on the table, yet our government does nothing to fix it. Our government’s focus is entirely set on keeping the rich happy and in power, because in turn, it keeps them in office. You said in class that a lot of people don’t vote because they believe that their vote won’t matter; I couldn’t agree more. That is one reason why I don’t vote. I realized at an early age that we don’t live in a democratic society, maybe at one time we did, but not anymore. Money runs this country now, and will continue to run it until it implodes on itself. The idea of the “American Dream” is becoming dust in the wind. To move up the social ladder you need to be born at the top, the movement between classes is continuing to decline at a steady pace. It took mankind thousands of years to create this social ladder for people, and America is managing to tear it down within a century. Having said this, I don’t think it’s impossible to be successful in America, I just believe it’s becoming harder and harder by the day to reach the top of the ladder. My father is a living example that an individual can move up the social ladder, but society would only let him climb so high; his family was dirt poor and he was one of seven kids to go college and actually make something of himself. He is the most driven and goal-oriented man I’ve ever known, always reaching for the stars, but society doesn’t allow him to move past the clouds. I guess I should feel fortunate that I was born into today’s society, as opposed to 5 or 6 centuries ago. Back then, the odds of living a privileged life were not in your favor, you were either born into royalty or born into peasantry; no middle ground existed. It