Income Inequality and America

 

 “Any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich; these are at war with one another.” - Plato (427-347 B.C.)

Plato’s words have never rung truer than they do today. Our country is divided. Not only by race and religion but by wealth and social class, as well. The income inequality gap has grown exponentially over the past 50 years. According to Forbes, in 1950, the average CEO made 20 times more than the average worker. Fast forward to 2017, the typical CEO now takes home on roughly 361 times more than the average worker. And we're not talking entry-level worker; we're talking midlevel. This gross difference in pay equates to about $13,940,000 a year for the average CEO. Now, these numbers are estimates and averages throughout the 50 states, nevertheless, these differences in earnings are the root of economic inequality. 

This inequality has coined the term "The 1%" over the past couple of years. Americans now see how great their differences are. According to The Washington Post, the wealthiest 1% of Americans now own more than 40% of the nation's wealth. These statistics should shock and appall the average American. This enormous gap between the classes generates unnecessary hurdles for society to jump. Classism has never been more alive than it is today, in my opinion, and the cycle of poverty just seems to keep going. 

The question arises of how to fix this problem. "Tax the rich more!"  you say. If only it were that simple. The rich rebuttal this proposal with the claim that if taxes go up for the rich, then jobs will decrease. This idea is instilled in the top 1% that the rich are the only job creators. If you take away their ability to do so, then jobs will dwindle. According to a TED talk by Nick Hanauer, ordinary consumers are the ones that create jobs, not the rich. Consumers are the backbone to the economy, this much is certain. However, the larger the wage gap gets and the greater the divide between the rich and the poor grows, there won't be much left for the economy to thrive off of. 

For more information, please visit https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/06/the-richest-1-percent-now-owns-more-of-the-countrys-wealth-than-at-any-time-in-the-past-50-years/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.49ea7f711a02

- Samantha Thomas