Rising Wealth Inequality: Should We Care?
Why do Americans seem unperturbed about the growing gap between the rich and the poor?Anger Is Growing
March 21, 2011
A better question is: Why do Americans seem relatively unperturbed about growing wealth inequality, so far?Get ready for a populist movement in years ahead.
The journalism project I lead, Patchwork Nation, uses demographic and economic data to break the nation’s 3,141 counties into 12 types of communities, from wealthy suburban areas to small-town service centers. We recently looked at median family incomes in 1980 and 2010 in those communities, and the findings were troubling. Seven of the 12 county types actually had a lower median family income in 2010 than they did 30 years before in inflation-adjusted dollars. Not only had they not kept up, they’d fallen behind.So wealth inequality is real, but where’s the outrage?
Until this latest recession, many Americans papered over the issue. They ran up credit card debt. They took equity out of their homes. In short, they found ways to at least keep up appearances. They got comfortable living beyond their means.
Those times are gone and, as a result, we’re starting to see some anger manifesting itself in different ways. We looked at online supporters of various Tea Party groups and found membership was strong in places hard hit by the recession. That’s what much of the Tea Party talk about “getting America back” is really about -- getting back a way of life. The sentiment is understandable, even if the goal is impossible. The world has changed too much.
The global economic changes underway mean the days of succeeding by “working hard” and “playing by the rules” are disappearing. You need education and, increasingly, a head-start financially. In some communities in America those things are readily available. In others, they’re barely visible.
Up to now, many Americans have been waiting to see if their current economic problems are temporary, or something more. As they begin to feel the larger forces involved, they will grow increasingly frustrated and, yes, angry.
Get ready for a populist movement in years ahead -- one that could take many forms -- and a very bumpy ride.
After reading this article the question that pops into my mind is, “Who determines who is rich and who is poor?” I don’t believe a simple poll can answer that question. To define rich or poor is nearly impossible. Obviously, Bill Gates is rich – rich beyond most people’s comprehension and only a select few people in the world will ever reach that status. I believe many people today are not angered by rising wealth inequality because being rich has extremely different meanings for different individuals. Many people feel rich if they are able to provide a comfortable life for their family, meaning a house, food, and the basics, while others need more, much more. America has never had and will never have complete equality, meaning each individual family has the same amount of wealth. Since America’s inception there have always been individuals that have had advantages because of family connections, money, or education. The problem I see is if the American Dream - the ability to work hard and provide a comfortable life for your family while playing within the rules - becomes unobtainable to people, no matter what your view is on wealth.
ReplyDeleteI agree Sam....what is the definition of rich? It is something different for everyone. Some people might say it is having wealth. Others would say it is having a good income. For other people, it is ascending on the vertical social mobility ladder. When a person's status changes, her roles change. Someone might consider herself rich, if her status changed from assistant vice president to executive vice president. If two girls both had a billion dollars, how could only one say she was rich? The first person had the ascribed status of being rich. She probably would not call herself rich because she was born into it. However, a person with the achieved rich status would probably call herself rich. Rich is a label that can mean many different things to people.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with the article when it stated that it is getting nearly impossible to become wealthy through hard work solely or to play by the rules. Presently, people in society almost need to have a head start to be successful financially or be exposed to great education throughout their life. This is really frustrating and difficult to underprivileged individuals who just do not have money to start out with and live in areas where the public school system is not successful. This creates a cycle where families are getting poorer and poorer. The financial gaps in society need to fill and when society is more equal financially that is the only time when it would be fair for all. Education is not equal to all and the head start that economically privileged individuals get puts others in bad situations
ReplyDeleteI think it is really interesting how the opinions of people viewing the economy has changed. The article states that people were very used to living a comfortable lifestyle, that even then they could not really afford. Now that the economy has gotten worse, people can no longer live comfortably causing panic. People have begun to realize that all of the values they had been taught, such as working hard and playing by the rules, are no longer working. They have to now stray from their previous states of mind and focus on education and having some sort of an edge. Without an edge, people who are not considered rich have become frustrated and hopeless. People have begun to search for something they can call familiar in society, to prove that they can make it through all of the economic troubles they have encountered.
ReplyDeleteThe problem that Americans are facing is that everyone wants to be rich; therefore Americans have been living beyond their means for many years. It all goes back to the idea of keeping up with the Jones's, Americans want what their neighbors have and the government is enabling them to do so through loans credit cards and other means. If none of this was available no one would have the ability to keep up with the Jones's so that idea would be no more. Though the chances of that idea just dissapearing are pretty farfetched, it doesn't mean that the government should allow people to spend money they don't have.
ReplyDeleteI found it fascinating that people are going to such lengths to continue their lives without many of their peers getting the impression that they are struggling. Many people, especially people who are accustomed to living the "big life" would go to any means to continue living this way. A main reason there is such an inequality of wealth is because people who previously had money, or have a background of money, have more opportunities to get loans and other help from banks, while the people who really need that money, but might not have that appealing background, aren't granted the same opportunities. Even though the United States says that it understands, many people don't realize one of the sources of this growing inequality is the inequality of opportunites of education.
ReplyDeletePeople will do anything to get rich fast. They do not want to have to work hard for their money. Graduating from college requires much determination, but it is recommened for a high salary occupation. People would rather be born with money that have to spend the time earning it themselves. Even when someone has the determination to work hard, the opportunity is not always available for him. It is unfair that everyone is not given the same "starting line". Why should a person who has the drive to succeed be limitted to certain opportunities? Members of the lower class can not even afford to attend college; even community college is out of reach. If everyone was given equal opportunities, the income gap would be smaller. Those who were born rich have a harder time adjusting to the decrease in incomes because they had to learn to adjust their entire lifestyle.
ReplyDeletePeyton Bromley said...
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article the question I'm left with is: "Why are people so desperate to live the "big life"? In a society that is driven by purely self motivations people go to extreme lengths to keep up the illusion that they are okay even though they may not be. The government is aiding people in this effort by giving us loans and encouraging the use of credit cards. People have this idea in their heads that happiness is achieved by wealth. Wealth has different connotations for everyone; a lot of people would say it means not having to worry financially, while others say it's having the social recognition that comes along with it. In our society there is an inequality of wealth because people are having a leg up on one another. Some people come from a family with money giving them and edge over the middle class. Others are cutting corners and not playing fairly. To people who don't have this opportunity to be privileged it's extremely aggravating. The less privileged are taking a sideline seat while the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. To fix our society's issues there need to be less gaps between classes.
I agreed with the article when it stated that education and a financial headstart are needed in today's world rather then just hard-work. I also think that people are indeed becoming angry about the way things have changed from being education-optional and financial headstart-unneccassary to the rich getting richer and poor poorer, regardless of who works hard and who's just born rich. I also agree that in the near future there will be more protesting from not only those being hit by poverty right now but also by those who are skimming by now--because those who are still managing won't be doing so in a few years.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that many Americans are ambivalent to the growing income gap is shocking, considering that it directly effects their lifestyle. When Chinni mentioned that "the days of succeeding by “working hard” and “playing by the rules” are disappearing. You need education and, increasingly, a head-start financially..." reminds me of the stratified monopoly game that we played in class. The people who started with a "financial head-start" were financially stable, but the players that started with nothing couldn't keep up. The fact that people need a financial head start and an education creates a vicious cycle because many people can't get higher-level jobs with larger paychecks without the expense of graduate school, but they end up in greater debt because of it. Debt is an increasing part of the american culture, with television programs and advertisements advising people on how to handle their debt.
ReplyDeleteI think this was an interesting article depicting people’s reactions to the growing inequality in recent years. Until this latest recession, many Americans simply ignored the wealth inequality by making it look as though they were keeping up – they began living beyond their means so as to appear to be rich. It’s interesting to note that the newly formed “Tea Party” has supporters in areas that were hit hard by the recession, they are the people who are now feeling the inequality and they are feeling it hard. As Chinn says, “the days of succeeding by “working hard” and “playing by the rules” are disappearing.” These ideals fully encompass the American dream – the belief that if one works hard and does what they’re supposed to then, eventually, they will succeed and move up in society. It has become apparent that to move up one needs a bit of an advantage at the starting gate, such as education and money. This inequity is greatly angering many people in the country who feel like they are not being given a fair shot at being able to rise up.
ReplyDeleteOut of the articles I have read so far this is the first one that has addressed peoples' angry reactions to the growing inequality. Most of the other articles are talking about how many people are still happy even though they are not the richest people in society. This articles focuses more on how the economy has taken a turn for the worse and people are frustrated about their financial standings. The author mentioned how working hard and "playing by the rules" no longer works in society, people now need a higher education and financial head start. This reality is beginning to crush the American Dream that many people want to aspire to. The "Tea Party" group has come together to return life back to "normal". But what is normal really? Society is constantly changing and this new economy might have just become the new norm.
ReplyDeleteI believe Americans seem relatively untroubled about growing wealth inequality, because Americans like to see themselves as rugged individualists, a nation defined by the idea that people should set their own course through life. “Playing by the rules” will not get you that far in American society today. I agree with Corrine “this reality is beginning to crush the American Dream that many people want to aspire to”.
ReplyDeleteThis article raises an important idea - that in order to progress financially, one must have a head-start. Everyone strives for the "American Dream" but, in reality, it is very difficult to attain. Those who do not have a financial "head start" have much more difficulty achieving this dream because most of the time they are just making up ground. The article also pointed out that many people have grown accustomed to living outside their means, which can become very dangerous. As one continues to live outside their means and fall more and more into debt, they continue to widen the gap between the rich and the poor.
ReplyDeleteThis article stresses the principals of life we learned in our monopoly game: that in order to win a head start was needed and that gap between the winner and loser is HUGE. The idea in question though is why people aren't up in arms about this financial gap. The cause for their calm, is their living outside their means. This is irresponsible and bound to fail in the long term, because having debt is not the financial head start needed to succeed.
ReplyDeleteI think that trying to determine who is rich and who is poor should not be about the amount of money a person consumes. Being rich should be determined about being able to afford and acquire a comfortable living for their families. To make categories of wealthy class and poor class does not determine anything because a person can work hard and gain money and eventually be richer than they were. It is also very easy for a person with an explosive amounts of money to loose all of their money and become poorer than before. America's status on who is rich and poor should not be about the amount of money someone has it should be about their ability to live comfortably.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Christina. It is partly the peoples fault for recklessly spending money they don't have and then thinking their wealthier when they are actually dropping further into debt. The government needs to be the parent in this situation before the kids eat two much candy and crash.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting thing about the inequality in wealth in the United States, is that it cannot be seen for the most part. "Until the last recession, many Americans papered over the issue. They ran up credit card debt." This is the scary part about the inequality. Because it is largely unseen, people are blind to this issue, so it is only going to get worse.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Emma. Before the recession the middle class was comfortable and now the middle class is growing thinner and thinner. there has always been a wealth imbalance in America,it could be looked at from seeing the rich from the poor but the .01 percent rich get richer and the middle class is sliding into poverty.
ReplyDeletei agree with holly when she said that the society needs a head start on their finance to become wealthy or rich. With what sam said about how does society define being "rich" that is socially constructed to what we think. For example, what we defined as being "rich" about a decade ago, we probably wouldnt even consider it being wealthy now. As our social wealth changes with better jobs and income we start to define how being rich is considered and what the requirements are for being "rich".
ReplyDeleteThe following lines really struck me: "The global economic changes underway mean the days of succeeding by “working hard” and “playing by the rules” are disappearing. You need education and, increasingly, a head-start financially". It seems as though smart and motivated youth who have worked hard and done everything right are more and more often being denied higher education because of financial struggles. Even though they are doing exactly what the American way emphasizes, American society is holding them back and only allowing those with "financial head-starts" to succeed. This is a shame, because education can help someone to raise their economic status, bring them out of poverty, and secure them a stable job and life. The very things that individuals who have little money are being denied, are the things that would cause them to have more money. It is sad to see that American society and values have been morphed into this paradox.
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