Preview

Unequal Distribution Of Wealth

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1487 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Unequal Distribution Of Wealth
The unequal distribution of wealth has always been a huge problem that has plagued society throughout the ages. As forms of governments of each nation have changed, the unequal distribution of wealth has remained a constant. Even in Communist countries, which were supposed to eliminate this problem by abolishing the private ownership of land, the unequal distribution of wealth was still a problem in their society. It is difficult for society as a whole to make advancements, because of the unequal distribution of wealth. It also creates a gap between the classes in a society, which usually leads to clashing opinions about many important issues. The unequal distribution of wealth also makes the living conditions of the less fortunate undesirable, because the upper class is usually concerned about gaining and maintaining their own wealth first and concerned about others second. It is difficult for the poor to rise above the poverty level, because they are dependent upon what the upper class deems is a fair wage for producing the goods that they make. Governments implement laws to help with the unequal distribution of wealth, but such laws usually simply mask the actual problem. The laws put into effect by governments are also often only slightly effective in helping with the unequal distribution of wealth, because there are many factors that contribute to the problem. Such factors include education, social standing, position held in work place, living location, and life background. There are several ways to compensate for the factors that cause the unequal distribution of wealth, which include a welfare system, social security, health care, and John Galbraith?s idea of giving each family a minimum income that allows them to participate in the economy. Karl Marx also offers a few novel ideas on how to fix the unequal distribution of wealth, which are found in The Communist Manifesto. Galbraith and Marx both offer simple, effective solutions to correct the fact that

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Income Inequality

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Over the years America’s inequality income gap has been growing, between the rich and the poor. There are many reasons why this is happening. Andrew Carnegie, John Kenneth Galbraith and Joseph Stiglitz may agree with me, but believe there are different reasons why and how it should be dealt with. I would have to say that I agree that Galbraith’s idea is what is better for America now.…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Welfare Drug Testing

    • 2276 Words
    • 10 Pages

    In every country and civilization that has ever existed, there has and will always be an unequal spread of capital among the people. Governments have tried to establish balance in society by means of communism and socialism, but it is evident that these methods simply do not work. However, human ethics tells us that helping those in need is a virtue that must be performed. In our society, this virtue has manifested itself in the various welfare programs that the government funds with the money…

    • 2276 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Wealth inequality can be described as the unequal distribution of assets within a population. The United States exhibits wider disparities of wealth between rich and poor than any other major developed nation,” (www.inequality.org) There are two factors that I believe contribute to the wealth gap are income and race inequalities. As the gaps widen within those two factors, the wealth gap in the United States continues to grow exponentially.…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This is shown in the fact that 68.7 percent of the world’s population only holds three percent of the wealth in the world and only 8.4 percent of the world’s population has 83.3 percent of the wealth of the world (Doc 6). The 68.7 percent of the world with the least amount of money often works in factories for very low wages, these factories being owned by the most wealthy. This relates to how those who get ahead have to step on others, with the wealthy exploiting the poor for their wealth.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wealth inequality can be described as a lot of different things. The one that comes to mind the most though is the gap between the rich and poor. This gap is made up of a variety of different things. The one that comes to many minds is the tax code system. In order to correct the wealth gap in the United States efforts should be made to change the tax codes to close the gap between the rich and poor.…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This created a disparity between the rich and the working poor. This stage in society separation, known as socialism and marked by unequal pay for the work performed, is the intermediate stage between capitalism and communism, according to German philosopher and revolutionary socialist Karl Marx’s theory “The Communist Manifest”. (“Karl Marx” 2011) Marx described Communism “as a society in which each person should contribute according to their ability and receive according to their need”. (“Karl Marx” 2011)…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wealth inequality is also a major issue between the rich and the poor. Wealth is “the value of assets owned by an individual of family at a point in time. (Gilbert, 277). Even though the rich do pay taxes, it doesn’t affect them as bad as the poor. They are still able to live comfortably because of the property that they owned. These properties are sometimes inherited and passed down to them. Not only that, but it is most likely that they also have some sort of savings or safety net to maintain their lifestyle in case anything should happen. The poor on the other hand, even though they have to pay taxes as well, this can affect them drastically. Simply because majority of the time they do not own much. They do not own any property,…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The exponentially growing gap that separates the affluent from the rest of society in America has become a truly daunting statistic. According to data collected by the IRS, the World Top Economics Database asserted that in 2010, the top .01%, which calculates into one in 10,000 people, held a 4.6% share of that year’s income. The average income of $24 million per individual in the top .01% is $23,970,000 more than the average income of the bottom 90%, which is $30,000. In the subsequent parts of this paper I aim to analyze the grounds of extreme income inequality as well as the severity of the consequences that it has on the economy and the American people.…

    • 508 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Lauter, David. "Income Inequality Emerges as Key Issue in 2016 Presidential Campaign." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.…

    • 1528 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Racial Wealth Inequality

    • 1477 Words
    • 6 Pages

    After racial discrimination was made illegal in the 1960s, blatant and bigot racism has seemed to disappear, yet remaining racist attitudes have continued to put blacks at an overall disadvantage due to the progression of these attitudes into institutionalized settings and policies. The result of historical and contemporary discrimination and segregation is a widening gap of racial wealth between blacks and whites. Now, America could be argued to be a dichotomized society of black and white, proving that the Kerner Commission was correct to predict that “our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal (Bobo & Smith 1998: 178).” Although whites didn’t necessarily intend on such a separate and unequal society, they don’t plan to change it either.…

    • 1477 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    marx and carnegie

    • 1118 Words
    • 4 Pages

    For centuries, many philosophers have discussed the issue of class struggle. Karl Marx and Andrew Carnegie both developed theories of the unequal distribution of wealth a long time ago; however the only Carnegie’s ideology could apply to American society today. In “The Communist Manifesto”, Marx first introduces the two main social classes: bourgeois (the upper class) and proletarians (the lower class or working class). He points out the revolution of industrialism has made changes of Capitalism to Communism. He suggests that the rich should redistribute property evenly because the proletarians have put a lot effort contributing in the revolution. In contrast, Carnegie analyzes in “The Gospel of Wealth”, the unequal distribution of wealth is a natural consequence of civilization. Both Marx and Carnegie present the problem within society because they want to contribute their own experiences from various views to resolve the tension between the rich and poor efficiently.…

    • 1118 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    income inequality

    • 33941 Words
    • 136 Pages

    Dobelstein, Andrew W. Moral Authority, Ideology, And The Future Of American Social Welfare. [N.p.]: Westview Press, 1999. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 15 May 2013.…

    • 33941 Words
    • 136 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    A recent study done by Marco Cagetti of the Chicago Fed, illustrates that among members of the Organization For Economic Co-operation and Development, otherwise known as the OECD, the United States holds the most uneven distribution of income and wealth. A disproportionate spread of wealth is an issue citizens of the United States understand very well as this issue has made headlines and gained notoriety recently with the Occupy Wall Street movement. A certain economist, Joseph Reich, discusses the causes and effects of this uneven distribution of wealth in America as early as 1991 in his essay “Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer.” Reich’s essay was not only relevant when written over a decade ago, but also remains pertinent to the current economic status of America today. To portray the relationship between the rich as they continued to gain wealth and the poor as they continue to decline economically, Reich utilizes a metaphor of three different boats rising and sinking with the tide.…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wealth Disparity Crisis

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages

    One of the many crisis within wealth disparity in America; is our broken, and expensive child care system. Child Care in America is a major crisis right now because it is broken, also, extremely expensive. We as American’s need to come together, and figure out a plan that works in fixing our child care system costs. Nobody ever would say how affordable their daycare is no parents hear that from other parents. Our young children should be in a safe, yet educational school at an early age, and affordable day care for that matter. How could America tackle this wealth disparity crisis, also by solving our broken child care system? Well employers of working parents should have day care centers onsite, and if they can’t do that they should give…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A redistribution of wealth would automatically cause laziness. The ideology of redistribution is against America's economic system. It will take away from society's growth opportunities like when the rich cannot start a new business or hire new employees, and basically hurting the economy because of this. When you tax income you get less of it. People will have less money to invest, save, and use. When you take away Neil’s money to pay Sam, Neil will either move away or quit working because he has zero incentive to earn money, and won't get a dime, and since Neil is not working Sam will have no money. Redistribution ruins productive habits and investments, which leads to no economic growth. The people who depend on the redistribution of wealth…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays