Minding the Gap

Economic disparity, income inequality, classism and privilege are almost constant conversations in my classes that spillover at the dinner table. In this week's reading, I really loved Deep Thoughts About Class and Privilege. I love the drawing of a girl and all of her positive attributes, then turning the page over you can see how most of them were gifts of her privilege and social status. It was also fun to use the questions as talking points with my partner. It was a great exercise is understanding where our upbringing and philosophies differ, and a great way to learn about and explore ourselves.

Then the Distributing Income exercise merged well with an article by Prof. from my communities and organizations class sent. The article is lengthy, but worth the time and very interesting merging so many of the concepts we're talking about and I would highly recommend you reading it : http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_great_divergence/features/2010/the_united_states_of_inequality/introducing_the_great_divergence.html

Everyone loves a rag to riches story, and historically there's been a belief that through hard work and perseverance anyone could attain the American dream. But unfortunately do to the widening gap between the rich and poor, and the shrinking middle class-- the the days of the American dream are becoming a faded memory. I think finally due to the recent economic collapse and high unemployment rate, topped with a looming energy crisis; many Americans are losing hope in the American dream. But I firmly believe that with a clear vision, and organized efforts to change the current power structure --we can create a more just economic system.

I have asked for a couple years now when will the revolution begin, and now I keep asking myself why it has taken so long for the revolution to begin, and I hope that's what the “Occupy” movement becomes. I think for the most part, the American population as a whole, is a group of optimists and we hoped that the economy would just work itself out. I guess that's why, it took three years since the bank collapse and subsequent bailout for people to wake up and realize how wide the gap has gotten in income inequality. We were told that the banks were too big to fail; we were convinced that a bailout was the best option to save our economy and maintain the status quo. Instead, the rescued banks are reporting record profits, their CEOs are receiving huge bonuses, all while many Americans are tightening their belts.

“To put these numbers in perspective (see Figure 1), the difference between the rate at which the middle fifth of the income distribution grew in after-tax income and the rate at which the top fifth of the income distribution grew during this period was 70 percent. The difference between the middle fifth growth rate and the top 1 percent growth rate was 256 percent” (Noah, 2011).

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3220

Income Gaps Between Very Rich and Everyone Else More Than Tripled In Last Three Decades, New Data Show

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_big_idea/2010/12/obamas_war_on_inequality.html

Obama's War on Inequality

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_great_divergence/features/2010/the_united_states_of_inequality/introducing_the_great_divergence.html

The United States of Inequality