The wealth gap

Examine the wealth gap. The debate between the haves and have nots is not new. Recently, there has been a new discourse surrounding capitalism and socialism. Some people believe that since America was built on capitalism, and a free-market society it allows for poor people to achieve the American dream. While others believe that a capitalistic society has permitted America to build wealth on the backs of historically excluded groups, and the system perpetuates wealth inequities. You may have heard this statement before, “a small number of the wealthiest Americans own more wealth than the bottom 90%”. If you follow the stock market, you may remember the Robinhood/GameStop fiasco from January 2021. A small number of investors manipulated the stock market and won huge gains, until trading platforms halted trade. (Thorbecke, 2021) The vast majority of conservatives and liberals agreed that ordinary people were being punished and considered as market manipulators; while the wealthy were able to legally short stock and trade freely. In President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, he mentions lowering the cost of childcare, college, and healthcare among other things; plans to pay for it by raising taxes on corporate America and Americans making over $400K a year. House Democrats also plan to raise taxes on corporations and high-income earners to pay for social programs. (Schroeder, 2021). To be fair, I must mention that the Trump Administration’s 2017 tax bill drastically cut the individual income tax rate for high earners, reduced the tax on large inheritances, reduced the corporate tax rate from 21% to 35%, and created new deductions to benefit wealthy business owners. (Iacurci, 2021) Many conservatives felt that the tax cuts were needed to fuel business growth. So, essentially, President Biden aims to reverse the tax cuts of the Trump Administration. The aforementioned examples demonstrate how the powers of the president and governmental policies directly impact the ability of Americans to gain or obtain wealth. According to the Economic Policy Institute, in America before the pandemic, “140 million were either were poor or one emergency away from being poor, including approximately 60% of Black, non-Hispanic people (26 million); 64% of Hispanic people (38 million); 60% of indigenous people (2.15 million); 40% of Asian people (8 million); and 33% of white people (66 million)”. The middle class is shrinking, and the Federal Reserve estimates that the wealthiest Americans have 16 times more income than the bottom 50% of Americans. In most societies, capitalism and socialism are not binary; they are very much intertwined. They both exist, and they are both needed to create a balanced society. Many of us enjoy the ability to use Uber or Lyft (capitalism) while riding on a highway (socialism). Is it necessary to recalibrate the levels of capitalism and socialism to create a more equitable society? Or, is capitalism vital for America to remain a superpower on the world stage? Here is an interesting quote, ”how can someone be anti-capitalist in politics and yet still participate in capitalism (in order to sustain oneself)” -Unknown Examine the various aspects of the wealth gap. Select a topic that is directly impacted by the wealth gap. (See below for sample topics) For example, we covered housing inequity in discussion 3. You watched a video on how de jure segregation impacted how historically excluded communities were unable to build equity in their homes and how it negatively impacted their ability to obtain future wealth. Then, you will develop a modified case study to make recommendations and create an implementation strategy to support your findings. I am more interested in your knowledge of the subject matter (you will need to do your own research), how you apply course content to the subject matter, and your ability to synthesize the information while formulating your own well-formed opinion based on facts. (You are building on knowledge from discussion 3 and now discussion 5 that will help prepare you for your public policy proposal in discussion 8.) 1. Watch the videos below; U.S. Senator Rand Paul discusses his book on why socialism is not a viable solution to problems, and author Anand Giridharadas details how the elite fight for equity only to maintain the status quo.