Thursday, October 29, 2009

A Growing Disparity: the economic divide in America.

Since the economic down turn the economic divide between Americans has steadily increased. According to recent statistics this country has not been this economically stratified since the 1940s. Until the economy regains a certain degree of stability this disparity is likely to continue to grow. During these difficult economic times politicians, and critics offer various explanations to the public for why the middle and lower class are invariably the hardest hit economically; taxes, illegal immigration, and overly invasive government regulation. The truth of the matter is slightly more complicated, and fails to provide an appropriate subject for public animosity.

Historically wealthy individuals have always remained some what isolated from economic hardship. One of the most important factors in this disparity is the divide between Americans who work for a living and those that subsist off of dividends. Wealthier people possess substantially greater investments than average working class Americans. These investments (even during these tough economic times) help to subsidize their expenses. Where as many lower and middle class Americans are forced to take out loans and credit cards -with high interest rates- during economic hardship, which in turn drives them deeper into debt.  

     The turn of the century commenced the intended period for retirement of one of the largest generations in history. Every generation has fought a losing battle with inflation. Retirement planing and investment is “suppose” to take raising costs into account but too often savings fall short. Poor financial planning along with a total loss of investments, many Americans can no long afford to retire. Creating greater competition for jobs.

With a now overly corpulent work force, and statistically fewer and fewer jobs, there is no incentive for businesses to raise wages. Keeping the cost as well as the number of man hours low allows the company to run cheaply and effectively, which yields increasingly greater returns for shareholders. Shareholders being largely wealthy Americans with greater investments then average working class people. Which is to say that the interests of the shareholders are in direct conflict with those working for the company, part of what has lead us to the economic crisis we are in now.

Coupled with this economic inequality; the high cost of medicine is one of the leading causes of bankruptcy in this country among people from all demographics. This period of economic volatility puts enormous strain on individuals and businesses. Many people who would previously have found secure employment are working in temporary or hourly positions which legally do not have to provide health care. Other people can’t afford the health care plan provided by their employer and many small businesses can not afford to provide their employees with health care benefits. 

This is just a brief examination of the current economic climate, and a somewhat simplistic one at that. The economic realities of the 21st century have become increasingly complex, and would require a greater devotion of interest than I feel everyone is prepared to make to my blog. However I hope that what I have written here might cause some people to scrutinize the economic inequality in this country more closely, although it fails to provide an appropriate subject with whom to assign fault.

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