Jan
29
Jessica: Class 1
January 29, 2015 | Leave a Comment
There has been much debate about income inequality and how to combat it. But in my opinion, in a capitalistic society there’s undoubtedly going to be inequalities present. Whether it be through income, property, or overall wealth, inequalities separate this society from being a socialistic society. Americans seem to hate the word “socialist”, yet understand that income inequality is unfair as well. However, how are you supposed to solve one without compromising on another?
One solution people propose to try and solve income inequality is tax the rich. In my naive understanding of taxes, I deem it as mandatory charity, and yes I probably am wrong–I definitely am. I still don’t understand how to properly fill out a W-4 form and I am always upset when tax forms are handed to me. As a college student who works part time and witnessing my checks not being a round whole number, it disappoints me. I am not properly compensated for the money I am entitled to for the work that I did. Why state I am getting paid in a round whole number but cut off small percentages of it. Additionally, I get why people are mad that CEOs are paid ridiculous figures, meanwhile those working for their company are only making the smallest fraction possible from it. On the other hand, who am I to have a say in where their paycheck goes? I mean why do so many people dream about being CEOs or CFOs or chief whatever officers? To get taxed heavily and help those beneath them? Pretty sure everyone just wants to be rich. So heavily taxing, in my opinion, isn’t really gonna help as much as people say it is. I’m sure those resourceful people can find a way to undermine their liquidated assets. There’s a reason why some houses sell for $999,999 instead for over $1,000,000, which is the actual price, cause people don’t want to pay a tax they can find a way to get out of. As I said before I’m not an expert on taxes or good with numbers or the economy, so I really don’t know if this is an actual REAL problem solver, but not everyone will comply to this. Generally, taxing the rich: isn’t going to solve income inequality.
I think a good question to ask is why or when did income inequality become so prevalent? New York is a great example for income inequality. There are 66? 67? 68? billionaires in this densely populated city and there are those who barely qualify for the minimum amount for a checking or savings account. How did this happen? Was it always this way? Since many immigrants, rich foreign businessmen, or out-of-state people come to New York for whatever reason, to either add to the cause of income inequality or add to the issue of income inequality, this is a major reason why it is so common. One more billionaire buys a space at 432 Park Ave, and I wonder what happens to the income inequality in New York City?
Furthermore, in Wilkinson’s TEDtalk he speaks about all these countries that have income inequality or don’t and the effects on the citizens’ health, education, and even level of trust. I noticed Japan was in the low side for a lot of the graphs and charts he showed. One reason I feel income inequality is much more prevalent in the United States than Japan is because no immigrants are trying to improve their life emigrating to Japan. Granted, not everyone is starting on the same level in Japan, but it’s a little more even than the United States. There are families living in the United States who have no family members that attended college (I do not know the significance of this statistic, I however do know it is true because I notice “first generation student” often), and those who are born expected to attend college or university. That isn’t even income inequality! It’s education inequality, which is also apparently to blame because of income inequality. Overall, what I am trying to state is that the United States includes many people that are trying to pursue this “American Dream” and they’re not the ones at the top of the income pyramid. How is this supposed to be solved? Eradicate the belief of the “American Dream”? Would that be good?
For the most part I have no idea how to solve income inequality. I understand income equality would never work cause people like being paid and their egos could never handle making the same amount as everyone else. There are people working hard, getting paid trying to figure it out and diminish the gap, and I wish the solution comes sooner rather than later. For a country as diverse and prominent as the United States, I am more inclined to say it will always be a problem and never considerably be straightened out. Yet I am optimistic that someone will and people will be a little more accepting of each other.
