Social and Economic Inequality - Essay Example

Social and Economic inequality: two words that describe the social status of a person. In our society, a person earning more is placed in an upper class whereas those earning less are to be placed in an inferior class of the society. Income inequality has existed since ages and always has been a topic of focus for many, whether it is a political scientists, sociologists, economist or analysts of policies but there are hardly many people around who have actually tried to solve this problem. There have been many factors that have been considered as a causative agent for instilling income inequality in the society. Furthermore, analysts have started to get more concerned about the expansion of the barrier between those who live their lives on below average income and those who lavishly live their lives and are included in the rich sector of any society. This difference in income makes the lower and middle class people feel that they are not being treated in the same manner as those belonging to the upper class. There are people in the world who are less fortunate than the other, who value money more than the others and try harder to earn the money that they deserve. They save up each penny and protect it as they protect gold. Those living in the lower class of the society bounce between jobs and work hard to maintain a livelihood for their children whereas those living in the upper class live a luxurious life. But often the difference that we see in the people who are less fortunate is the value for money. They value their hard earned money and try to protect it. But if God forbid, something happened to their savings, what would happen? Nothing much actually, it would usually be a visit to the local police station, filing a complaint and the police promising to do the best they can while actually, they hardly make an effort to actually take some action. But if a similar scenario were to happen in an influential person’s house, the police would go ballistic on finding the culprit and the money. This is what creates the social difference between the classes, a gap that grows bigger when both the classes become aware of the difference with which they are treated and hence the poor people are left with the feeling that ‘money does matter’ (Diaz). People might ask why does this type of inequality exist in the society or what are the reasons behind its existence. Some might say that it is because of the technological advancements whereas some might point towards the rate of unemployment all around the world. Technology has advanced a lot in these past years which has lead to the replacement of man with machines. This in turn has lead to the rise in the number of jobless people in the society. There are people who are willing to work at minimal wages just to earn what little they can (Reich 406). Another problem that can be contributed to the increasing income inequality is the availability of overseas workers who can accomplish tasks with the same level of perfection and yet ask for minimal salary in return. This shift of job placements from developed nations to developing nations also increase the gap between the upper class and the lower class employees who are now forced to work at a pay which is far less than what they actually deserve. The government is also considered selfish in this regard because they have attracted all the big booming industries by reducing taxes but little do they realize that these companies will soon be converted into completely automated industries which will require very little man power and hence the number of jobless people will continue to rise in the coming years but the government is more concerned about the productivity and the profit that they gain rather than the amount of unemployment that they will have as a result of this. Those people who live their lives below average not only suffer the economic inequalities but also have to go through the discrimination that has been implied on them by the society itself. They are often lured into the work by being offered various incentives such as breaks and a good salary but little do they know that they are being treated unjustly and the incentives being offered to them are similar to a sugar coating on a bitter pill which they have to swallow daily during their work. The upper class people may also be deemed responsible for creating an unjust society. They are the ones who are responsible for treating those below them in an unfair manner, taking advantage of the poor people who have no other options but to abide by the rule set by the rich people or the influential people of the company. The upper class society should put themselves in the shoes of their employees and realize the wrong they are doing with them but it is quite difficult to break momentum of something that has already been set and is being applied for several years in the society (Ehrenreich). Social and economic inequality is followed by many wrong acts in the society. People commit crimes such as robbery as in the money: starting out to become rich and influential. Just like the authors friends stole money from his friend. But how far would one go to get rich and will someone even think about stealing from his very own friend? There is a possibility that people would go to such extents in order to gain a sense of accomplishment or to get to a status higher than they previously were at. There is also a possibility that someone would commit such an act just to feel better about them, even though it means at the cost of their own friendship. But apart from such people, there are also people in the society who are completely opposite to the ones mentioned by Diaz, they work hard in their life in order to get what they want. These people are more sincere to their work, responsibilities and their social relationships. They earn their status in the society by working hard and pushing their limits to unimaginable heights. Some might say that being rich and wealthy are two different things. A wealthy person inherits his money from his ancestors but a rich person may not have this luxury and might have had to work on his own with his bare hands to earn all the money in his life. They found a job that provided them money and then they worked hard in order to sum up their money to great amounts eventually making them rich. Another dilemma of our society is the fact that the poor remain in the same class for the rest of their lives. The social mobility between the classes has reduced to a minimal. The credit for this can be given to our government who never even tries to reduce the class difference in the society (Kruger 388). People today hardly ever climb up the income ladder. The reason behind this can be easily seen in our everyday lives. A person, who hardly has any money to feed his children, cannot afford to educate his children in well known institutions. Hence, when he grows up he won’t be able to earn more than his parents did. Whereas children belonging to the upper class society are educated in a better way and hence earn more than others. Now all that’s left for the government to achieve is to increase the tax that the poor people pay, while decreasing the amount of tax that the rich pay. In this way government can reach their ulterior motive of increasing the barrier between the two classes. Now all that’s left for the poor people to earn money is to feed their children and sell them as food to be eaten (Swift 418). This is actually seen in the world of the under developed nations whereby people are forced to sell their body parts or even their own children to feed the family that they have. The sad part about this is that no one, not even a common man thinks about helping those less privileged than us. No one thinks about those living below average lives and how to make their lives a bit better. While our society is plagued with such nuisance that is far from being eradicated from the society but still there are people out there who are working on decreasing the economic and social gap between the classes and while this takes time to happen, the poor people are left with no choice but to hold on to a ray of hope that better days are to come for them. Works Cited Diaz, Junot. “The Money: Starting Out.” Suffolk Reader. New York: McGraw Hill, 2013. Print. Reich, Robert. Why The Rich Are Getting Richer And The Poor, Poorer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins: N.p., 2006. Print. Ehrenreich, Barbara. “Nickel and Dimed.” Suffolk Reader. New York: McGraw Hill, 2013. Print. Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal For Preventing The Children Of Poor People From Being A Burthen To Their Parents Or The Country. [London]: Dublin printed, and reprinted at London, for W. Bickerton, 1730. Print. Krugman, Paul. The Death Of Horatio Alger. The Nation 2004. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. Read More