The Problem of Wealth…

Author: Maj*K

The reality in America is the reality of the class-line. The class-line refers to

the existence of a rigid class structure that rarely allows or encourages upward

mobility. The established classes have been referenced as poverty, lower-class,

middle-class and upper-class. The class-line works along and within the established

classes. Essentially the class-line maintains a socio-economic structure of those

who “have” and those “have not”.

Poverty in the United States is often imposed and prolonged by the class-line

and the socio-economic structures. Therefore, individuals and families living in

poverty have no identifiable trait, quality or characteristic that predisposes them to

living in poverty. People living in poverty in the U.S. merely exist at the bottom of a

rigid societal class/caste structure. Therefore it is the duty of our entire society to

amend our approaches to human welfare and rights.

There are plethoras of statistics that expose the imbalance of wealth in the

U.S. In addition research has been conducted on the existence of the class-line

within class groups. It is important to acknowledge the discrepancies in economics

and the limitations of the U.S. socio-economic structure to understand that the

imbalance negatively affects us all. We must all heed the fact that we all are

invested in our future.

In America the dominating school of thought regarding the reasons for

poverty exudes a "we versus them" mentality. Most often the cause of a person’s

poverty is perceived as their problem and their fault. Under this pretence, poverty
is then perceived as stemming from the inability of the lower-socioeconomic class

to play a competent, educated and able role in their attempt to achieve

socioeconomic advancement. The mentality has kept us separated and unwilling

to collaborate to end our collective struggle to provide for our people. In addition,

the logic of “we versus them” ignores the role that society plays in funneling,

limiting and maintaining people in the economic imbalance and structure.

The “we” role and ideology is held by people who believe themselves to be

economically better off than others. This role and ideology is often found in various

classes regardless of the reality of the individual’s position in the economic

structure. Therefore the “we” in any given class grouping often ignores and/or

disregards their limited economic status and focuses on their privilege over others.

The focus, however, is not salient. The “we” learns to enjoy the feeling of privilege

over others and it begins to internalize the feelings as earned. Once the actions

and feelings seem to have been earned, the “we” can justify perceiving a lack of

effort in others. The “we” often are blinded to their role in an effort to guiltlessly

justify under thought and/or ignorant rationale regarding the reasons people live in

poverty. The rational is detrimental in that it stigmatizes people living in poverty as

lazy, unmotivated and uneducated. The stigma attached to people in poverty is

expanded upon to become a reaction of excusing, ignoring and sustaining an

inequitable socio-economic structure. By ignoring the reality that most individuals

are exploited by the structure we sustain the "we versus them mentality", the class-

line and economic imbalance.

In our “heart of hearts” we know: No person has a choice about the socio-

economic class they are born into. We do however participate in our decisions

about what we do with what we have. It would be naïve to assume that we all
receive equal access and opportunity. Therefore, assuming that people in poverty

are lazy is to ignore the reality of our social structure and to assume that the U.S.

has a fluid class-structure. To the contrary in the U.S. wealth and socioeconomic

status is rigid, rarely earned and most often afforded through the hard work of

lower-classes.

Ideology aside the main issue with wealth in America is that the people who

live under its robe are most often having their human rights violated. Examples

here include subpar living standards, starvation, ill-treated water and lack of health

care. Our world has the resources and our people have the ability to sustain our

entire population. We must all become committed to ourselves through each other.
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