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Wealth Inequality

Edith Huerta

HD361 ONL Social and Political Contexts of Human Development

Dr. Shey Quinton

August 21, 2022

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Through the years we have seen many inequalities that have affected plenty. While they

are all important one of the inequalities I choose to discuss today would be that of wealth. This is

something that everyone has had at least one experience with. I have seen multiple challenges of

this inequality on a daily basis and it is something I struggle with understanding. Mostly because

I have seen families struggling to provide. I have seen it in both a personal and professional

setting and each time it is tragic.

Within this inequality we are most familiar with the income inequality. We see this

across cities in all states and even the entire world. The main cause of this inequality can be

traced back to technological change, minimum wage, and globalization. The negative effects that

this can have on society can be inflation, debt, and financial crisis. This is something that has

been around for ages and very little has been done to try and resolve this issue. However, one can

also say that the blame can be put elsewhere. The gap between the lower and upper class

communities is pretty drastic. Politicians, celebrities, and certain business owners are very well

off. With the opportunity to help several with not only the power they hold but also their money.

We see the lengths they go to flaunt their wealth and it is almost like they try to shove it in

everyone’s faces.

On a personal note, I live in a middle class community that has some areas that are on the

more low income side. It was something that almost always stood out to me as a child. I would

think to myself how that side of our city had very little businesses or parks in that area. Which is

not something that would normally seem like an issue to someone who does not pay attention to

that. The way I seen it at the time, was that the reason there was not any in that area was because

there was in a sense “no reason” to have it. The families in that area would not shop often

causing those businesses to inevitably go out of business. At that age that seemed like a valid
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reason for me as to why there was less money being put into that area. Of course now I know the

true reason behind it. It was not because the families did not want to shop, but because they

could not afford it. It is a no brainer why the city does not invest in the lower income area of the

city. I can remember over hearing families at the store discussing what they could and could not

buy because they were on a strict budget. As a child is not something that you really think about

but now as an adult it is absolutely devastating. I even see it as an adult during work. I work at an

insurance agency and every month we get a few calls from our clients saying they can not afford

their insurance. It is so hard not having a way to make their premium lower and telling them

there is nothing I can do. They tell us about how they only have a certain amount of income to

put towards things like this. Most of the time it is struggling families or elder people that live

paycheck to paycheck.

A few days ago I was scrolling on social media and came across a post from Kylie Jenner

where she showed a picture of herself and her boyfriend with both of their jets in the background

captioned “you wanna take mine or yours ?”. The amount of emotions that flooded over me was

a bit funny. I understand that it is no secret that there are people that are extremely wealthy.

What continues to amaze me is how they have several people that praise them for doing

absolutely nothing. Nothing that benefits the community, society, or environment they only

make sure that they are still wealthy at the end of the day. How is it that these two individuals

have their own jets and have the ability to just take off in a moments notice. All the while we are

told to cut back on plastic straws to help the environment. This past year during the pandemic,

the middle and lower class were the ones who suffered the most. While the rich were profiting

off our lives, we had to continue to work because we had no other option. Millions of people lost

their jobs because of the pandemic. I do find it very interesting that during that same pandemic,
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Jeff Bezos made billions all while also being one of the companies that treats their employees

poorly.

It is important that all communities have the same opportunities when it comes to

income. We can help each other to make sure no child goes to bed hungry. Why is it that there

are only a few people in the world that had the money necessary to end world hunger? I would

like to see each community come together. To hold benefits or provide some type of support to

help those who need it. Especially the group of very wealthy people that do absolutely nothing.

We should 100% tax the rich and use that money to help those that actually need it. Most of the

time the money that wealthy people “donate” goes right back to them. I can not understand why

there is nothing being done for this cause. Everyone has at least one experience with this

inequality and yet we see absolutely nothing done about it.

I have tried helping this cause by donating to various charities. Even then, I hesitate to do

it because I do not always know where that money is going. It is very frustrating trying to get

support for this cause because many have told me that money donated to the less fortunate goes

towards unnecessary things. I like to remind people that tell me this that they too have most

likely wasted their own money on questionable things. I hope that with that response from me

they start to actually consider donating. One of the most important things we can do is educate

others towards our cause.

With this social action I have struggled with the aspect that this will not get resolved.

Realistically, this is an issue that will forever be around. Which is very sad and hard to come to

terms with. There is only so much we can do as minorities and we know that those who are

wealthy, they will not bother to help those in need. If they actually wanted to they would have
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done it a long time ago. This applies to politicians as well, they literally have the power to make

the change and yet this sit all day doing nothing. Tragic.
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References

Horton, M. (n.d.). In The Long Haul an autobiography. essay, Teachers College Pr.

Covid-19 has caused a huge amount of lost working hours. World Economic Forum. (n.d.).

Retrieved August 21, 2022, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/02/covid-employment-

global-job-loss/