Alana
Brady
Professor Werry
RWS200
26, April 2014
Income Inequality: Personal Argument
In
the United States today there is a constantly expanding income gap between the
rich and the poor. Income
inequality is the difference between individuals or
populations in the distribution of their assets, wealth, or income. A major
problem today, income inequality has grown significantly since the early 1970s.
It has been a constant struggle for the American people, especially those in
the lower class. I wondered how the middle
and upper classes grew and created the income gap we see today, and through self-ownership,
hard work, and education, these people worked their way towards success while
others in society struggled. The problem is that too many people ending up in
poverty lack the drive it takes to get back out. Due to outdated government
policies and welfare programs, an assumption is made that the problem is
getting fixed when really no progress is being made. This issue will not be
solved unless a change is made. We need to empower the citizens of this country
to participate in efforts to help the poor fight their way back. I believe that
in order to lower income inequality for the American people, we must get those
trapped under the poverty line out because we the people control how the
economy works, not the government. In this essay I will describe what two
notable authors have said in regards to this issue and present my personal
opinion by introducing and explaining my three solutions to fix income
inequality.
In his article in the Charlotte Observer titled, “More Welfare, More Poverty”, Michael D.
Tanner expressed his preference for government spending on social welfare
programs to end. In order for poverty to stop expanding, Tanner believes that
the work needs to come from the American people and not rely on government for
money. Taking hard earned tax money from the people to give to the people put
into poverty is not helping them improve their lives. Tanner believes the more
welfare there is, the more poverty there will be. He states,
“Throwing money at the problem has neither
reduced poverty nor made the poor self-sufficient. But government welfare
programs have torn at the social fabric of the country and been a significant
factor in increasing out-of-wedlock births with all of their attendant problems”(1).
Something many supporters of welfare do not realize is that
there has been a significant increase in childbirths in women accepting
welfare. It is as if people in poverty are cheating the system and using the
money for what they could not afford before. This issue connects with Charles
Murray’s text, “The New American Drive”, which touches on the problems arising
from cultural and income inequality. Murray explains how single parenthood is
high and many children are being born to unmarried women, putting them under an
even larger financial burden they cannot support. Due to this, the single
parents go on welfare for their family to survive. So, if people in poverty are
complaining about income inequality, why are they still happily accepting
welfare rather than going out and finding a better solution? This goes back to
Tanner and his belief that, “The surest ways to stay out of poverty are to
finish school; not get pregnant outside marriage; and get a job, any job, and
stick with it” (1). In order to get a job and to grow as a person, one in
poverty should not be failing to get an education; they need to work hard to
get a real job and support themselves. Tanner wants to fight poverty and end
government policies for welfare programs because clearly they are not helping
the people in poverty. If they are taken away then the people will be forced to
grow and find jobs on their own. Although harsh, he makes a strong point. The
main goal is to not just throw money at poverty, but to find a way to largely
decrease it, and potentially even eliminate it altogether.
In the second text, “To fix Income Inequality, The Have-Nots Must Become the
Do-Somethings”, Maura Pennington discusses the need to establish stable
institutions to allow people an opportunity to grow and learn to be productive
on their own. Pennington states that wealth is not the culprit and people need
to stop calling it wealth inequality instead of income inequality. Many people
blame the wealthy for having the most money. Well, with no empowerment of the
people, no problem will be solved. Pennington says, “Redistribution of a static
supply of resources accomplishes nothing and makes no one richer” (1).
Basically, by handing the poor more money, income inequality won’t lower. By
encouraging people to get jobs, get an education, and work hard, will only lead
the people stuck in poverty on their way out of it. Many of the top earners are
continually growing their wealth while the people in poverty are doing just the
opposite. Pennington says, “ It should not depress us, it should inspire us” (2).
Pennington wants people who are stuck in poverty to have the inspiration to
succeed rather than sitting around complaining about being poor. The only way
to have success is to put in the hard work to get to the top. In order to solve
inequality we need the people to rise up and drive themselves out of poverty.
There are three
solutions that I believe can solve income inequality: motivation, education and
self-help. A person who is not motivated will never get to the place they
aspire to be. You can be inspired by anyone you want, whether it is celebrities,
entrepreneurs, or even a classmate. Personally, every time I see a doctor or a
CEO of a company I tell myself that I can be them one day, and it drives me to
work hard at my goals until I one day reach them. There will always be people
who simply get everything handed to them on a silver platter, and we can either
despise them, or use them too as a source of inspiration. Life is not always
fair and there be people along the way with more advantages and opportunity than
others. Instead of dwelling on that and letting income inequality expand as a
result, how about we all get up and get inspired? I can look at the things a
very privileged person might have, and tell myself that if I work hard enough I
can have that and more. Yes, my biggest concern with welfare is that people
will not find inspiration and will become complacent. Welfare is an expensive
program funded by taxpayers, but is throwing money at a poverty stricken person
really solving any problems? No, I think that it is a way for the government to
help them, but in the most hands off and miniscule way possible. Instead of
working with someone down on their luck and helping them get on their feet, the
government would rather give them money and hope that they get their act
together on their own. In absolutely no way is this working. If anything, this further
keeps welfare recipients from finding motivation, and in the long run will
probably cost the government more money. Helping a person get on their feet
means they eventually support themselves and come off of welfare, while
enabling a person to continue to live in poverty gives them no motivation to
stop. As quoted in “New Study Shows Average American Pays $8,577 for
Welfare”, by Money Morning Staff Reports and according to the U.S. Census Bureau , “Today there are 108.5 million
Americans receiving some form of welfare, but only 101.7 full-time workers
paying for these benefits” (1). People in poverty are not getting jobs. This is
where income inequality comes into play. People in poverty receive money that
comes from the middle and upper class Americans that pay taxes. These people are
working hard, taking money out of their paychecks to go towards about 7 million
people who don’t work. I believe that those 108.5 million people who are stuck
in poverty are staying there due to lack of motivation and mobilization from other
people. Don’t get me wrong, I hate to see people living on the streets begging
for food, but they wont get anywhere without others stepping up and making a
change.
This leads into my second
solution, which is education. Every single American has the chance to become
successful. It is required for every child to go to school until the age of
sixteen and, if you work hard enough, you also are eligible to get a scholarship
for college. College is extremely expensive these days and most parents do not
have the money to pay the way for their children. Many of those in poverty
believe that they have no chance of ever going to a university, and do not put
the effort towards their education because of that. This goes back to jobs. No
companies want to higher high school dropouts unless they are paying minimum
wage. If someone wants to make money, whether you are rich or not, you need to
get an education. These Americans are getting nowhere because they are not getting
the education that the desperately need. Every person needs to work hard in
high school so they can get into a good college. In order to get into a
college, one has to pass the college requirements. Just because you are rich
does not mean you are smarter than anyone else. Just from my personal
experience in a public high school, half of the students in my class had money
and half of them did not. We all got the same education. So when people
complain about losing out on jobs because they are poor, they cannot blame
their lack of education, only lack of effort on their part because they too had
an opportunity to learn.
My third
solution is self-help. One of the biggest issues with welfare today is that
people in poverty have come to expect the rest of the American people to help
them survive. They rely on the taxpayers to support them. Money Morning Staff Reports
states, “While President Obama campaigned against the rich and for a stronger
middle class, the truth is his actions are part of a government conspiracy
keeping poor Americans out of work and on welfare” (1). President Obama
believes that if he takes money away from privileged people to give to the
poor, it will help the underprivileged people get back on their feet. I
disagree with this method completely. Relying on other people to do things for
you does not solve anything. Self-help and being responsible for your own
problems is the only way you can grow. The upper class is not going to get the
education for the people in poverty or force them to be motivated, that all has
to come from the people themselves. When you keep handing over money to
someone, they will only take advantage of that. What these people need to do is take advantage
of free opportunity not free money. This all goes back to the drive of the
American people to become successful. I understand that people do not have hope
because of the environment they grew up in, but should that not inspire you to
realize that this is not the life you want to live? I want the poor to get out
of living a miserable life and I want them to get jobs, but I do not want them
the rely on welfare in the way they do now. I strongly believe that my three
solutions to income inequality can change the unfortunate situations many
Americans are living in today. With that said, by going in depth about the
problem for income inequality, my position qualifies Tanner and Pennington’s
argument about poverty and mobilization. I explained why people are stuck in
poverty and provided three solutions along with evidence to back up my
statements. Like I have stated before, we need the people to make the change that will not be made for
them through self-help efforts of the poor, rather than providing them with
welfare checks. I want income inequality to change for the better and I believe
that we need motivation, education and self-help to help people get out of
welfare are change their futures for the better.
Income
inequality is a sensitive topic because I assume that not every single American
is open to talk about their personal financial situation. Everyone has
different situations, which is why broader problems cannot always be easily
solved. Life is definitely not perfect and although we are in a constant battle
with income inequality, we Americans must realize that our country as whole is
extremely fortunate. If we all want income inequality to stop growing we need
to change it ourselves. The government does not choose our future, we do. We
need to realize that the American people control how the market works. Many of us wonder, what caused most of the growth to go towards the middle and upper
classes, with the disparity becoming more extreme the further one goes up in
the income distribution. Well, with motivation, self-help, and education these
people earn their way towards success. My father came from absolutely nothing.
His parents were poor and never could afford him the opportunity to go to
college. My father worked very hard in high school, worked long hours every day
to save up for college, just so he can pay for his own education and graduate
from a university. Now, he runs a chemical company and lives a very comfortable
life. Because of his self-ownership, hard work, and education he built his way
towards success. He was one of those people stuck in poverty who never thought
wealth was an option. My father’s life change proves that anything is possible.
My favorite saying is “actions speak louder than words”, and if we stop
complaining and start being inspired, I believe that the American people can
change income inequality for the better.
Work
Cited
Pennington, Maura. "To Fix
Income Inequality, The Have-Nots Must Become The Do-
Somethings."
Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 8 Mar. 2013. Web. .
Tanner, D. Michael. "More
Welfare, More Poverty." Cato Institute.
Charlotte
Observer, 12 Sept. 2006. Web. .
Money Morning Staff Reports.
"New Study Shows Average American Pays $8,577 for Welfare." . N.p.,
n.d. Web. 13 May 2014.
