Equality In Paul Brugman's 'Confronting Equality'

In Paul Krugman’s essay, “Confronting Inequality,” he discusses various points about how America has developed into quite the divided country over the years. The United States of America has become unequal in terms of annual income, living standards, education and school districts, politics, and social standards, just to name a few. Several matters of combatting the injustice faced by the nation are also mentioned. All of Krugman’s points revolve around one central question, being “why should we care about high and rising inequality?” (Graff, Birkenstein, Durst 561). I believe inequality truly does raise concerning problems within our society, but it also may be a positive thing for our people. Extreme equality could, in turn, result in a communistic government in which those who work into overdrive earn the same titles as those who do not.

In “Confronting Inequality”, author Paul Krugman explains how bad income inequality is for the American economy while suggesting what to do to fix this growing problem. Krugman covers topics such as the cost of inequality, how the middle class is over extending themselves, education and health care all while appealing to all three rhetorical elements. Krugman’s article has an overall effective and persuasive argument because of the topics he covers and his appeal to the reader with pathos, logos and ethos.

Income Inequality is a major problem that has been going on in America for decades. Many people feel that it barely exists today, but those people are very uneducated and don’t really care about the huge problem in front of them the many people that feel that way are highly uneducated, and seem to not really care about which has been gradually increasing instead of decreasing. Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done, only of course if the poor class of people decide to actually educate themselves and get a higher education. One says poor class, simply because that’s how they’re classified. There are five types of levels that Americans are classified as, and they are: Upper Class, Upper Middle Class, Middle Class, Working Class, Poor. The highest percentage of Americans fall in the Poor department, and it has been that way for decades, and will continue to be that way for decades to come.

Today in America, income and wealth inequality has continued to grow at an unsettling pace. The rich continue to get richer, while the number of people categorized as lower class grows exponentially. As Joseph Stiglitz has explained, many theories that are seen as strongly Republican, such as the trickle-down effect, has caused the rich to take money from the poor, and as a result the lower class grows and the middle class disintegrates. The top 1 percent of America’s households currently holds 30 percent of America’s economy, which is much more than other first-world countries and helps to emphasize the extremity of inequality currently in America today. This increased inequality has in turn caused America to become a much more divided society; those born in poverty typically stay in poverty, with little to no chance of self-improvement due to a lack of education provided in their areas. In contrast, those that are born wealthy typically go to better schools, have better health care, and are all but spoon fed information on how to remain wealthy. These two sides of society almost never cross, and this causes the country to be more divided than ever. In order to limit this inequality, drastic changes must be made, such as large corporations paying their fair share of taxes and giving back to the lower class, and minimum wage should be raised. If everyone in America works together, we can raise social mobility and re-unite what has become an increasingly divided country.

It may seem fair to have equal tax for everyone, but it is important to note that paying tax adds up to be very expensive for the lower- and middle- classes. The top 1 percent of America’s people owns a majority of America’s wealth. If that part of the population were to be targeted more by tax, Krugman states that the 1 percent would change to 4.5 percent. Now obviously 4.5 percent of Americans owning a majority of its wealth is still rather incredible, but it is still a major difference and step forward towards the solution to inequality. Krugman believes that if we take this step, “middle- and lower- income Americans would be assured of health care - one of the key aspects of truly being middle- class” (568 Krugman). If this is the case, the raise in tax for that 1 percent, will definitely allow the government to supply more benefits for the people who need them, while at the same time, supporting inequality and acknowledging the

Edin and Skinner begin their article by explaining to their readers that income inequality is a prevalent and complex problem in America today. The authors also point out that although President Obama and several other Democrats have proposed legislative approaches, such as raising the minimum wage and taxing the rich, to combat this problem, it will take a long time for these proposals to become law due to the Republican-dominated Congress. Because the authors believe these laws will take too long to be put into

The income inequality amount all Americans is growing greater amount of stress on the everyday people. For instance, older populations are living longer which means they require medical attention more often because they’re getting weaker and venerable to the world. The ACA was passed to help all American receive coverage yet, problems like this still happen. Robyn Stone talks about how Medicare would have much benefit if they did communities housing for older families, keeping in mind the idea is that they should be able to live where they want too. Diane Rowland contradicts Stone by imploring her idea that states should close the Medicaid’s gap to give medical help for everyone and their need.

Everyone should have equal opportunities regardless of their social class and income. In his article, “Confronting Inequality” Paul Krugman, a professor

“One reason to care about inequality is the straightforward matter of living standards. The lions share of the economic growth in America over the past thirty years has gone to a small, wealthy minority…”(Krugman 586).

Income inequality has been an ongoing issue that has affects many American citizens for decades. Some Americans are more affected by income inequality than other Americans. This is an unfortunate fact, but there seems to be no easy solution and it seems it is getting worse. American citizens are losing hope in the system, and their voices screaming for change that benefits all, are rarely heard.

In Robert Reich documentary “Inequality for All” he makes a compelling discussion about the serious crises that the United States faces due the widening economic gap. He looks to raise awareness of the U.S. economic gap between the rich and poor. According to Reich the widening divide in America is real and growing. Income levels at the middle and labor class is stagnant and are at it’s lowest levels compared to upper class incomes since the beginning of WWII and is growing wider each year. Reich suggests that the economy runs more smoothly when the middle class has jobs with fair wages, when unions are strong, and when middle class workers have some extra money to spend if possible when the government uses the tax policy properly and when it raises the minimum wage regularly to control the income gap between labor and management. In other words Reich argues that economically healthy middle and labor class equality is the foundation of a thriving economy and is necessary to maintaining a sound national infrastructure and educational system within

In the article “Confronting Inequality,” by Paul Krugman claims that inequality has been affecting the low and middle class families for years. In the article it states that because of growing inequality, it has lead to social and income issues. Krugman claims that the different levels of social and income classes are the same as they were back in the Gilded Age. Also, in the article it states that because inequality growing so much it has led to less opportunities for people. Low income families have a disadvantage to send their childrens to good schools. Not to mention, Krugman outlines that if the rich were to be taxed a little bit more, it can help the middle income families advance and eventually have universal healthcare. Low income families

Today, the state of our nation’s economic security is at stake; the gap between the the lower/middle class and the upper class grows wider every year, and the effects are devastating. There is, however, a proposed solution. The Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) bill offers a pragmatic fix to the poverty that plagues America’s lower class, but the current proposition has some flaws. First, lets discuss the contentions that make up the original bill.

In the very informative article “Confronting Inequality” written by Paul Krugman, Krugman asserts that we the people should care about high and rising inequality; in view of the fact that few Americans trust the government, all Americans don’t really have an equal opportunity, and the fact that many families took on housing debt because they wanted their kids to be in a good school district, just a few reasons on why we should care. In the text he talks about the repercussions this matter causes on society along with a variation of statics and blunt quotes that back up his theory. Krugman also gives his own solutions on how to improve these issues of our broken society.

For this essay, I have read Confronting Inequality by Paul Krugman and “The American Dream: Dead, alive, or on Hold by Brandon King. Paul Krugman argues that income equality makes it impossible to live a better life (The American Dream). The rich people are getting richer; while the poor are getting poorer. Krugman talks briefly the cost of Inequality, the math of Equalization in the United States if the idea of equalization was accepted and reducing market inequality. The Cost of Inequality talks about the difference in those of lower class and higher class and references Horatio Alger.