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The issue of income inequality is a reoccurring theme in Maria Konnikova’s article “America’s Surprising Views on Income Inequality” as well as Barbara Ehrenreich’s memoir Nickel and Dimed. To commence, Konnikova writes about the rapid growing gap between the rich and the poor. In particular, she elucidates, “Income inequality has grown by record amounts since the 2008 recession: between 2009 and 2012, incomes for the top one per cent of the population rose by more than thirty per cent, while those for the rest of the country-the bottom ninety-nine per cent-increased by less than half of one per cent” (Konnikova 1). Clearly, it is difficult for low-class individuals to make enough money to support themselves and their families. Furthermore,

The documentary “Inequality for All” focusing on Robert Reich, a Berkeley professor, Harvard graduate, and previous Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, argues how the United States economy is struggling with the widening income gap; indeed, since the 1970’s, the income gap between the wealthy and middle class has continued to widen which has created many problems within this country.

If non-tipped employees were to be paid the amount they are demanding then we would most likely have less eat-in restaurants open around the U.S.A.. That would effect family time, get-togethers and, other special occations. As it states in Sever Wages Cannot Be Increased "If Waffle Now were required to pay servers the higher wage (they) I might need to raise the prices of our menu items to cover the wage increase." Most Americans do not like

The author provides great detail in each rhetorical category and causes the reader to associate on a personal level. While connecting the audience with the message Ms. Lepore also causes the reader to feel a deep-seated responsibility to be part of the solution. She delivers a broad overview of statistical data from many sources to lend credibility to her position. Jill Lepore uses a very logical approach to show the reader there is a large income inequality gap in the U.S. The author shows there is a direct correlation between the inequality of income and the inequality of

There is no doubt that wealth inequality in America has been escalating quickly; the portion of total income earned by the top one percent has doubled since the beginning of the 1970’s. The wealthy are the main beneficiaries

Presently the United State 's income gap between the middle class and wealthy is undoubtedly significant. Some say that income inequality is

“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).

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

Income inequality has been a rising problem in the United States for the past few decades. One of the main issues surrounding this years is election, especially for the Democratic candidates is income inequality and how to address it. Public opinion on income inequality and the government’s role in changing it can easily shape how the election turns out this year which can make great differences to the lives of American’s for years to come.

With minimum wage for a waitress being only $2.13, tips are essentially the waitress’s prime form of payment. Author Patrick M. Sheridan stated in his CNN article “predominantly tipped occupations are twice as likely as other workers to experience poverty, and servers are almost three times as likely to live in poverty." Statistics from an article on Mother Jones says the overall poverty rate stands at 6.3 percent. For restaurant workers, the rate is 16.7 percent. “Tipped workers and their families often depend on welfare programs to survive — and they do so at significantly higher rates than non-tipped workers, according to a 2014 report from the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank focused on labor issues.” When you fail to tip your waiters, you are predominantly part of the cause of poverty. Stuart wrote in his article “Because of inflation, the value of the tipped minimum wage has steadily fallen over the years.” Leaving waiters bringing home less and less in tips.

Income inequality has affected American citizens ever since the American Dream came to existence. The American Dream is centered around the concept of working hard and earning enough money to support a family, own a home, send children to college, and invest for retirement. Economic gains in income are one of the only possible ways to achieve enough wealth to fulfill the dream. Unfortunately, many people cannot achieve this dream due to low income. Income inequality refers to the uneven distribution of income and wealth between the social classes of American citizens. The United States has often experienced a rise in inequality as the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, increasing the unstable gap between the two classes. The

When one customer left over $1000 for a $60 takeout order, he returned, and asked for his money back.

Although a lot of research in this area focuses on tipping disparities between white and black restaurant customers in the USA. This study (Brewster and Mallinson 2009) helps understand study variation in tipping behaviors across different social groups. Brewster and Mallinson note that understanding the causal mechanisms behind these differences is especially important because negative perceptions affect the way people act toward others which in this case it’s how servers treat their customers (2009). They argued that race-based tipping differentials can primarily be understood as a result of two interrelated labor process factors – the routinization of restaurant serving and the economic uncertainty characteristic in the tipping system (2009).

However, this is not always true; a customer’s discrimination or unwillingness to tip can counteract any good impression an employee may make. A customer’s tip will often be determined by how much they like an employee rather than the quality of their work. Tips may even be influenced by the worker’s appearance and the customer’s personal prejudices. In addition, since tipping is not required, many people will not tip, no matter how good the service is. All of this means hard work may not ensure decent pay. Instead, a business should give an employee a raise for good performance which is likely to amount to more than tips would.

Income inequality is a phenomenon that is undeniably real in our current world, and more specifically, the present United States. Canon describes how the gap between the elite and the poor has been consistently growing for many years and continues to widen (189). Whether the differences between the top and the bottom are a threat to current society is another story. Does income inequality undermine a democracy? Ray Williams argues that societies are strongest when they have a higher rate of equality while George Will challenges that inequality is the very basis of what make democratic processes. A. Barton Hinkle takes a Libertarian approach to the idea that inequality is threatening to democracy and how it can be fixed. Some threats that each article addressed were economic impacts, civility, and fairness. Overall, there is a definite need to evaluate whether the United States democracy is being threatened due to the continuous rise of the elites and the fall of the working class.