Inequality remains

Another assignment from my Comp class.

I have never really been one to dive deep into the pool of politics, but this piece really brought out some emotions in myself. The title explains the body of this piece very well. The latter expresses what America and the overall income inequality possessed therein, had done, promised to do, yet continues to fall short, of lessening that gap between our country's richest and poorest. I feel that by reading George Packer's work in this specific piece has come at a no less than perfect time considering the Trump Administration and their gung-ho attitude toward making the rich richer while simultaneously failing to combat the severity of the poor becoming poorer. Back in the 1970s, corporate executives earned 40 times as much as their lowest-paid employees; fast-forward to 2007 and the ratio is over 400 to 1 (57). Those numbers are mind-boggling to me. Every year that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, we are creating a gap between the citizens of our country, "Inequality provokes a generalized anger that finds targets where it can - immigrants, foreign countries, American elites, government in all forms - and it rewards demagogues while discrediting reformers" (61).

Work Cited

Packer, George. "The Broken Contract: Inequality and American Decline." The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines, edited by Gilbert H. Muller, 12th ed., The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2014, pp. 51-63.

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

I've not read Packer's piece, but probably know the gist of it. I don't want to get too deep into it, but I grew up in poverty and know quite well about the rich/poor divisions and the inequity of it. Your writing is excellent and I believe we are of similar minds on the subject.

[Kelli April]

I agree with your review and appreciate you taking the time to read my work. I grew up in a middle-class family. However, I made some bad decisions growing up and I am now finally pursuing Nursing to get myself and my four kiddos out of poverty. Depending on demographics in some cases, it’s almost impossible for some families to ever leave the “poverty” spectrum. And the saddest part, our President is widening the gap with no remorse whatsoever.