"Since its beginning, the United States has prided itself on being the land of opportunity, a place in which all individuals have the opportunity to succeed. Many people continue to refer to it as such, but a closer look at wealth and income distribution in the U.S. tells a different story. To the extent to which success depends on economic status and mobility, the notion that the U.S. is still the land of opportunity is simply false. Since the 1970s, economic inequality in the U.S. has skyrocketed, leaving many Americans living paycheck to paycheck while the nation’s top earners hoard all the gains from economic growth. The rise in economic inequality can be attributed to various factors that are often still debated, but a common theme among many of the causes rests on the enactment of legislation geared towards helping the wealthy and against the protection of workers.
Politicians often boast about America’s strong economy, highlighting low unemployment rates, a growing GDP, and soaring stock prices, yet this narrow outlook fails to account for the fact that the benefits of economic growth have only gone to the country’s top earners. According to the Economic Policy Institute, productivity has increased by 61.8 percent since 1979, yet hourly pay for workers has only increased by 17.5 percent as of last year (“The Productivity-Pay Gap,” 2021). The widening productivity-pay gap has also been accompanied by a widening wage gap between the nation’s top earners and the bottom 90 percent. Since 1979, the top 1.0 percent of earners have seen a 179.3 percent increase in wages and the top 0.1 percent have seen a 389.1 percent increase while the bottom 90 percent have only seen a 28.2
percent increase.
Politicians often boast about America’s strong economy, highlighting low unemployment rates, a growing GDP, and soaring stock prices, yet this narrow outlook fails to account for the fact that the benefits of economic growth have only gone to the country’s top earners. According to the Economic Policy Institute, productivity has increased by 61.8 percent since 1979, yet hourly pay for workers has only increased by 17.5 percent as of last year (“The Productivity-Pay Gap,” 2021). The widening productivity-pay gap has also been accompanied by a widening wage gap between the nation’s top earners and the bottom 90 percent. Since 1979, the top 1.0 percent of earners have seen a 179.3 percent increase in wages and the top 0.1 percent have seen a 389.1 percent increase while the bottom 90 percent have only seen a 28.2
percent increase.
Are you claiming Russia was never a super power? Are you claiming that Cuba does not exist right now? Are you saying you can't google Venezuela to see how life is there today?
