Aaron Mercado
04/10/14
ENG
102
deWit
Midterm
Paper
Reality isn't what we think it is. America is
suffering from the bad economy that the middle class doesn’t exist on a chart
shown in this video called “Wealthy Inequality”. It shows the reality that the
well off individuals are at the top and those less fortunate are on the
bottom. People think the ideal America
is doing better, but in the book The Rich and the Rest of Us written by
Cornel West and Tavis Smiley show how people today are copping in todays
society. A story of a couple stood out in the book and how they had to survive
paycheck to paycheck and one day forced to eat soup for two weeks because they
were laid off. Outsourcing increases unemployment, which causes individuals in
the US unable to pay for basic necessities such as taxes, their homes, and
assets. Businesses go underwater which create a lack of tax money needed to
fund essential needs such as public schooling.
Unemployment rates have
risen within past years. People that have lost their jobs often times didn't
receive a college education resulting in them unable to get back into the work
force. A majority of those laid off rely on the unemployment check as their
only source of income. Obama fails to acknowledge those less fortunate. Since
he has been in office he has tried to fight for more jobs within the US, but
with the increasing unemployment what evidence shows his success with jobs in
America? He's made it difficult for the typical person to obtain health
insurance let alone increase the job opportunities in the market. Our tax money
should be used to benefit those in our community so they may be able to receive
an income instead of areas where aren't as necessary.
Even those individuals
who are unable to receive a steady income they still have the task of paying
taxes. In today's society almost everything you buy includes a tax. There are
two types of tax one is income tax the other is capital gains tax. Income tax
is a percentage taken from an individual's paycheck. Second is capital gains tax,
which is for the increase of stock, bonds, and properties. Often times people
get excited when getting a tax refund when in reality they are just getting
back a percentage of the money the government has taken from their paycheck.
For people who fail to file their taxes they are audited. Being audited is when
the government takes the amount of money the individual would have paid in
taxes. If a person is unable to pay the amount of taxes that they own they have
to report to court. The US government could use our tax money in ways that
would benefit programs needed in society such as public education and funding
for low-income organizations.
The reason society isn't up to certain
standards is due to the high rate of students dropping out of school. The low
funding for education in California has caused classroom sizes to double or
even triple within the past few years. Most low-income families are given very
little assistance. Kids are unable to get the proper nutrition even with “free
lunch” provided by the school. Teachers are forced to squeeze the entire
curriculum into kids brains, with a ratio of forty students to one teacher
there is that lack of individual attention needed for those who might be
falling behind. Most teachers have determined it would be best for them to
leave as soon as possible so they would be able to have just enough for
retirement. In the past I had a class with thirty-five students, the teacher
had complained to the principal because he wouldn't be able to give the
attention necessary for that class. On the second week of school he was given a
notice that he would be laid off within the year due to lack of funds to
continue his program. Kids may be having a difficult time in school because of
large classroom sizes or other may be moving school repeatedly due to the
parents having a difficult time keeping up with their mortgage.
The mortgage crisis has increased due to the
economy. Most people have lost their homes or businesses due to the increase in
jobs loss causing people to not spend as much money. The term “underwater” is
used to define an object that has lost its value. For instance, if I were to
purchase a home at $300,000 in 2010, in today’s economy the home would be worth
$150,000 or less. About 5 to 10 years ago the economy was in good standing
making people more willing to make purchases on things that they wanted. People
would buy homes and other necessities left and right, due to the recession
people have been having a hard time keeping up with payments causing banks to
take people's home. It was already difficult for Americans to find a job, and
then came the idea of outsourcing.
With the bad economy
many companies have found decided to take their business to other countries
where labor is cheap in order to maximize their profit. An example of these
countries is Mexico, China and Bangladesh. China is the location where the
famous Nike brand outsources their products. What many people do not know is
that the individual who made the product is paid very little then the company
in turn charges extremely high prices to those buying them in the stores.
Apple, for example, has workers in China sadly working in poor working
conditions receiving very little in wages. When the public found out about this
they started protesting against the mistreatment of those individuals. Walmart
as well has done the same with Bangladesh. In April of 2013 there was an
explosion of a garment planet located in Bangladesh but the reason wasn't
reported. Walmart was so afraid of the public perception so the company paid
reporters to prevent the story from leaking out. The company was afraid the
negative publicity would affect the sales. If you were to look at the tags of
some of the things you bought you'd notice that they wouldn't say made in the
US. It is definitely sad to see people working in such poor unsanitary
conditions and getting paid cents. All of these big companies say they have
labor unions to support these people, but what we don’t know is if we can take
their word on it. Disheartening to say but outsourcing is stuck where it is. If
one day the big companies decide to bring those jobs back it would create an
increase of job opportunities. This is highly doubtful due to the increase in
expenses for the company to increase the wages to be up to the standards of the
labor union.
In the “Wealth and
Inequality” video it portrays a chart showing the nations wealth. First they
illustrate the world’s wealth in total anarchy, then the graph changes as it
goes from high to low from the ideal perspective and what we actually think to
what the reality of it is. The reality is that the nations wealth is with the
top 40%. The only way to move the wealth
from the left to the right is to outsource less resulting in more jobs, which
can create a source of revenue for the economy. With the increase of jobs
people would be able to work again and thus have the ability to pay for their
taxes. As Americans we need to push and strive for funding in education because
they are the future of America.
