In Arthur Brook’s article
“Inequality and Unhappiness in America”, he makes it a solid point that
inequality does not directly correlate with unhappiness. If our leaders focus
on getting rid of income inequality then the underlying problem, lack of income mobility
and unhappiness, will not improve. Brooks believes that we are mistaking
symptom for root cause. In Maura Penningtons article, “To Fix Income
Inequality, the Have- Nots Must Become the Do- Somethings” she states that we
must “forget our misguided and nihilistic inclinations to pillage the
wealthiest among us.” Pennington does not believe that the wealthy are the
reason for inequality. She thinks that we should look up to the wealthy and use
their success as motivation to do better for ourselves. Instead of
redistributing a static supply of resources to the poor and middle class,
Pennington believes we must establish stable institutions to empower people to
be free and productive. In the article “New American Divide” by Charles Murray,
he states that “everyone in the new monetary upper class has the resources to
make a wide variety of decisions that determine whether they engage themselves
or their children in the rest of America or whether they isolate themselves
from it” Murray believes that culture is the main reason for economic inequality. All of these articles make is seem like economic inequality is not the
major issue. Each article brings up different reasons for the struggle our
economy is facing rather than blaming it solely on economic enequality.
Reich would disagree with many of
these articles. Reich said that the united state has the most unequal
distribution of income out of all the countries and this is the reason we are
struggling as a nation. Like I stated earlier, Pennington makes it a point that
inequality is not the issue. Instead we should see economic inequality as
motivation to do better and move up the economic latter to achieve success.
Reich said that in order to have a strong and successful economy it is crucial
to have a vibrant and growing middle class. Brook’s would say to this that the
middle class needs to work harder in order to help themselves. Reich also stated
that it is extremely important to invest in people, the workforce and the
middle class. According to Pennington, redistributing resources to the middle
class is not going to do anything. We need to encourage people instead to be
free and productive on their own. Krugman and Reich believe inequality is a problem when it is extreme and when it is connected with low levels of mobility and opportunity. Because then it makes it hard for people to get out of their social standings.
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