Economic Disparity Impacts Communities
A high degree of economic inequality is characterized by the current economy, with most citizens falling at the base of the continuum, the lower and middle classes.
Economic Disparities and Factors in Social Terms
Economic disparity has an impact on numerous social factors, such as access to healthcare and incentives for education. Obviously, relative to members of the lower class, people from the high economic bracket find it easier to access affordable healthcare services. High-class individuals will pay for costly facilities such as cancer therapies that are impossible for the disadvantaged in the nation to afford (Alves Pena, 2016). The situation is similar when it comes to education access. The members of the high class easily pay for their school fees and even further their education in the society in comparison to those from the low class (Baryshnikova, Pham & Wihardja, 2016). The income disparity characterized by a high level of inequality suggests that members of the high class will always be favored at the expense of those of the low class when it comes to the distribution of social aspects and resources in the society. The presented fact therefore harms the society since people from the lower class will always feel undermined in comparison to those from the high class. Wilkinson also indicates that people from the low and high economic class bracket will always trust each other less based on the narrative that they are competitors of social resources.
Economic Inequality in the United States
The United States has a high level of income inequality. Apparently, the company is ranked second after Singapore indicating that the gap existing between the rich and the poor in the region is significantly high. With this, the health and social concerns experienced in the region highly evident establishing an unequal society. The United States has a poor social mobility level stemming from the high economic inequality. The huge gap between the rich and the poor has also resulted to increased crime rates in the region explaining the large number of prisoners in the region. According to Wilkinson (2011), the United States is known to have the most prisoners in comparison to other modern organizations.
Looking at the provided figures by Wilkinson, I am surprised that America has the largest number of prisoners per 100,000 (Wilkinson, 2011). The value is significantly on the higher side than I expected. Being a developed country, I did not expect the crime levels to be high as compared to developing countries which results to the large numbers of criminals.
Despite the fact that some of the data presented by Wilkinson surprises me, I agree with his presentation and arguments. The society will always be affected by the existing level of economic disparity reflected by a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Moreover, I support Wilkinson’s notion that the level of trust between the rich and the poor declines due to the economic inequality since s federalist system arises in the long run. The rich will always be provided with an upper hand when it comes to accessing vital resources and social amenities which drives the poor to think that they are at a disadvantage. My thinking has changed since the discussion carried out in Module Two. Apparently, I am now convinced that the existing income disparity significantly affects the society and the distribution of resources.
References
Alves Pena, A. (2016). PIAAC Skills and Economic Inequality. Journal Of Research & Practice For Adult Literacy, Secondary & Basic Education, 5(2), 17-34.
Baryshnikova, N. V., Pham, N. T., & Wihardja, M. M. (2016). Does Political and Economic Inequality Affect Institutional Quality?. Economic Record, 92(297), 190-208.
Wilkinson, R. (2011). How Economic inequality harms societies. Ted Talks.
