Class divisions in American society?

Question

Many people say that there is a very vivid class division in American society & the rich are getting richer & the poor are getting poorer & the rich never like to interact or help middle class and poor people.

But hasn't American society always been like that? I can't understand why many people blame it on the current Administration. I mean, rich people have always had loads of money & the poor have always suffered, haven't they? If this is the case, then why do people still complain about America becoming very corrupt and bureaucratic, when it has been like that for centuries?

Answer 1

Society has always been divided into a class system. The US is no different. The problem is that the tax burden is increasingly being shifted to fall upon the poor and middle class. The rich want to keep what's theirs, and they do so by hiring accountants and attorneys who know the laws and the loopholes and use them to their fullest capacity. They don't want to help the less fortunate. And they don't want to help America by paying their fair share of taxes. In 2006 alone, the US government gave out 92 BILLION dollars in Corporate Welfare. Bush's tax cuts went disproportionately to the RICHEST 1% of Americans. and the other 99% of Americans were Net LOSERS under Bush's tax and spend policies. Bush and his administration have only worked to further divide our country through the use of political wedge issues and they've used their tax cuts to increase the gap between the haves, and the have nots. Yes, there is "Class Warfare" going on in the US and the RICH fired the first shot and were the first to draw blood. Now it is up to us, the hard working, poor and middle class Americans to take action and TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK! Our rights and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are just as equal and just as important to those of us in the lower and middle classes as they are to the rich. We need to take the money from lobbyists, special interest groups and corporations OUT of politics and put the power back in the hands of the PEOPLE! If we can help the most fortunate in our country, why can't we help the LEAST fortunate? It's YOUR World- CHANGE IT!

Answer 2

Because now more than ever the working class is finding it impossible to simply "work hard" to get by. The cost of living has steadily been on the rise, while the min wage remained the same for far too long. It's a totally different dynamic that exists in our society now where the "middle class" is becoming less and less. There will always be class division in the world, so it's not just that alone that is causing problems. Is that the "common folk" don't have any real advocates to speak for them.

Answer 3

Class division is a natural state when people are allowed to work and be compensated fairly for their labor.

Requiring a man to work with an artificial limit on his compensation is called slavery.

Yes, we have been fortunate enough to have a mostly free market for some time, and this is why the relative definition of poverty in America would be considered luxurious to many other folks around the world.

Simply put, planned economies fail. If we have learned nothing else from world events over the last 200 years, we should at least recognize the peril of attempting to implement class equality via government.

Those who survived national socialism in Germany or the liquidation of kulaks in the USSR could tell you more about how catastrophic it is when government embraces class warfare.

Otherwise, stand by for about three years and ask some people in Venezuela. It is already playing out. Socialism demands a dictator.

Answer 4

You have received a lot of good answers to your question, so far. Thedamnmushroom summed it up well, I thought. I would add that 24 hour cable network news has contributed a lot to the perception of divisions within the American society. The 24 hour news stations always have “Breaking News”. Most stories are exaggerated way beyond their importance or relevance. News channels bring in “experts” to dissect and analyze every detail. There seems to be some addictive quality to these sorts of programs. I am guessing that some viewers get their adrenaline flowing by being whipped up into a frenzy. I cannot speak from experience about the other Cable News channels (CNN, MSNBC, et al) about this effect. However, I am aware of at least a dozen relatives of mine who are FOX News junkies. They seem to be in a constant state of panic even though most of them are financially much better off than most. Conversations with them are filled with hatred if the subjects get around to politics, religion and the economy. Ethnicity, well, I think behind closed doors, a lot of people make occasional comments that can be perceived as being at least borderline racist. And I mean from all ethnic groups, not just one or two. I think that it is better than it used to be. However, on the issue of racism, America has not progressed as far as would be expected well into the 21st century.

Answer 5

Well said. May I add however, that in a push to make it appear that these inequalities between rich and poor are just happening now, the mighty moneyed Americans hypocritically and with the intent of deceiving the lowly ones, publicize campaigns or movements allegedly to better the conditions of the poor and middle class Americans. We are not dumb. We know exactly what is taking place in our country and there are of lot of things we wish we can change but unfortunately, we are not in a position to do so because we constitute only a "small voice" in a democratic society.

Answer 6

There have always been some rich and some poor and I don't know how you can change that. If you compare the living standards of the poor in the US to the poor in some other countries then we are not so bad off. Our problem is that we keep trying to find a way to make the rich people share their wealth with the rest of us and that isn't going to happen. Go to any other country and no matter what kind of government they have there will be a rich class and then there will be the rest of the people.

Answer 7

Here are the gini coefficients of the United States over time. The gini is a measure of inequality in a country. The higher the number the more unequal a society is.

1967: 0.397
1968: 0.386
1970: 0.394
1980: 0.403
1990: 0.428
2000: 0.462
2005: 0.469

Although income inequality is not new in America. Statistically, 2005 was the most unequal in terms of income that America has ever been. It has been steadily growing. In addition, just because the situation has preexisted that does not excuse inaction on the part of the president. We used to have Presidents who strove to make America better: it seems recently we have Presidents that try not to make America any worse. We can do better.

Answer 8

First, I do think our Government, especially the current admin, is totally corrupt -- perhaps the worst in history. But the class division issue is usually over-simplified in the media. Just spreading wealth around is NOT the answer, and throwing more money at education won't work either. If it did, all people who win the lottery (usually poor/workign class people) would instantly become happy & successful. They usually do not.

Answer 9

It has always been that way... the problem is over the last few years it not only makes more division but now completely caters to the rich... We need a fair and balanced system.. when one class is benefiting which is only the top 10%, and the rest of the majority is sufferning... then there is a problem...

Answer 10

There will always be a class system in the USA, the problem is that the tax system is unfair to the middle class, and this burden will make the rich richer, and many in the middle class will lose ground and become the new poor