Monday, March 21, 2016
Unequal Financial Stability and What it Says About Today's Time
"Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer," by Robert Reich really contained a few points that should have stood out to the average american that grew up in todays time. Robert Reich states that, "All Americans used to be roughly in the same economic boat," meaning that the rich were never as rich as they are now and the poor were never once as poor as they were now. It is made clear to see that the rich was corporate owners, and entrepreneurs, and the poor was strictly the people who worked to be paid minimum wage. There really was no in between, and when there was it was at a very minimum. It is no wonder that the people of today become richer due to the division of labor, and the roles that people are being allocated to. Another factor that I believe plays a role in the increase of financial instability, is that the roles are not allocated equally and pretty much you get what you work for, or what you take the time to be educated on. It is no wonder that a doctor gets paid more than a nurse, all thought they semi know the same material, and nurses are known to do the dirty work, the doctor still stayed in school longer and therefore, they have the qualifications that meet a certain pay rate. Now that American Corps. are vanishing and everything is not made in the USA, it is more likely to see an America family really be successful or to really miss out on fortune. I think it is really eye opening to see how much money the rich combined, really own and how much the the poor hold.
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Netalie,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your take on the essay, “Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer” by Robert Reich. I also liked this essay because I felt a lot of what he was saying is true in today’s economy. Back when our grandparents were just out of high school, they could walk in a business and possibly be hired on the spot with no prior training and learn on the job like discussed in “Blue Collar Brilliance”. Now, that is nearly impossible to do for a good paying job. If you don’t have some type of degree for the job you are applying for, it is most likely you will not be considered for the position. So in conclusion, I guess I agree with both essays because they both speak truth to what is happened to today’s economy. You cannot get a job without some type of degree and jobs that were once eligible for people to learn on the job, are now being taken over seas for cheaper. Therefore, while the rich are getting richer by paying for cheaper labor, the poor are getting poorer because they are now unemployed with nothing to fall back on.
I agree with your view on Robert Reich's point in the essay "Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer" that the gap between the richest of Americans and the Poorest of Americans is becoming larger than ever before due to jobs being lost both to foreign workers and machines that can do the same job for no pay at all.
ReplyDeleteI personally agree with both of the essays we read. I felt like i completely agreed and connected with Mike Roses story about his mother gaining knowledge from a job that doesn't seem like it would much knowledge like waiting tables. I wait tables as well and have found that I've gained almost to a T the same type of knowledge and skills as his mother did in the essay "Blue Collar Brilliance".
Netalie, our outlook on “Why the Rich are Getting Richer, and the Poor, Poorer” is very similar. The quote you use, “All Americans…” is one I highlighted while annotating and can really agree with. I can confidently say that America surly isn’t what it use to be, and the there really isn’t any in-between of rich and poor anymore, it’s boldly either/or. Honestly, kudos to the people who are filthy-stinking-rich and have people (willingly) working for them on such low wages; not very fair, I know, but hey, smart thinking if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I believe that yes, you get what you work for (or educate yourself on), you’re not going to go to school for however many years, acquire one-two jobs and then expect to run a company, no, that’s stupid. Seniority is a real thing, that plays a huge part on a lot of jobs. (but I guess I can say that on a more serious level, not really with fast-food jobs and etc.) “Blue-Collar Brilliance” takes you back to those days where you could literally hop out of high school and land yourself a job. I feel that because of our disappearing American Corp. it’s just like a whole new ball game and everyone (around the world) is invited. Thus leaving me to assume and agree with your statement about finding an American family’s economic statues either ridiculously high, or practically in the gutter.
I agree with what you said about Robert Reich’s essay "Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer" because back when our grandparents were growing up they had a lot more opportunities than we do today. Most jobs today require some degree or even job experience. Labor is being replaced by cheap international workers and also by machines which was discussed in “Blue Collar Business.” I agreed with both essays because they both made some really good points. The gap between the rich and the poor is increasing because the rich spends less on labor, and that leads to the poor finding it harder to find jobs. I also agree about what you said about how the longer you’re in school and the higher degree you get, leads to a better paying job since you have worked for that. When people work harder to achieve a degree, they are entitled to be paid more than someone who did not. A bathroom cleaner can not be paid as much as a surgeon because it is more difficult to find someone with that knowledge to handle the job, whereas anyone can clean bathrooms. Over the years, it is getting harder to find jobs which requires almost everyone to get a college degree.
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