THE GAP BETWEEN THE RICH & POOR
- By Rifat, MAP Youth Communication Specialist This week we are discussing Social Justice issues, which include everything from hunger and food insecurity, climate justice, healthcare, income gap, etc. MAP’s Youth Coordinator, Neena, said a fact that not only shocked me but also made me research the gap between rich and poor. Here’s the fact, “the top 1% makes more than the whole 99%”.
This really struck me and I started asking questions to myself like - so if the top 1% have all this money they have the power to demolish poverty, if not all they could make a huge impact. Given that this is not the reality - what really did make the top 1% become more rich than literally everyone.
Our government, more specifically our tax systems, favors the rich. In simple words, the rich pay less in taxes. The tax percentages required for the wealthy to pay just keeps decreasing with time, while it increases for the middle and lower class.. As we live in a capitalist society, our government favors monopoly companies which further increases the gap. Fun fact - did you know Amazon does not have to pay taxes, not a single penny, to the government. Yes, Jeff Bezos got to keep 11.2 billion dollars of profit in his pocket. Find more information here: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/15/amazon-tax-bill-2018-no-taxes-despite-billions-profit
That’s not the only reason for the gap. The real double edged sword is “technology”, sure it comes with huge benefits in our daily lives, but it has replaced many jobs that required more employees but is now replaced by a robot and companies don’t have to pay at all for these automatic services. Plus, companies can now hire people from other countries at lower wages. Moreover, engineers, lawyers, and other high class jobs are earning more because of technology. To find more about how even doctors are losing jobs because of the rise of digitalism, follow this link: https://www.melissallarena.com/how-technology-is-replacing-humans-and-taking-our-jobs/
While it was already surprising to know that the “top 1% makes more than the whole 99%”,it’s great to know why and what made this a fact. First step of solving a problem is to acknowledge there is one and to find out why it is a problem. To bring up a solution to this problem would require a huge change as the issue is large in itself. We can start from the way we tax the rich and poor but that alone won't solve the issue. The solution must include the repair and maintenance of the so-called minimum wage and turn it into a livable wage, increase value in public properties, and programs like schooling and healthcare to bring back everyone at the same page as no individual is unequal to each other. And that's the whole point of social justice, everything is connected to each other - solving one problem at a time has the potential to solve other issues that are linked together.
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