Analysis Of Confronting Inequality By Paul Krugman

“As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.” (Nelson Mandela). With all these categories of inequality many of the American population see themselves being superior over others. Many people, specifically conservatives believe that inequality is the main purpose of growth and without it there’d be no competition for greater productivity. As much as i’d like to disagree with that statement, it is highly true because if everywhere was equal then there wouldn’t be any strive to be the best or to be the “top dog” in any sort of competition for the reason that every individual would be proportionate. Many like to believe that it sparks innovation or that making people equal is a communist

In the article “Confronting Inequality”, by Paul Krugman, he states that “vast income inequality inevitably brings vast social inequality in its train. And this social inequality isn’t just a matter of envy and insults.” (Krugman 563). Krugman is basically stating that the unfortunate is becoming poorer stressing day after day while the wealthy is becoming filthy rich having nothing to worry about. The widening gap is a serious issue because millions of families buy houses in nice neighborhoods they know they can’t afford due to themselves being so desperate to send their children to good schools. While it is reasonable to infer that this inequality gap has widened due to globalization or technological changes making the American population less competitive, we’re missing the real issue that with this gap being so wide as it currently is, there is not positive change being made. To add on, economic inequality can typically affect political choice making due to stances in life. In article “Inequalities of Income and Inequalities of Longevity”, by Eric Neumayer, he specifies that “poor people are less likely to vote and have little influence on political decisions, whereas the very rich can exercise a strong influence via lobbying and donations.” This highly creates political incentives that would benefit the rich rather than the poor in making society a convenience for the rich at the expense of the poor. For example, Neumayer list that low income families or individuals have multiple consequences with health due to the reason that they can’t afford the best hospitality a wealthy person would be able to afford. Therefore, America has huge amounts of inequality in opportunity and we may be convinced that any individual can be successful through determination but facts are saying otherwise. Wages are completely out