Class Warfare That Will Shape Election 2014 By Joel Kotkin

They draw their conclusion from Karl Marx’s view of class and societies. Outside forces prevent groups or individuals from reaching certain goals or ways of living. That outside force is typically the upper class. The upper class have created an exclusive society for themselves that lock in their wealth at the expense of everyone else’s well-being. For example the CEO of Wal Mart, Michael Duke receives a $35 million yearly salary.

Paul Krugman author of the article “Confronting Inequality” stresses the inequality of our social classes in the United States, he uses statistics to demonstrate the staggering consequences of this inequality within our social classes. Krugman emphasizes the fact that a majority of our wealth is owned by about one percent of the population, which is leaving the middle and lower class at an extreme disadvantage. One example Krugman uses is education; children that have wealthy families, have a higher percentage of finishing college than those of lower income families, proving the statement that Krugman was accentuating, “Class-inherited class- usually trumps talent.” The parents within this middle to lower class have been exceed their financial

William Jennings Bryan delivered this speech on July 9th, 1896. It was known as the “Cross of Gold” speech. He wanted to use silver for the national currency and not just gold. On March 4th ,1895 a few Democrats addressed the ongoing question of “should silver be used as the national currency?” If so, then the people who believed it should needed to form organizations and take charge to make silver the national currency.

Reading through RIP, the Middle Class: 1946-2013, it became fairly obvious that the author, Edward McClelland, was presenting a thesis idea that consisted of promoting the middle class through examples of its prime time when middle class thrived. McClelland made the point clearly as he repeatedly provided examples ranging from the glory days of the assembly line industry that had provided high paying jobs for many people, to presidents who attempted to keep business within the United States to promote home grown jobs. He was especially focused on the point that the middle class was shrinking due to a large discrepancy between the wealthy and the rest of society as capitalism achieves its goal of padding the wealthiest and keeping the middle

The Big Picture: Social Class in the U.S. Basically, this video talks about social class. In class systems, people are ranked by both birth and individual achievements. Also, people are born into certain social classes, but are able to move through individual effort in class systems. The divide between the rich and the poor is increasing. I believe that richer people have more opportunities.

The rich are able to run an economy on their own, as they do not need a government to support them or hold their hand like the poor do. This leaves the lower class almost lost in a society as rich are able to succeed in life, as the poor struggle to find a job to bring home food. Krugman also states that rich are more likely to go to college and graduate, compared to the poor. This prompts the middle class to buy a house in a good school district, even if it is out of their price range. At the time, Krugman says that health care and repealing the Bush tax cuts would allow the United States to, “use the revenue to pay for more benefits that help lower-and middle-income families.”

Publication Information Mantsios, Gregory. “Class in America: Myths and Realities (2000).” Rereading America. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle.

But again it's not fair to say the wage gap is not a problem especially with these numbers but with how taxation is heading it should be put more equally instead of pinning it on the rich.” ... There is no sustainable way to make the poor richer by making the rich poorer…”-Richard A.

American history is built on affairs regarding freedom and equality, but negative issues thought to be conquered in the past have also become present day problems. When confronting controversial social, economic, and political topics in America today, the line between fact and opinion blurs. People across the country develop their own views on national issues, based only on personal experience and what the media tells them. Whether it be intention or ignorance, Americans are not supplied with enough information to accurately confront the major, national problems that lie just inside this country’s borders. Americans are unaware of slavery and socioeconomic issues that exist around them, which in turn presents a concern when trying to combat

William Domhoff’s investigation into America’s ruling class is an eye-opening and poignant reading experience, even for individuals enlightened on the intricacies of the US social class system. His book, Who Rules America, explains the fundamental failures in America’s governing bodies to provide adequate resources for class mobility and shared power amongst classes. He identifies history, corporate and social hierarchies, money-driven politics, a two-party system, and a policy-making process orchestrated by American elites as several causes leading to an ultimate effect of class-domination theory pervading American society. In articulating his thesis and supporting assertions, Domhoff appeals rhetorically toward an audience with prior knowledge

Wealth and Inequality in America Inequality The inequality in America has increased over time; the gap between the rich and the poor has become a problem that many Americans don’t see. Inequality is the extent of income which is distributed unequally among the citizenry. The inequality of the United has a large gap between the poor and the rich making it unfair to the population, the rich are becoming wealthier and the poor remain poor. The article “Of the 1%, By the 1%, For the 1%”, authored by Joseph E. Stiglitz describes that there is a 1 percent amount of American’s who are consuming about a quarter of the United States income in a year.

The problem with the widened wealth gap is that the inequality may harm the quality. Meaning that those in the higher classes see it as you can use the money with no restrictions. However, economist believe that the “relationship between inequality and economic freedom, with the possibility that policies that are meant to reduce inequality will reduce economic freedom, which will then only make inequality worse.”

The middle class want to become rich and the low class only wants equality.” Orwell’s predictions of the party, the government in modern society, rises to power and the poor stay poor. In LA Times “Income Inequality makes the rich more scrooge-like, study finds”, “Since the 1980’s -- the end of a 30-year period… wealth has grown increasingly concentrated at the top of the economic ladder, while low-income Americans have commanded a smaller and smaller share of the nation’s wealth.” *add where quote is from* ”... top 5 percent of American families saw their real income increase 74.9 percent… the lowest-income fifth saw a decrease in real income of 12.1 percent… Sharply contrasting with the 1947-79 period… with the lowest income group actually seeing the largest gains.”

The upper class get better food and products than the working class that is actually helping the country grow. The upper class controls what is given to the lower class and even cuts down on what or how much the lower classes get, “It appeared that

Listed are a couple lines from that passage supporting my conclusion, "We need to take steps to inccrease participation from existing voters." and, "We should not add the least