When we think about culture, there are certain things that come to mind immediately—food, music, clothes, the list could go on and on. We’ll never run out of pleasant things to talk about, so let’s put things back into perspective.
We like to think that we’ve come so far and we have all the technology to thank. But here’s one thing that haven’t changed—the income gap. The uneven distribution of wealth is the reason behind the heated debates between presidential candidates. It’s not a surprise that today, the rich are richer and the poor are poorer. Many of the countries that we romanticize have problems dealing with this issue. Popular tourist destinations only show the pretty sides of the city, never the struggling families in the countryside. Despite all the new technology, many of the rural folks still live like the
how farmers lived centuries ago.
We know the income inequality is already bad in the US, but Germany takes the first place for having the biggest gap. As theorized on theguardian.com, studies back in 2014 credit the wealth gap to the “lack of data to abolition of wealth tax in 1996”. This isn’t too surprising since rich big business owners have a habit of taking advantage of the incoming wealth under the limited government control. Many fingers point to Hartz IV—the long-term unemployment benefits first named after Peter Hartz. Although the plan lowered the unemployment rates by a little, it’s nonetheless receiving a tons of criticism.
When mentioning China, many immediately think of trips to the Great Wall or night trips around the Shanghai. This Asian country is also the one to be a self-proclaimed communist country that runs on democratic ideals. According to an article in theweek.com, the wealthy 20% of China owns the 47% of the country’s wealth. People are even going to extents of claiming that China are becoming like America. Elites from both nations take clear advantage of the opportunities in global free trade. The Gini coefficient represent the national income distribution. In a graph taken from journalistsresource.org, China has seen a steep increase in the Gini coefficient the last decade while the US is leveling off. Even if the US is trying harder to solve its wealth inequality, other countries are still suffering.
Many attribute their country’s problems to the political parties and the leaders on the podium, a the reason many youths are flocking to Bernie Sander’s speeches. Our little anecdote on Germany’s economy relates to many of our own country’s issues. The presidential election is no doubt bringing a heated debate about wealth distribution and government intervention in business. Many support the idea that the US need to get onboard the reform wagon and that there needs to be serious change to the government. Filling up the arenas where Bernie are giving his speeches, Millennials and the Generation Z are enjoying Sanders’s talk about free healthcare and visa reform for hopes of “a future to believe”.
Words of a Socialist: The Space Between Us
by Yonglin Chen