Respond to two peers only- Structural Oppression in the US
Peer 1 Response
Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich explains in his movie Inequality for all the economic and social consequences that come about between the different social-economic statues within the United States and how it continues to widen (Inequality for all, n.d.). Mr. Reich explained how our current economy has a similar reflection that was present during the great depression in the 1920s; Reich compared the 1920’s to current economic statistics as looking like an extension bridge (Inequality for all, n.d.). Inequality for all (N.D.) explains how America has an ever-widening gap between the upper class and middles class with income with the upper-class acquiring twenty percent of the countries income which was approximately three times more than in the 1970s, allowing for the class separation to grow. This exponentially increasing gap is causing a rift of anger and resentment from some of the middle-class population towards the upper class as it is believed they have been cheated out of a part of the American dream.
In the Rules for Radicals, the author states, “the great American dream that reached out to the stars has been lost to the stripes” (Alinsky,1989). Alinsky's (1989) statement shows a symbolic representation of what Reich was trying to convey when stating how every growing middle class got hoodwinked by the upper class of a part of the American dream.Change is possible and shrinking the gap between the different levels of social status. However, as Alinsky (1989) states, ‘The job then is getting the people to move, to act, to participate… power to effectively conflict with the prevailing patterns and change them.” Those who wish to see a change in anything must work at it; this is true for everyone. Hard work is not meant to be easy in all cases but can give a positive outlook that can be one of the many beneficial outcomes when people work together.