Inequalities in fact, have gotten worse in modern day society, the saddest part about it is that people are not even realizing how bad it is getting.

The Rich get richer and the Poor get poorer

Inequality in America is on the rise. Income gains since the 1980s have been concentrated at the top. The top 10 percent today take home 30 percent of all income, and control over three-quarters of all wealth. In other words, the people in the world that are making the upmost amount of money and keeping even more. People that make up only 10 percent of the world are in control of 3X their population of income. With this being said, overtime as this amount slowly starts to rise, this 10 percent of people will eventually be in charge of all of the worlds income! Leaving the bottom 90% in a static position with little to nothing left. We have returned to the level of income inequality that marked the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s. This was a terrible time in society and to see the newly advanced world returning to it is scary.

Argument: The mentality that ANYONE can get successful with hard work, allows us to ignore the fact that it is difficult for most people.

Evidence from the International Social Survey Programme suggests that people increasingly think their society is a meritocracy – that success in school and business simply reflects hard work and talent. This belief is held most dearly by Americans, but citizens across the world are growing more convinced.

Now while this statement has some truth behind it, because I do believe that if you work hard you have a higher chance of being successful versus if you as a person in your situation did not work hard then yes you may not be as successful. BUT…there are still levels to what we define as success. In the image above it gives a clear depiction of what happens in society, some people have the opportunity to become rich and successful because they were born into a rich and successful family, suggesting that their ancestors who came before them, somewhere along their line had to work hard. They then have the upper hand because they never had to work hard since their successors did. Versus, someone who was born in a horrible environment with bad education, limited resources, no mentors or friends and family who care, and surrounded with nothing but drug dealers then they are more accustomed to end up in the street or in the poorer range of people.

Now we ask…WHO or WHAT shapes these beliefs?

Most people who don’t treat others like equals, do so because of how they were brought up. Perhaps someone lives in an environment where they aren’t used to different people and their parents or mentors never encouraged them or even educated them about other people, a few big ones in this category we can point out is race or ethnicity or sexuality.

People in more socioeconomically and racially diverse environments are more likely to appreciate how life outcomes are shaped by structural factors such as race and wealth – that is, the ways in which a person’s family wealth, gender or skin color may impact their chances of getting into college or finding employment. They would be more understanding because they are surrounded by these very factors and these very people and most likely have seen an act of hatred against someone simply because they are different.

In high school, I took an African American studies class and we were learning about this topic and initially I was naive. My father was born and raised in Jamaica and moved to the U.S. in the middle of high school. He faced so many obstacles I mean, you could only imagine? stepping into a new environment in the middle of high school in a rough public high school. My grandma worked as a janitor and at a gift shop so my dad was the man of the house, taking care of his two younger brothers. He worked two jobs while paying his was through a 2 year community college. My father now works for Homeland security and is one of the smartest hardest workers I know. Seeing what he has been through and how hard he had to work is what left me in this bubble believing that anyone could be successful. While I may view my dad as successful, we still struggle and there were times when I did not always know where or when the next meal would come. But, I do feel as though if the tables were shaped in his favor, and he was born rich then he could’ve started college much earlier and gone to a better school and he could’ve been CEO of his department, so Yes, I do believe environment and what you were born with influences how successful you will be.