Equality in America?

When we think of a just and stable society, equality is often the most important requirement. While just civil liberties ensure equality on a moral basis, economic equality is the true indicator of fairness in society. This is why today, decades after MLK, we have the top leaders of NAACP still arguing that our society is unequal, thus leading to the exploitation and degradation of specific groups in society. One thing that many forget is that unlike civil liberties, economic inequality does not discriminate against color, religion, or creed. Instead, it only feeds on money and wealth, and this makes economic inequality so much more disguised, sinister, and pervasive.

Today, the top 1% of American society owned about 35% of all American wealth. The next 19% own 50%. This means that 85% of American society owns less than 15% of all wealth. Now this is inequality at its most basic definition, and the economic gap between the few rich and the vast lower-middle class is expanding esp. during these hard economic times. In history, such trends have lead to the dissolution of many powerful states. What is at stake is not only the prosperity and longevity of our nation, but its very health as well (as we noted from our reading this week). When such inequality is present, we will continue to see health situation worsen. With quickly increasing costs of medicare and bankrupting social security due to the baby boomer population our parents are part of, we are expecting to see costs rise beyond anything our government can pay. In addition to a two-front war and 12 trillion dollar debt, real changes will be forced upon Americans. I don't want to be all dark and gloomy, but the publicly felt healthcare crisis is only an aching symptom of a much more serious condition our nation is sick with. Our society is as intertwined and inter-related as the human body, and right now it is sick, and any disease must be diagnosed correctly and treated.