The lack of wealth in the richest nation

Our country's GDP is higher than every single nation in this vast world. Our gross income in 2011 was $14.99 trillion for 311.6 million people.

We can divide our citizens into the following social class groups:

1. Upper-upper class: The American aristocracy which represents less than 1% of our population and derives most of its wealth through inheritance and legacy.
2. Lower-upper class: The "new rich" are also called the working rich. This class represents approximately 3-4% of our population and is made up of the corporate elite, entrepreneurs, and ultra successful athletes and celebrities.
3. Middle class: As a whole, the middle class represents about 40-45% of our nation. This class depends on their incomes and employment is a source of status. It can be divided up as follows:
1. Upper-middle: Medical doctors, lawyers, and other elite professionals
2. Average-middle: Minor professionals such as teachers, social workers, nurses, small business owners
4. Lower-middle class/working class: Approximately 30% of our population falls into this class and is comprised of police officers, fire fighters, skilled laborers, office personnel
5. Working poor: This class is made up of roughly 20% of Americans. These people fall below the poverty line but are employed and working. These laborers typically have unskilled jobs such as cleaning, food service, and farm work. This class typically works at minimum wage and is offered no employee benefits.
6. Underclass/permanent poor: About 3-5% of our citizens fall into this category, often centered in rural areas or urban locations. When working, this class usually only has temporary jobs requiring very insignificant skills.

Now please see this short clip that provides visual displays of income distribution in America.

The American dream and the mantras of our nation are wrapped up in the notion that if you work hard, you will climb the social ladder. People are told to pull themselves up from their boot straps and face adversities with perseverance and hard work. As you can see from the social class explanation above, we are a country of hard workers, yet as the video shows-- that is not enough. Some people watch the above video and instead of  noticing an injustice to their neighbors, they see a motivator to become one of the top 10%. However when I watch this, I see the systemic issues here. This harsh extent of wealth inequality is linked with the perpetual cycles of social injustices that can be seen when we look at this nation's food insecurity (17.9 million households), lack of healthcare affordability and access (our system ranked 37th in the world), sub par treatment of education (ranked 17th in the world), and continued barriers set in place toward minorities (race, sex, sexual orientation).

When a country boasts its advancement and extravagance in terms of GDP, military force, and progressive unalienable rights and freedoms-- how are we still so behind when it comes to the quality of life experienced by each person who can call his or herself a United States Citizen.

If the same graphic representations of inequitable wealth distribution was shown for a country such as Haiti, who would not be surprised. You would also expect that other systems such as health, education, and food security had large margins for improvement. But this country is not under developed by the standard definition, this country remarks on itself as being a forefront leader in all things.

Our people deserve better. Americans should not be left with the intangible guarantees of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness without assurance of their next meal, a doctor who will treat an aliment without bankrupting a family, or an education that does not open enough doors. What does the pursuit of happiness look like to the 6.2 million households with children that do not know how to pursue food for dinner?

We cannot tell our hard working fellow Americans to simply pull themselves up from their boot straps...too many people do not have boots.

References

• World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/country/united-states
• Johnson, M. & Rhodes, R. (2010). Human behavior and the larger social environment (2nd ed.).
• USDA. Household Food Secuirty in the United States in 2011.
• World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/whr/2000/media_centre/press_release/en/
• Pearson: http://thelearningcurve.pearson.com/country-profiles/united-states
• USDA: Food Insecurity in Households with Children (2009)