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"The world we live in appears to be falling apart at the seams. The problems facing humanity seem overwhelming. " Never in history has a generation differed as greatly from those of the past. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening, thus, their are more people living in poverty and more "middle class" society being forced to live in poverty. Our world is full of hate for one and other, mostly caused by a pre-conditioned belief of each other. We would be lead to believe that we live in an "enlightened society" by our worlds leaders, but the truth remains that poverty, hunger and human misery remain very much evident in society today. In order to eliminate any of these issues we must redefine what we believe is an enlightened society.
Throughout history, poverty has existed. In this day and age there is no difference. During the time of the Roman Empire, peasants revolted against the wealthy upper class. Eventually, the Roman Empire was overthrown due to disease, attacks from neighboring countries and the conflict within. However, what started the downfall of the Roman Empire was unhappy peasants that were not hungry and without shelter, but were tired of the rich living in lavishly decorated houses and drinking wine.
Society today is no different. Their is a clear distinction between the rich and the poor. All around us we see people segregated by class. From cars we drive to newspapers we read, their are noticeable differences.
People in today's society often live in communities according to economical and social status. It is very unlikely that a person who is rich will live in the projects, but can do so if he / she chooses. A person who does not have a lot of money cannot live in an upper class neighborhood because their economical status deems them unfit for that neighborhood. Their are very few choices that the lower class has. Just as in the Roman Empire, their is little choice for the lower class. All needs are met as far as shelter, food and water but their is little choice.
We all need food, water, shelter and contact with people but it is the way we go about receiving these needs. A creation of a more powerful middle class is needed if we are to survive into the twentieth century. If the gap between the rich and the poor is widening, it is the middle class which is becoming extinct. Middle class came about in the industrial age as a way to bring more choices to working society. Most people live in a middle class society because it is so vast.
Over the years there has been a decrease of the middle class. Wages have not kept up with inflation, thus their are less choices. The cost of living has risen dramatically because of the advancement of technology. What people work for has not risen with inflation and this has created a gap.
To offset this difference, borrowing is necessary from institutions such as banks and credit unions. When people have exceeded their limit of borrowing from these institutions, which are owned by an upper class society, they are forced into bankruptcy. In turn, they are forced in a lower class society which has limited choices. The gap keeps widening because more and more middle class society is forced into the lower class and in turn out creating more poverty. One solution to help out middle class society is to offer more tax breaks to keep up with inflation.
The more a middle class society the world develops, the stronger a society we will have. The less of a middle class we create, the more of a lower class we have, which in turn create conflict. The more people are even footing, the more chance to open communication with one and other. Racism has existed throughout time. It is a negative attitude toward people based solely on their membership in a certain group. Racism exists due to many factors.
Usually racism is passed from one generation to the next and tends to become the norm for the way people think and the attitudes they have towards other people. People act this way not because they are prejudiced, but because they are following what they have been taught. People divide groups into "us " and "them." We tend to believe that what we do is the only acceptable and right way. People are very closed minded and always presume that if someone is not the same colour, background or religion, there must be something wrong with them. Therefore they treat them unfairly and this is where racism stems from. People start to believe that everyone from that group is the same and alike.
Everything else is ignored and in the end the only thing people see is race, colour and religion. Racism affects everyone and everything we do. Throughout history, there have been incidents where the colour, race or religion of a certain group has caused tremendous hatred and acts of violence. Two major events being the discrimination of African-Americans by whites in the South of the United States of America and the discrimination of Jews in Germany by the Nazis.
These situations had a great impact on the entire world and to this day have left tremendous damage and continued hatred of these groups by certain people. The fact that we, as humans, let these situations take place is a very sad fact of life and therefore we must do everything we can do to change these ways of thinking. There are three ways that we can prevent racism from taking place. The first thing being contact between different groups. There must be extensive contact and it must be positive. By continued contact, people will get used to the differences that other people have and therefore will eventually adjust to the diversity.
The second thing people must do is cooperate with one another. Working together gives people a common goal that is good for everyone. Working toward this common goal will reduce prejudice and this is because they start to think of themselves as one group and not as two different ones. By doing this, it changes the way one group thinks about the other. The third thing that we must do in order to reduce racism is acquire knowledge and information about the other groups. In order to get along with someone, we must understand and know something about them.
Racism exists because we believe everyone from that race is the same. However, if we take the time to learn about these peoples lives, we would come to realize that they have feelings and emotions just like everyone else. We as one society have faced many challenges already. Conflict surrounds us everyday. As an informed society, we must learn from other peoples mistakes and make an effort to make better of the situations.
There are many challenges that face society, all of which society has created. If we are to become "enlightened", we must first ask why we are: enlightened." If we cannot answer the question, than I believe we are just striving to become complete. Society has passed down its challenges from one generation to the next, all of which have not come close to being solved. Maybe if we stop creating new conflicts between us and strive for a common goal we can set aside conflict and become a better society. "The w...
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Research essay sample on Middle Class Society Gap Between The Rich
