Engagement 2/17

I believe we should be asking how we can maximize the economy and ask how to make it work the best or for the greatest number of people. Often the people who make policy or have greater influence on the economy are in positions of greater economic power, meaning they are wealthier, and thus they cannot relate to the problems of the “have nots.” I would like to better understand economic inequality and its relation to hierarchies of difference, as social justice is an interest of mine. With that, I am curious to know if we can lessen the degree/extremity of economic inequality without reaching socialism- so many Americans hear the word socialism and panic or immediately reject it, so I think that the pure fear and aversion towards the term would prevent its implementation or success, yet there must be a way to change the immense discrepancy that exists between the top 1% and the lower classes. To me, it is difficult to fathom how a small group of people hold the majority of the wealth while millions are left to suffer with nothing. People always say they earned their money and thus it should not be taken by the government for people who “didn’t work,” yet I think examining circumstance and increasing education on the factors that influence economic inequality may lead to a greater understanding or more compassion, which could possibly help us ease this problem.