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Income inequality in America has been growing rapidly, and is expected to increase [PDF]. While the widening wealth gap is a hot topic in the media and on the campaign trail, there's quite a disconnect between the perceptions of economists and those of the general public.
For instance, surveys show people tend to underestimate the income disparity between the top and bottom 20% of Americans, and overestimate the opportunity for poor individuals to climb the social ladder. Additionally, a majority of adults believe that corporations conduct business fairly despite evidence to the contrary and that the government should not act to reduce income inequality.
Even though inequality is increasing, Americans seem to believe that our social and economic systems work exactly as they should. This perspective has intrigued social scientists for decades. My colleague Andrei Cimpian and I have demonstrated in our recent research that these beliefs that our society is fair and just may take root in the first years of life, stemming from our fundamental desire to explain the world around us.
http://theconversation.com/lifes-not-fair-so-why-do-we-assume-it-is-45981
(Score: 4, Interesting) by CRCulver on Thursday September 10 2015, @07:50PM
On the other hand, globalization allows Westerners to move to other places where they can provide in-demand skills while enjoying a very low cost of living. I ended up in northwest Romania rather by accident (liked it as a tourist in the early millennium, decided to stay), but I was pleased to discover that there is still heavy demand for native English speakers in various freelancing fields carried out remotely, so I could work two or three lazy days a week, make quite close to a Western salary, and live in a nice flat and eat well while still saving up a lot of money for interesting travels or tech items. As the years have gone by, I have witnessed the arrival of numerous North Americans or Western Europeans who came here (or the beaches of the world) expressly to work remotely for Western firms while enjoying the good life.
Yes, globalization can seem unfair for those who live in the US or somewhere similarly expensive and want to stay there, because they have some close attachment to their hometown or family. But for those who enjoy mobility and seeing the world, they can reap benefits from our connected era just as much as a poor Asian country that gets an offshored call centre or factory. (And with their head start in affluence, such Westerners are in a better position than people in developing countries to, say, invest in real estate in order to weather any dry periods in freelance and contracting work.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 11 2015, @02:03PM
Good luck having the same civil rights in a foreign country.