### Reasons for Widening Wealth Gap in the United States
1. **Increase in Debt**
- Households are increasingly burdened by debt, such as mortgages, student loans, and credit card debts. Rising levels of personal and consumer debt make it harder for individuals to accumulate wealth.
2. **Shifts in the U.S. Tax Code**
- Changes in tax policies, such as tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, and capital gains tax advantages, disproportionately benefit the wealthy, thus exacerbating income and wealth inequality.
### Not a Reason for Widening Wealth Gap in the United States
1. **Increasing Wages**
- Generally, increasing wages would not be considered a reason for a widening wealth gap. However, it's important to note that wage growth has been relatively stagnant for many low- and middle-income earners compared to higher-income earners, which does contribute to the wealth gap. Therefore, it's the lack of proportional wage increases across different income brackets that impacts wealth inequality, rather than increasing wages as a blanket statement.
Understanding these factors through the lens of key thinkers on class and inequality, such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Pierre Bourdieu, can provide a deeper appreciation of the structural and systemic nature of this widening gap:
- **Karl Marx** would likely point to the inherent conflicts and exploitation within the capitalist system that allows the bourgeoisie (owners of the means of production) to accumulate wealth at the expense of the proletariat (working class).
- **Max Weber** would emphasize the multi-dimensional aspects of class, status, and power, explaining that shifts in the tax code and debt structures reinforce existing social stratifications.
- **Pierre Bourdieu** would highlight how various forms of capital (economic, social, cultural) are distributed and leveraged in ways that perpetuate inequality across generations.
Understanding and applying these theories help in comprehending how and why such a wealth gap exists and persists in contemporary society.
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10.6. Apply the theories of key thinkers on class and inequality to real-life situations.
Wealth is the total value of what a person owns, minus any debt the individual has. In the United States, the wealth gap has reached new heights and is still increasing. Identify the causes for the widening wealth gap in the United States.
Reason for Widening Wealth Gap in the United States
increase in debt
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shifts in the U.S. tax code
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increasing wages
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Not a Reason for Widening Wealth Gap in the United States
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