R: Fight Income Inequality in America
R: Fight Income Inequality in America
Wednesday, January 24th, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. in the Berkeley Mendenhall Room
Wednesday, January 24th, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. in the Berkeley Mendenhall Room
Abraham Willemsens, Beggars at a Doorway, oil on canvas, 51.4 × 59.4 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United States, in 2015, recorded a Gini coefficient (a 0 to 1 metric of wealth inequality) of .39, the fourth highest of all nations surveyed. At the same time, however, the United States has virtually no citizens living below the globally defined poverty line.
Despite being the wealthiest country in the history of the world, 13.5% of Americans still below the Federal Government's poverty threshold. The question becomes whether or not taking on wealth inequality is the way to fightback against the poverty that persists in our nation.