Crisis Crossroads in America: Economic Inequality amid the COVID Pandemic
By Olga Guerrero
Photo: Getty Images
For a country that prides itself in values such as freedom, equality, and unity, the stark contrast between the lives of the rich and the poor in the United States raises an alarming red flag. Economic inequality has existed in the United States since the country’s inception, but today more than ever, it speaks to a tale of the two radically different worlds of the rich versus the poor in America. In effect, the year 2020 has brought a global health crisis that left tens of millions of Americans unemployed and at risk of eviction by the year’s end but has allowed the wealthy to stockpile millions of dollars in savings. With the presidential election around the corner, Americans are taking note of this to inform how they will vote.
The United States, like many other countries, established a federal aid initiative in response to the pandemic to alleviate its financial burden on Americans. Still, the government’s response to the crisis has left a lot to be desired. Between politicians willing to sacrifice the elderly for the sake of the economy and employers forcing their employees to return to work despite the enormous health risk, profits are time and time again prioritized over people. Money reigns supreme over actual human lives.
Needless to say, the gap between the rich and the poor only widened since the onset of the pandemic. To be clear, economic inequality first began to rapidly accelerate in the 1980s and 1990s, when the United States ceased its taxation on the wealthy, unionization declined during a period of deindustrialization, and the North American Free Trade Agreement was established.
If there’s one thing that has become increasingly clear amidst the chaos of the pandemic, it’s that the government has the means to extend government aid to underserved populations. Just \last week, news broke out that the Department of Defense (DoD) had effectively funneled $1 billion from the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act. According to an article published by The Libertarian Institute, the money that was redirected to the DoD to fund “jet engine parts, body armor,...and drone technology” had been initially intended to fund the personal protection equipment (PPE) that hospitals all over the country need, including N95 masks. Thus, we are reminded that this idea of “scarcity of resources”—that the government does not have enough money to distribute as federal aid—is simply untrue.
The process through which government stipends were issued was problematic and disorderly to say the least, yet the poverty rate in America fell “2.3 percentage points” after government aid had been administered according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame. In other words, the poverty rate miraculously declined in spite of government aid that was 1) not issued to non-citizens or to families of non-citizens, 2) mistakenly sent to foreign workers, 3) not issued to people with no internet access or bank accounts, and 4) issued unevenly across different racial groups. In this way, we find that the government not only has the means (trillions of dollars!) to promote the welfare of the general public, but it is capable of completely transforming the quality of life of the most marginalized folks.
Photo: AP/Mark Lennihan
The problem is that the government doesn’t want to. There is no political willingness to forgo profits for the benefit of the people. The distribution of wealth to those in need is not on the government agenda.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we find billionaires nationwide are bouncing back from the economic setback brought forth by the pandemic with actual net gains, accumulating even more wealth at unprecedented rates. According to an article published by ABCNews, “the highest-paying one-third of jobs have almost fully recovered from the recession, while the lowest-paying one-third of jobs remain 16% below pre-pandemic levels”. Additionally, American billionaires have become $565 billion richer, with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos seeing an increase of a whopping $48 billion dollars in the time span of three months, from March to June 2020.
In the era of “Zoom”, low income students have to attend their classes from the parking lot of fast food restaurants because they don’t have access to wifi. And somehow, these stories go viral because they are painted as inspirational examples of extraordinary resilience instead of what they really are: examples of injustice and suffering. The general public response is to show gratitude for living in better circumstances. We are taught to be inspired and not outraged so the status quo remains unchallenged.
The days leading up to the November presidential election is a time like none-other to challenge our understanding of our world and our place in it. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our stability in more ways than one, and has forced the more privileged of us, those of us who are not living under the federal poverty line, to reconsider how we look at the issue of poverty. Poverty exists not due to a lack of resources but due to the government’s political unwillingness to help. The current administration did not mistakenly forget to provide universal aid in the middle of a global pandemic. Republican politicians are not pushing to risk the elderly, essential workers, or children for the sake of the economy by mistake. All of this has been entirely purposeful. However, this does not mean democrats are not beholden to the rich.
Ultimately, we must seek change in our communities. Yes, Americans will collectively cast a vote in the upcoming election, but we must vow to not let it be our first and only step towards change. As we turn to our world to inform how we will vote in November, we must also make sure to look beyond electoral politics. At the end of the day, we only have each other to provide for each other, practice mutual aid, and mobilize to create a better world for ourselves. We must work towards building a country that showcases the true significance of freedom, equality, and unity as the core of American values.
