The YouTube video “Wealth Inequality in America” presents how most Americans perceive wealth inequality, their ideal distribution of wealth, and how it compares to the actual numbers. Although many people intellectually understand that the situation in the U.S. is egregious, it is hard to conceptualize fully because the human mind is just not capable of grasping what 200 billion dollars of personal net worth means. This video used interesting graphics and visually expressed just how much money the 1% own compared to most Americans. The information itself was not new or surprising, given that the video was originally published in 2012. Since then, we have witnessed the rise of tech “centibillionaires” and a global pandemic that caused the highest unemployment rate since the 1930s (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2021). Elon Musk is currently worth 488,000 times more than the average American (Scott & Kiersz, 2021). In 2021, we need an updated video on wealth inequality.
U.S. public schools are primarily funded by district property taxes. However, the 1970s California case Serrano vs. Priest ruled that this resulted in unequal educational opportunities for students in lower-income districts and enacted a funding scheme that relied more on state revenue. Generally, the case was a step in the right direction but was unsuccessful in completely tackling the problem. Nonetheless, I agree with the judge’s ruling. Education is a fundamental human right, and public schools are meant to be government-funded institutions that provide opportunities to all children without charge. It is unjust for public schools to vary in quality only because of their economic district and thus prioritize higher-income students. If all public schools depend on tax revenue, then they should all have an equal amount of funding. Varying quality according to price is the domain of private schools.
References
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (2021). Tracking the COVID-19 Economy’s Effects on Food, Housing, and Employment Hardships.
Scott, B. & Kiersz, A. (2021). One chart shows how poor even the top 1% is compared to billionaires — and how far behind the average American is. Insider.