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Redistribution of Wealth Tocqueville once stated, “The wealthy have little desire to govern the working people, they simply want to use them.” Social Class is defined as a social stratum whose members share certain economic, social, or cultural characteristics: the higher, middle, and lower-income classes. Redistribution of Wealth is the ‘Robin Hood’ of the real world, where the government “steals” from the rich and gives to the poor. I believe that Redistribution of Wealth can help benefit our country, so that we can all hope for a better tomorrow. I will discuss the pros and give my opinion as to what they can do to help benefit society, and I will discuss the con side and refute the points. Types of Redistribution of Wealth are Welfare, Medicaid and Social Security. I will discuss Social Security. Medicaid, Welfare, and state what they really are, and how they are used as Redistribution of Wealth. There are also many books that have certain views on Redistribution of Wealth, class, and socialism, and I will go more in depth as I progress throughout this paper. One of the main points for the Con side, brought on by the upper class, can be summed up in metaphor’s which state that, “Public Welfare is a type of redistribution of wealth put forth as a ‘safety net’ to catch anyone that’s ‘falling through the cracks”, or a “Tax on the successful to support the unsuccessful (Landaeur, 2001).” There are also many views for the Pro side, which are: it can help prevent premature deaths a year, it can help reduce crime rates in the United States, and more. Pros Redistribution of Wealth can help better our society in many ways, ways that can help the United States finally be the “perfect” country that everyone would like it to be. Redistribution of Wealth is said to “help eliminate high unemployment rates, which would prevent another 2,500 premature deaths a year.” The government has always tried to get rid of child poverty, and with Redistribution of Wealth we can save the lives of 1,400 children under the age of fifteen every year. “Lowering premature deaths would be concentrated on the most disadvantaged areas. A combination of all three policies would get rid of more than half of the ‘excess’ deaths in constituencies with above average premature mortality rates.” (John Carvel, September 26, 2000) “A spirit of generosity in a world of not enough.” This is what some people think that Redistribution of Wealth represents. What this is stating is that the United Stated contributes a lot to its people, but not enough. Helping out the “non-wealthy” has always been a problem that the United States has always had to face, because most of the “wealthy” people claim that they are being robbed of their money, and that their money is being given to people who don’t work for themselves. That can be far from the truth, because there are people out that do have low-paying jobs, people that try to contribute as much as they can to society, even though they really can’t, as opposed to people that do have the money to contribute but don’t. (Sara Stratton, 1998) “Suffice it to say that the U.S. sets itself apart from other western, industrial democracies not only in our outrageous levels of income inequality and poverty but also in our incredibly high incidence of violent crime. This is no strange coincidence or accident. A more equal distribution of wealth would go a long way toward solving one of America's most stubborn and pressing social problems.” What this statement is offering is that with Redistribution of Wealth, somehow, crime rates will drop. I’m not sure I agree with this, the only time that crime rates will drop is in our dreams. If somehow this does happen, then I will strongly support this even more, and I will try to contribute as much as I can. I believe that this is trying to state, that if the lower class gets money then they will have no incentive for committing crimes. Some people have failed to realize that the ‘poor’ aren’t always the people committing the crimes, but yes, in a way, I do believe that crimes committed by the lower class will decrease. In general, since the ‘poor’ aren’t always the culprit’s I don’t believe that crime will go down that much. It will definitely benefit the United States, because people will learn that the United States is a stable country to be in, if this were ever to happen. (Nathan Foell, February 2, 2002) Some say that with Redistribution of Wealth you can, “redistribute work through a shorter workweek, longer holidays and additional sabbaticals so that all may share in productive work and also have more time for relaxation, family and friends”. With Redistribution of Wealth you can get more time off to spend time with family and friends, and I am not saying that people should quit their jobs, I am just saying that when given money by the government, people can actually have a social life; meaning not being at their minimum wage paying jobs all day every day. If you are going to have a job to support your family, don’t you think that you should actually consider spending some time with them?
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