Paper Summary:

Looking at the various factors that create wealth disparities and divisions, this paper provides an overview of the various forms the divisions between rich and poor can take. Some issues that the writer introduces through charts and graphs is to explain and understand the disparities in distribution, the relationship between the wealthy and the poor, and there is also a discussion on the inequities of modern politics. The paper concludes that power and politics play the largest factors in wealth and and that modern politics have been weighted by the use the power and this has lasting effects on the population as a whole.

Outline:
Introduction
Wealth Distribution
Social and Political Implications
The Relationship Between Wealth and Power
Social Factors and Implications
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Power is defined as '...the ability (or call it capacity) to realize wishes, or reach goals...' It therefore stands to reason that wealth can be considered as a resource that is very important in the exercise and implementation of power in a country. In this regard, we could refer to aspects such as donations to political parties and paying off lobbyists as well as use of wealth in paying for '...grants to experts who are employed to think up new policies beneficial to the wealthy'. There are also many other ways that wealth can be involved in enhancing certain political groups and individuals - such as being used to hire public relations firms to improve a political image and in donations to many cultural and charitable institutions that would then probably support certain political groupings.
"Another area that is noted in the literature is the use of wealth in stock ownership, which can be used to as a means of influence in large corporate bodies; which can have a far reaching impact on the society and its functioning. Domhoff (2009) refers to statistics that show how the top one percent's share of stock equity increased while the bottom 80 percent's share decreased between 2001 and 2004."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Black Wealth/ White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality. Retrieved June 25, 2009, from http://www.infibeam.com/Books/info/Melvin-L-Oliver/Black-Wealth-White-Wealth-A-New-Perspective/0415913756.html
• Concentration of Wealth in the USA. Retrieved June 25, 2009, from http://web.pdx.edu/~psu01435/wealth.html
• Domhoff W. Power in America: Wealth, Income, and Power. Retrieved June 25, 2009, from http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
• Keister, L. (2005). Getting Rich: A Study of Wealth Mobility in America. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Report details black-white wealth inequality. Retrieved June 25, 2009, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7397962

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