The Blurred Dichotomy of Wealth and Poverty

Wealth and poverty are a distinct dichotomy that represent two different states of living, either being rich or not. While there is a middle-class, it has slowly been diminished as members of this class either gain enough wealth to move up to the upper-class or lose a lot of their wealth and move down to the lower classes. In most cases it’s the latter and not the former, partly due to the many recent events (including but not limited to the Great Recession and the Covid19 pandemic), that have hit the middle-class and lower-class more acutely than the upper classes. In some cases, the upper classes have even gained from the Covid19 pandemic. This is mentioned in the Institute for Policy Studies’ report on Silver Spoon Oligarchs which states that the 10 richest families had an increase in their net worth of roughly 25% during the pandemic. Although there is a vast difference between the living conditions of the rich and the poor, it is not as if it is hard to see poverty even in rich areas.

For example, I have lived in Georgia for about six years in a suburb of Atlanta called Woodstock. While the neighborhood wasn’t full of the 1% at the time, it was mainly inhabited by people the upper classes. That was unless, you drove roughly 5 minutes from my house to the outskirts of the neighborhood, where there was a trailer park full of people in poverty, who did not have the means to buy the quite expensive homes. This dichotomy always struck me as fascinating because it showed to me how thin the line between being rich and poor could be based on many factors. It also showed me how even if someone was poor, having a house creates more of an illusion of wealth, while living in a trailer park makes it more obvious. This dichotomy helps to explain why there is still a hierarchy of classes, even though everyone except for the top 10% have been struggling because of a lack of wealth caused by a variety of systemic factors and catastrophic disasters. How do we help to solve this problem that is affecting many people and is felt more acutely by marginalized groups?

References:

Collins, Chuck, et al. “Silver Spoon Oligarchs.” Institute for Policy Studies, 16 June 2021, https://ips-dc.org/report-americas-wealth-dynasties-2021/.