The Sole Purpose of The One Percent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Sole Purpose of The One Percent - Essay Example Once this occurs, it will be very difficult for equality to ever exist in the United States again, since the rich will never give these democratic rights back to the poor once they have taken them. The one percent is based on the idea that one percent of the American population controls the majority of the country's wealth. This leaves the other 99 percent of people to fight over whatever money is left over. Capitalism is based on the idea of a free market, where individuals can make as much money as they want under the system. Those who are successful within the system become rich, while those who are unable to succeed are forced under the rich. The idea is also that a trickledown effect will occur, since the rich will pay the rest of society for services that are needed. This is quickly disappearing from society, however, since the rich are becoming greedier than ever before. They want to make much more money than they will ever need, which causes problems for the poor because this money comes out of their pockets. In previous generations, the middle class made up the majority of American society, since corporations were forced to pay their workers a fair wage. Today, however, much of this work can be outsourced to other countries at lower wages, which has left many Americans without jobs. Under a democratic system, the people should hold the majority of the power. Unfortunately, the current system has been influenced the presence of these major corporations. These corporate interests are able to make donations to political campaigns and the politicians respond by passing legislation that makes it easier for these corporations to capitalize on the average citizen. The country’s political system is based on money and if the average person does not have any money, it is almost impossible for that individual to make a difference. The goal of these corporations is to make it even easier on themselves to make money and, eventually, the 99 percent will no lo nger have a voice. If you look at what a company like Wal-Mart has done over the years, it makes sense. Wal-Mart pays its employees minimum wage and, therefore, it is able to offer products for a lower price than competitors. The company will then go into an area and put all of its competitors out of business very quickly, since consumers are attracted to low prices. This takes money away from the small business owners who owned the competitor stores and takes money away from the community as a whole because all of the profits from Wal-Mart head to the corporate offices. Unless something is done in the near future, it will be almost impossible for the United States to regain its place as a democratic union and the land of opportunity. Today’s opportunities are mostly working for the one percent for whatever wage the employer decides to pay. If you do not want that job, someone else will surely take it, since jobs are becoming more scarce. Unfortunately, the power than these c orporations have over the political spectrum are making it much more difficult. If Wal-Mart is donating large amounts of money to the Republican Party, that party will do whatever it can to keep that stream of revenue, since it can help the party get into power. Therefore, the corporation that donates this money has a major influence over the party’