Authoritarianism and Wealth Inequality in the United States

            President Trump, with collaborators in the Republican Party, on the Supreme Court, and support from business, wants to prevent changes that would improve democracy and capitalism in the United States. In their efforts to prevent these changes, they have decided to make everything worse, so that any improvement is only to a return to a previous status quo, and not a genuine improvement. From my understanding, the actions of Trump and Republican Party are only another step in an effort that has continued for decades to undermine civil rights, women’s reproductive healthcare, and worker’s rights, among others. Decisions from the Supreme Court have undermined voting rights, decreased women’s reproductive healthcare, increased the influence of wealthy donors in politics, and given the President legal immunity. Income and wealth disparity continues to grow.

            If wealth accumulation continues without taxation, then after billionaires there will be trillionaires. After trillionaires, there will be quadrillionaires. Meanwhile, the middle fiftieth percentile of people across the globe have an income of about $8.00 per day, which is about $3,000.00 per year. I live on about $100.00 per day, which is about $36,000 per year, which is about the median in the United States. Elected officials in the House of Representatives earn $174,000.00 per year, which is $476.00 per day, and median pay for a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at an S&P 500 firm was about $15,000,000.00 per year, which is $40,000.00 per day. So I am closer to earning $8.00 per day than the salary of a Representative or CEO. If one person earns more than two times another person’s income, then the one earning less is closer to earning $8.00 per day than the person with the higher income.

            Solutions could include encouraging civic participation and increasing voting access, increasing women’s freedom to access reproductive healthcare, and increasing worker’s rights. In authoritarian regimes, the rights of the press are diminished, fair elections are less common, and safety from the abuse of legal immunity is decreased. Additional solutions could include increasing the rights of the press, ensuring fair elections, including the acceptance of the outcome of elections, and protecting against the abuse of legal immunity.

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