In the Documentary Inequality for All, scholar Robert Reich investigates the wobbling facts on unequal distribution of wealth between the hierarchy of today’s society(rich,middle,poor) and its devastating effects on the American economy. Particularly, he focuses on the fact that our middle class, which contributes to 70% of our economy, is being limited in its growth by the wealthy that make up as little as only 1% of society, but income wise they make more money than half of the country. He begins the documentary by explaining that in the late 1970’s inequality became a major issue, not particularly on the basis of a declining economy, in contrast he also clarifies that there was steady ride of the GDP (gross domestic product). The majority faces this problem due to the unrivaled income of the American workforce in comparison to the exaggerated prices of health-care, college, housing and day to day living costs. Expenditure and wages are two statistics that go hand in hand. If expenditures increase for American households, so must the wages of workers, instead many saw a decrease or stagnation of wages throughout the economic breakdown and even to this date.
Reich describes this decline as a “huge gap”, and this very gap between income and rising economy has become a concern to all Americans that belong to our middle class. This economy got swept into a “vicious” cycle as explained by Reich, a cycle in which the decline of wages spelled doom for consumer spending, which led to an unsettling and troublesome economy for all. At first, the majority of middle class relied on borrowing from banks to help them through their struggle of balancing high living costs and low income. Another coping mechanism that kept the middle class by the ropes was that the women of the country began stepping into the workforce to share the burden of responsibilities of their households.
