WRITTEN BY DOMINIQUE DINARDO
Businesses give people in society an opportunity to become employed. Without these businesses, whether they be large or small, there simply would be fewer places of employment.
Because the wealth in the country is growing primarily in the top three percent, there has been a disparity in the amount of middle class jobs throughout the country.
The wealthy keep accumulating money and the poor keep running into debt, thus erasing the entire middle class. This has been proven so much so that society is not even sure how to define the social status.
According to Pew Research, 69 percent of Americans said that one does not need a college education to be considered middle class.
However, 89 percent said that in order to gain the middle class status, one has to have a secure job.
In an age where nothing is guaranteed due to budget cuts and businesses going under, what is the realistic expectation for companies today?
Klaus Volpert, mathematics professor at Villanova University, believes that where money falls seems to be situational to whose hands it may fall into.
“Imagine if you can distribute all the money in the world evenly,” Volpert said. “Inequality will be back in an instant because one man will take his money to the bank, the other will take it to the bar.”
Is the middle class truly missing or is it just the type of characters that fall into it?
“Inequality is woven into the fabric of life, it’s already there in the different abilities and skills and initiatives and working habits of people,” Volpert said. “We have to recognize that and the idea that we can all have equal money is utopian and probably not really even desirable.”
In order for society to function, businesses, both small and large, must find ways to operate.
Many large corporations are doing away with jobs that are singular in responsibilities and skill sets.
Companies now find that potential employees can handle the job of three people, thus leading to layoffs and reorganizations of departments.
Small businesses run under similar stresses.
Debora Smith, three-year small business owner of The Right Fit, knows the struggles of having to manage a company and all that goes with it.
“In order to run a business, you have to love what you’re doing,” Smith said. “Because it’s hard and not very rewarding in the beginning.”
According to a study performed by Pew Research, 86 percent of Gen Xers and millennials agreed that since 2010, small businesses have positively helped the job market.
However, their views on large corporations are much different. Only 36 percent of those questioned believed that large corporations are helping today’s economy.
“When you’re in a larger company, unions take precedent,” Smith said. “It may seem more secure but in a smaller company it’s more personal. You don’t just seem like a number.”
When working with topics such as business, inequality is inevitable. One cannot control fairness in a workplace due to the hierarchy of positions and responsibilities.
However, when it comes to wealth, the U.S. needs to work to close the gap between the top one percent and the rest of the working-class.
