Sociological Issue
The article chosen is about wealth inequality. The author highlights that while the Covid-19 Pandemic is indiscriminate, there are huge disparities among individuals who suffer from economic fallouts. The author further notes that while the poverty levels in the United States are projected to reach the highest levels this year, the wealth of America’s billionaires has increased by 10 percent since the advent of the pandemic. The author describes that although extreme wealth inequality is a pre-existing condition, the pandemic will supercharge the disparities as a result of wealth, opportunity, and income.
To justify his stance, the author highlights that the combined wealth of American Billionaires is higher than it was before. According to the author, atleast eight of these billionaires have added ab extra $1 billion in their wealth during the pandemic. The author highlights some of the notable beneficiaries of the pandemic, as a result of a boom in video-conferencing, they include Zoom Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Eric Yuan, and Skype and Teams CEO, Steve Ballmer. However, the biggest beneficiary is Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, who has added an extra $25 billion during this pandemic because lockdowns have forced customers to do their shopping online and even streaming. The author notes that the rising number of billionaires has greatly influenced the political process, which they have used to slash tax bills.
Wealth inequality is a sociological issue since it affects our health and social problems, such as status anxiety. Wealth inequality is harmful because it places individuals in social classes that create competition and causes stress (Attewell & Fitzgerald, 2012). The outcome of this approach is poor health and adverse outcomes.
References
Attewell, P., & Fitzgerald, R. (2012). Comparing Stratification Theories. American Sociological Review, 45(2), 325. doi: 10.2307/2095129
Collins, C. (2020). Opinion: Billionaires are getting even richer from the pandemic. Enough is enough. Retrieved 23 May 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/28/perspectives/inequality-coronavirus-billionaires/index.html