Poverty and wealth within capitalism

Name Professor Course Institution Date Poverty and wealth within capitalism Poverty and wealth, have for a long time, been associated with the mode of economic organization of a given state or nation. The two major dominant modes of economic organizations are capitalism and communism. Capitalism dominates almost every part of the globe. Capitalism system is claimed to the best towards economic growth. It has the ability to raise the living standards of every individual on the planet. However, it is also seen as the cause of widespread poverty in capitalist nations. The United States is a capitalist nation. It is referred as a nation dominated by middle class people. In the US, it is claimed that equality of opportunity exists; that it is easy for a poor person to climb the ladder. This claim seems very contradictory and impractical as millions of Americans continue suffer in poverty. President Lyndon Johnson had declared war on poverty more than forty five years ago yet 38.7 million Americans are still living in poverty. The federal government in the US has defined a poverty level of income. Defined as the level of income below which it would be difficult for a family to live without serious problems and below which families would find themselves in danger when faced with the economic crisis. This level rises and falls depending mainly on the performance of the economy. Statistics have also shown that, on average, an American adult has a 60 percent chance of living at least one year below the poverty level. This in itself is a clear indicator of how prevalent poverty is in the United States. The effects of poverty are greatly felt by children. Children living in dilapidated areas get exposed to environmental toxins and usually survive on poor nutrition. Such children also experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones that impairs their memory and level of language acquisition. These, among other things, suppress their brain development. This gives the government a special obligation in the fight against poverty. United States is one of the most developed nations of the world. One might tend to think that those perceived as poor in the US rank better-off by well world standards. Statistics have, however, proven this otherwise. Twenty-year-old U.S. males rank number thirty six compared to other world nations in life expectancy. Similarly, females of the same age rank twenty one. The infant mortality is worse off than in other nations. This, among other things, shows that the US is no better place to live. There are also a large number of women living in poverty. Poverty on women can be linked to several predisposing factors. These factors may include divorce, widowhood as well as those raising children as a single parent. Wage discrimination is another major factor exposing women to poverty. Women working full-time, all year round, earn about two thirds of what men of similar job group earn. Children rearing have continued to be the responsibility of women. When marriages break up, this burden is bestowed on them.Poverty may be viewed as a contradiction of capitalism. This means that it exists as a consequence of capitalism. However, poverty and inequality are seen to play important roles in capitalism and, therefore, necessary. Wage and income inequality is necessary in a capitalist system as it works to induce workers to perform and do jobs under conditions they cannot control. Prevalence of poverty also acts as a warning to the well-off that their condition could still be poor. There are many theories that try to explain the causes of poverty in the United States. Some place their arguments in favor of behavioral/cultural causes while others are in favor of economic/structural causes. There is no clear cut line ...