Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Obama’s Address and Class Disparity

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Obama’s Address  and Class Disparity

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, US President Obama showed his concerns about the growing economic disparity in US and had a great emphasis on economic equality and equal opportunities for different classes in the society. He emphatically admitted that only by guaranteeing swift mobility from a poor class to a rich class on the basis of hard-work and merit can keep alive the American dream that says that it is possible to become anything a person deserves and works hard for.

He highlighted the international economic crisis and "Occupy Wall Street" movement with a conclusion that disparity among different economic classes have to be decreased to solve some of the basic economic issues and decrease the growing frustration within the poor people.

He mentioned, "The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise (that hard work can allow one to own a home and support a family) alive. No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important… We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by.

Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What's at stake are not Democratic values of Republican values, but American values…. Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same.

It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom: No bailouts, no handouts, and copouts. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody." Obama is also in the favor of taxing the rich class extensively and urging them to contribute more in the overall economic development of the country. His address, in fact, highlighted the theme of his 2012 election campaign and was focused at gaining the trust of the voters.

What Obama has mentioned in his address is not what the US alone is facing in the contemporary scenario. In fact, most of the countries being ruled by a Capitalist system seem to have the problem of growing disparity among the different economic classes.

It has always been in controversy because it has been a class-based system. The presence of three major economic classes in the system has always kept the discussions among the economists and politicians very hot - few considering it the failure of system while others suggesting it to be the beauty of it.

Recently, in the protests that have been taking place in different parts of the world and one of the major issues in the international economic crisis is the growing disparity among the different economic classes. Though the ideal form of capitalism emphasizes meritocracy, its real form has not been able to achieve that.

Moreover, in the very beginning of the story, the marriage of democracy with capitalism was able to eradicate the strict lines drawn among different classes. It was the mobility through the classes that the system was readily acceptable and even today makes it acceptable if the mobility is maintained; however, today this mobility is being hindered and making many people uncomfortable. The people in frustration rise to demonstrations and demand their rights in every possible way.

Mobility, in an appropriate way and within an open society, through different social, or to put it in more accurate term, socio-economic classes guarantees more opportunities to the people to change their status. But if the mobility is decreased there are lesser chances that people change their social status.

Therefore, it may result in increase in frustration and deprivation. The lines among the classes become more vivid and the classes are further divided on the basis of their cultural and psychological aspects. Moreover, the classes with higher social ranking have more opportunities of getting an important part in political life and therefore participate in the decision making process of their societies.

So, they most of the time get inclined towards using the power they enjoy because of their socio-economic status for the betterment of their own acquaintances and their own class, while the poor who do not have such support have to remain poor for many generations.

Modern democratic capitalist systems have to have swift mobility because unlike monarchy, feudalism or tribalism they are to be based on meritocracy. Some of them are very open systems and make sure that mobility is swift in them, yet some of them are facing some problems in that regard.

American society has been considered as the land of opportunities. It has been believed in America that any person can climb up the corporate ladder if he/she possesses the capability to do so. There have been many examples as well in that regard. Unfortunately, that trend has diminished in American society and the mobility is becoming harder. The current protests that originated in New York have to do something with the decreasing mobility and growing frustration.

No doubt there are many reasons behind the protests, among which the international economic crisis is the main reason, but the decreasing mobility is further adding fuel to the fire. Most of the people do not understand the tough theories of economics and the different ideologies about different economic and political systems.

What they understand is their own lives. If they find themselves in a miserable condition, deprived of even their basic rights and experience their children also in the same conditions even after having the ability and going through hard work, they will be frustrated, and their frustration will further be strengthened by finding some of people having all the luxuries of life without the required ability and even without noticeable hard work.

Definitely, the modern democratic capitalist systems can not calm down the people unless they deal with the issue of mobility. They have to make sure that the mobility through different classes is smooth and it follows the concept of meritocracy.

They have to appreciate the Achieved status and develop a positive competition among the people and try to discourage Ascribed status as much as possible. Socio-economic classes must only serve as the variety in the society and must not become the root cause of discrimination of one class in the hand of the other ones; otherwise the result is frustration and demonstration.

Dilawar Sherzai is the permanent writer of the Daily outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at outlookafghanistan@gmail.com

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