Inequality: The American What?

294

September 13, 2014

Published in Der Standard
(Austria) on 8 September 2014
by Andreas Schnauder (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Tina Zernak. Edited by Laurence Bouvard.

Increasing inequality in the U.S. is turning more and more into a fundamental problem. Those who suffer from poverty in the United States have increasingly fewer chances to leave their misery behind. Without money, there is no education or professional training, which nowadays has a higher significance than two or three decades ago. It is mostly blacks and Hispanics who are affected by this inequality. According to a study conducted by the Federal Reserve, their situation has grown severely worse over recent years, while whites were able to increase their income. That was most likely not the change that the first African-American president, Barack Obama, had in mind during his initial election campaign.

For a long time, things had been looking differently. In the 1960s, many Southerners moved to the booming industrial centers. This led to a reduction in the striking difference in income between blacks and whites. However, the downfall of U.S. industry turned the trend around again, and the financial crisis made the situation even worse. The value of private homes, often the only possession of people with a lower income, decreased significantly, while people in well-off circles had long since been profiting from security gains. Unemployment among African-Americans is twice as high as among whites. Although equally well-trained, African-Americans who do have a job earn less than non-blacks. The fairy tale of the American dream is turning into a farce.

Ungleichheit: The American was?
Kommentar | Andreas Schnauder
8. September 2014, 05:30
Die wachsende Armut in den USA wird zu einem fundamentalen Problem

Die wachsende Ungleichheit in den USA wird immer mehr zu einem fundamentalen Problem. Wer in den Vereinigten Staaten von Armut betroffen ist, hat zunehmend weniger Chancen, die Misere hinter sich zu lassen. Denn ohne Geld keine Ausbildung, die heute einen viel größeren Stellenwert einnimmt als noch vor zwei oder drei Jahrzehnten. Besonders betroffen von der Ungleichheit sind Schwarze und Hispanics. Deren Situation hat sich laut einer Untersuchung der US-Notenbank in den letzten Jahren massiv verschlechtert, während Weiße ihre Einkommen aufbessern konnten. Das war wohl nicht jener Change, den der erste afroamerikanische Präsident Barack Obama in seinem ersten Wahlkampf meinte.

Lange Zeit hatte es anders ausgesehen. In den 1960er-Jahren zogen viele Südstaatler in die boomenden Industriezentren und verringerten somit die eklatanten Einkommensunterschiede zwischen Schwarz und Weiß. Doch der Niedergang der Industrie in den USA drehte den Trend wieder um, die Finanzkrise verschärfte ihn sogar noch. Das Eigenheim, oft der einzige Besitz unterer Verdienstgruppen, verlor besonders stark an Wert, während betuchtere Kreise schon längst wieder von Wertpapiergewinnen profitieren. Von Arbeitslosigkeit sind Afroamerikaner doppelt so stark betroffen wie Weiße. Selbst jene, die einen Job haben, verdienen bei gleicher Ausbildung weniger. Der American Dream verkommt vom Märchen zur Farce. (Andreas Schnauder, DER STANDARD, 8.9.2014)

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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