How the American economy mode of livelihood affects the culture

 

Introduction

In most parts of the world, the economy of any country is mostly the determining factor as to the cultural livelihood of the inhabitants of that nation. For there to be an established economy different entrepreneurs and managers, contribute natural resources, skill, and labour to manufacture and distribute goods and services. The U.S has one of if not the largest economy in the world. This is mainly because both the government and the private sector work hand in hand to ensure a smooth running economy suitable for all Americans. That said, it is important to look at the effects that economy has had and is still having on the American culture.

The impact

Labour

Labour plays the most important role in any economy. The better an economy is the more labour is needed. This means that more and more people employed with good salaries that can altogether support families. This however has been a major problem lately with more and more people lay off to cut on expenses. With the globalization of industrialization companies no longer have to fight for workers by increasing their wages for they can always look for cheap labour in other countries or even continents, companies have had to move to other countries leaving thousands of people jobless.

With people out of jobs, basic necessities such as shelter are not available to these people thus many families are left homeless and in the streets. This idealness also causes the crime rate to go high not only in the cities but also in small rural communities because people are looking for money. Drug and substance abuse is also on the rise because people are looking for temporary ways to forget their state of unemployment and money problems.

Cost of living

The economy in any given setting determines its cost of living. If the cost of living is sky, high then it is expected that the income of the people match it. However, if the cost of living goes up and the income remains the same then there will be many debts owed by individuals. This will force more people in a family setting to seek employment to try to meet the demands of their daily expenditure and in turn leaves a polarized family setting where everybody has to work for long hours and nobody is there for the children.

 

Divergence of classes

A good economy is whereby a large number of families are middle class income families. This means that a good number of the people are slightly above the minimum wage bracket. The situation is no longer as this and most of these middle class families have shifted and now live bellow the minimum wage bracket. In essence, this means that we now have a small class of very rich individuals and a very large percentage of poor families with little or no middle class to balance the equation.

 

 

Lack of better cover/protection

Most of the programs put in place by the government to protect and care for it citizens such as healthcare and retirement cover that provide for quality affordable healthcare for the sick and care for the old and retired is only available for workers who are employed full-time. Meaning that if a person is employed part-time they cannot be able to join this program, which then means that the government cannot help them should they fall sick and cannot afford treatment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Gusterson, H., Besteman, C., & Ehrenreich, B. (2009). The Insecure American: How We Got Here and What We Should Do About It. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Wiefek, N. (2003). The impact of economic anxiety in postindustrial America. Westport, Conn.

Howard, G. J. (2001). Varieties of comparative criminology. Leiden