Born on Third Base 2

As a sociology major, I have taken a class covering a topic of inequality in the United States and tried to understand the issue from a sociological perspective. However, I did not have a lot of opportunities to learn about stories of individuals living in a society with huge disparities. This book not only see the issue from a view of the poor but also from the rich and it was eye-opening to me.

What I have learned from this book is that both 1% and 99% of the population often misunderstand the each other. Some rich people believe that the reason poor people cannot get rid of the poverty is because they do not work hard, but in reality, it is very difficult to climb up the social ladder once they are on the bottom. It is because they do not have an access to higher education due to the financial difficulties, and in a result, they can only get a labor work. In sociology, this is called Culture of Poverty. If 1% is born on the third base, the poor are standing in the batter box with a count of  two-strike and no ball. Moreover, the people within 99 % are likely to think super-rich people do not care anything rather than building up their wealth. It is true that there are people who put their effort to minimize tax and maximum their own gain like the older woman in the conclusion says, but she also says there is a group of wealthy people who are deeply worried about the disparities and try to bring a change to the society like Bill Gates. Also, the great disparity actually causes many super-rich people anxiety since they could be targeted and they are often disconnected from the rest of society as a result of holding great wealth.

As Collins says, there is no simple solution to this issue. However, one of the very important step to approach this problem is connecting people together. I do not remember which chapter he mentioned this, but it is easy to attack each other. People cannot change when they are shamed and attacked. We could bring a change when we treat others with empathy. I believe that connecting people with empathy can possibly bring a radical solution to the disparities in the United States as well as the rest of the world.