American-Style Capitalism and Income Disparity: The Challenge of Social Anarchy

Abstract

With regard to its outward manifestations, the American variant of capitalism seems healthy and vibrant. The contemporary economic indicators are essentially positive: 1. unemployment is falling, 2. inflation is low and essentially stable, 3. profits are generally high, 4. industrial production is close to capacity, and 5. future expectations by both consumers and producers are optimistic. But, on the other hand, the social indicators that describe the quality of contemporary life are almost universally morbid and depressing. By far the most significant emerging outcome inequities in the U.S. pertains to the widening economic disparity among the population. Because the US has always been among the extreme examples of consumer-driven capitalism, it is questionable how long it can maintain social order when increasing numbers of persons are left out of the banquet while a few are allowed to gorge.