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The influence of economic capital: Why do the rich always maintain their advantage?
In the social structure, the role of economic capital is undoubtedly significant. Although people often believe that education and hard work can change their destiny, in fact, social inequality is deeply rooted in history and institutions. Why do the wealthy continue to enjoy these economic advantages? This issue has been explored in depth in the research of many scholars, including the four types of capital proposed by sociologist Pierre Bourdieu: economic capital, cultural capital, social capital and symbolic capital.
“Capital is not a single phenomenon but accumulates in many forms that influence the structure and inequality of society.”
Economic capital represents a person's income and wealth, often accompanied by an accumulation of cultural capital. Cultural capital includes the concepts, beliefs, knowledge and skills passed down across generations, which will further affect a person’s human capital. Human capital refers to the education and vocational training a person receives, which in turn influence their likelihood of acquiring social capital in society. Social capital refers to the social networks to which a person belongs, which greatly influence their ability to access opportunities, particularly in employment.
Education and social reproduction
Education is seen as a mechanism that attempts to level social opportunities, particularly by providing opportunities for upward mobility for the poor. However, in practice this system often fails. The cost of education is a major barrier for low-income families: better schools require more resources, such as teaching aids, textbooks and experienced teachers, which many poor families cannot afford. As a result, higher education often becomes a privilege for wealthy families, leaving low-income families with fewer and fewer opportunities.
“Education systems in high-income countries polarize people from a young age, making it impossible for the elite to understand the situation of the lower income groups.”
In the United States, most school dropouts live below the poverty line. Due to lack of capital, they prefer to find jobs to support themselves or their families rather than complete their education. These dropouts are often minorities, such as Hispanics and African Americans. They often drop out of school because they cannot afford tuition fees or are from single-parent families, which limits their employment prospects.
Health and social inequalities
The link between health considerations and social inequalities cannot be ignored either. Research shows that the level of economic inequality has a direct impact on people's health. In most high-income countries, the top 1% of the economic population lives an average of 10 years longer than the bottom 99%, which is directly related to their access to better health care. Lower-income groups often cannot access adequate medical resources due to cost issues, which leads to higher risk of disease and lower quality of life over time.
“Food insecurity and health inequalities are reflected in high obesity rates in high-income countries, especially among children.”
While poor families have historically suffered from hunger and starvation, today this has transformed into an obesity problem in some high-income countries. Food is an important source of health. For low-income families, the cost of healthy food is relatively high, causing them to prefer spending a small amount of money on fast food and other unhealthy choices. The consequences of these problems are not just for individuals, but can cause long-term public health problems at the societal level.
Social class system in the United States
Social reproduction refers to the process by which social inequalities are passed down from generation to generation. The upper class enjoys numerous advantages, while the poor are trapped in the existing structure due to lack of resources. Low-income groups are often accused in media reports of being lazy or taking advantage of the system, when in fact the challenges they face are more due to insufficient resources.
"The rich give birth to richer people, while the poor are stuck in the same class, which undoubtedly weakens social mobility."
According to statistics, about 15% to 20% of the American population belongs to the lower class, and most of them are minorities. As for the working class, they often have the lowest level of education, engage in hard physical labor, and have few opportunities for promotion. There is a clear cutoff between the lower and upper halves of the middle class, with the upper class comprising only 1% to 3% of the U.S. population. Such divisions make social class mobility increasingly difficult.
Ultimately, inequality in economic capital is not an isolated phenomenon, but the result of the interweaving of multiple factors in the social structure. We can't help but wonder, if this cycle continues, what will the future society look like?
