Samantha Gerstle accepts plaque from Business Manager Tom Dalzell, left, and retired Senior Assistant Business Manager Dorothy Fortier, right, who served as contest judge.
Samantha Gerstle, daughter of IBEW 1245 member Bob Gerstle, has won the 2015 Al Sandoval Competitive Scholarship. Samantha’s winning essay responded to this year’s question:
The gap between rich and poor in America is increasing, while the middle class is shrinking. Should this concern high school students? Is there anything you can do about it as you enter adult life?
By Sam Gerstle
In recent years America’s economic gap, between the rich and the poor, has increased in a staggering manner. The United States has one of the world’s biggest inequalities among income distributions. Our country is experiencing the worst income inequality since 1928, which only continues to grow with each passing year. As a high school senior preparing to attend college, I speak for many of my peers when I say this is an extreme point of concern for many reasons.
The impact of the diminishing middle class is evident in the corresponding shrinkage of average income jobs. Numerous jobs that are considered routine and once were necessity to everyday life are now disappearing. High school students should be concerned, due to the fact they will have fewer economic opportunities than their parents did. Furthermore, high school students will have more difficulty climbing the economic ladder and achieving higher financial status with every bypassing year. ln increasing numbers, individuals born into the middle class are finding themselves pushed into the lower class as the number of middle class jobs decreases. The American dream, or the foundation of American economics, is now becoming overwhelmingly out of reach.
As teens mature and become adults, there are a number of ways to stem the tide of the erosion of middle class jobs and moreover ensure oneself of being economically stable. College plays an incredibly important role in providing economic advantages; high school students who attend college and receive a degree typically make about twenty-eight thousand dollars more than individuals with solely a high school education. Additionally, high school students can promote change within the economic system by voting for political candidates. Political candidates who support the middle class can drastically transform fiscal policy to support persons of the middle class. Getting involved in organizations that focus on furthering prosperity in Middle America is another way teenagers reaching the threshold of adulthood can ensure that they are making sure the gap between classes does not continue to grow.
Many high school students do not choose the road of a four-year school. Trade schools, community colleges and work are other options. These paths frequently lead to union jobs, which provide fair wages and benefits that are critical to maintaining the middle class.
The bottom line is, it is the middle class that fuels economic growth and prosperity in America. Without a middle class, this country cannot sustain the social programs that provide for the less fortunate. The “New World” that many politicians envision is not a country that will take care of its own—and that is not the country I desire to see in my future.