Inequality For All opens with the scene of Robert Reich taking the viewers along for a ride in his beloved Mini Cooper into his Wealth and Poverty class at the University of California Berkley. To start the class he introduces himself as the ex-Secretary of Labour under President Bill Clinton, former professor at Harvard and lastly and jokingly, an ex-secret agent for Abraham Lincoln. He continues to address the class by their different associations, of liberal, republican, conservative, etc but forewarns them that after the class they will see how little those titles mean as we are all apart of the same struggling economy. The remainder of the documentary, which is presented almost as if the viewer is sitting in Reich’s class, covers the three main questions of; what is currently happening in our economy, why it is like that and is this is a problem. Reich addresses these questions by the presentation of graphs, statistics and interviews from both spectrums of the population; from the richest billionaires to couples who have multiple children and less than $100 in their bank accounts. It may be assumed that such topics and methods of teaching may be confusing and boring to students with no prior knowledge or interest in the economy but Reich’s delivery is far from boring. Between his quirky humour and extremely thorough explanation of the history, current state and what must be done in order to achieve economic stability; Reich is able to keep it simple, enticing and relatable, thus holding the viewers interest for the entire duration of the film.

Within the documentary Inequality For All, Robert Reich states that the United States is one of the most developed countries in the world, yet it has the highest inequality rates out of any developed country and that must change, the middle class must prosper. Over the past thirty years the middle class has fallen while the top one-percenters have tripled their income; in 1978 the average male worker made $48,302 and the top 1% made $393,682, compared to in 2010 where the average male worker brought in $33,757 and the top 1% made $1,101,089. When the middle class does not prosper workers clearly buy less. This is detrimental to the economy as middle class spending accounts for 70% of the American economy. When workers buy less companies downsize, as they do not have to produce as many goods. This means that the government’s tax revenues go down and as tax revenues shrink governments cut funding of programs. This is in direct correlation to workers being less educated because as program funding drops, tuition rises which eventually leads to a less educated workforce and a higher degree of unemployment, this will continue in its vicious cycle until something is changed. More emphasis must be placed on education. There are countries like Denmark that offer free tuition to its residents and have one of the highest qualities of life. In Denmark only 25% of students born into poverty do not make it out, whereas in the United States 42% percent of children born into poverty do not make it out, this is due to the extremely high and growing cost of education. The middle class is unable to thrive as the costs of living are only getting higher while there are few jobs available to the middle class. Reich proclaims that we need to change; we need to build back our economy, decrease inequality, and increase the quality of life as a nation. However, for any sort of change we must work together as a collective of people; the middle and upper classes together. For the middle class to prosper would mean for everyone to prosper. We need to utilize our large middle class, the upper class must help by reducing the amount of work they out source and create more jobs within the nation. A large, happy middle class means increased productivity, and spending which forces companies to expand to meet the consumer demands, with all of this comes increased tax revenues and government funding for various programs. This leads to subsidized tuition costs which results in a higher educated and higher paid workforce. This is extremely attainable and should become a national priority as it will stabilize our economy and eventually increase the quality of life in the United States. Thus holding true the ideal that the United States is the land of opportunity.

Story of Stuff. Dir. Louis Fox. Free Range Studios, 2007. 21 Min. Web.

The Story of Stuff is an intense, condensed 21 minute video that walks the viewers through what really goes on in this consumer driven world that we live in as well as the risks associated with this unsustainable system.
The system currently in place is a linear system that goes from the extraction, to production, to consumption, to disposal. This system is beyond a mess as within the past thirty years the United States of America has managed to use up one third of the entire worlds resources, 80& of the worlds original forests have been torn down and approximately 2000 trees per minute are being cut down in the Amazon Rain Forrest. Next as the materials are moved into production many toxins are added to the products to preserve/protect them from certain elements such as fire. These toxins that are added to the product are emitted into the air around the factories as well as the homes these products go to. The most common toxin is Brominated Flame Retardant, which makes products such as pillows, mattresses and couches less flammable. While sounding beneficial, these chemicals are actually neurotoxins and are extremely damaging to the brain. The film also states that the United States admits to putting out the astounding number of four billion pounds of pollution a year. Next in the system is the consumption of products. In our culture we have established that our value is based on how much we consume and own. This ideal was created post World War II as a way to grow the economy. As time went and consumerism grew the ideas of planned and perceived obsolescence came into play. Planned obsolescence is the system in which manufacturers design products to eventually not work as well as when it was originally bought eventually causing the consumer to upgrade and buy the newest version. Perceived obsolescence is the visual aspect of this which convinces the consumer that things are not in style or fashion anymore and that they need the newest one to be in the “in crowd”. The consumer proceeds to follow the system throwing away their old product and showing off their new one. According to the film, 99% of goods bought are thrown out within six months. When these products are thrown away they are either incinerated or put in a landfill, regardless of where they are disposed they emit toxins. Incinerators are detrimental to our world as they emit the most toxic man made chemical currently known, Dioxin. For such a short film, it is very powerful and fact filled. It portrays societies unsustainable ways and closes by reminding us that we created this system, we know now where it leads and it is time for a change, we must create a new system, something sustainable. In order to be sustainable we need to utilize green chemistry to produce zero waste, increase recycling and further our use and research in renewable energy.
Both films, Inequality for All and The Story of Stuff are directly related to our class as they touch on topics of economy, sustainability, and workings towards a better future. Both films preach that our current lives and practices are unsustainable and it is time for a change. It may be inferred from watching the films that the future of work will revolve in a growth in the service sectors to feed the hungry middle class as well as the development of new consumer systems and ecofriendly ways, which will produce new jobs and sectors for the educated citizens in these respected fields.

WORKS CITED

Inequality For All. Dir. Jacob Kornbluth. Perf. Robert Riche. 2013. 90 Min. Web.
Story of Stuff. Dir. Louis Fox. Free Range Studios, 2007. 21 Min. Web.