Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 14th: The Human Rights Research Society of China published an article entitled "The polarization of the rich and the poor has led to increasing human rights issues in the United States" on the 14th.

The polarization between the rich and the poor has led to increasing human rights problems in the United States

China Human Rights Research Association

July 2020

　　Although the United States is known as the world's top power, it is not rich for everyone. Uncovering the veil of America's overall prosperity and strength, we see the cold reality of the serious differentiation between the rich and the poor. Philip Allston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, pointed out in a US visit report published in May 2018 that the United States has become the most severely differentiated Western country, with about 40 million Americans living in poverty , 18.5 million Americans live in extreme poverty, and more than 5 million people live in conditions similar to those of the absolute poor in the Third World. Since the outbreak of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic in 2020, the US government's ineffective response to the epidemic has led to serious human rights disasters. The economic inequality in the American society has been further exposed and exacerbated, and the bottom people have fallen into a more difficult survival dilemma.

1. The basic trend of the continued differentiation of the rich and the poor in the United States

　　The income distribution is polarized. The Pew Research Center's survey results published on July 12, 2018 show that since the 1970s, the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States has shown a significant trend. According to data from the US Department of Commerce, in May 2019, the US Gini coefficient reached 0.482, far exceeding the international "warning line" of 0.4. Research data released by the World Socialist Website in December 2016 show that in 2014, the per capita annual income of low-income people, who accounted for 50% of the US population, was $16,200, almost the same as in 1980; while high-income people, who accounted for 1% of the population, The per capita annual income has tripled, and the average income of the high-income class for one year is equivalent to the sum of the average worker's lifetime income. The "Business Insider" website disclosed on August 15, 2016 that, excluding the price factor, from 1978 to 2015, the salary of the CEO of the 350 largest companies in the United States increased by about 940%, while the salary of ordinary workers only increased. 10%. The Boston Review website reported on September 1, 2017 that in the previous 40 years, the income of 80% of low- and middle-income people in the United States has only increased by about 25%, while the income of 20% of high-income people has almost doubled. "Business Insider" website reported in January 2017 that Deutsche Bank’s chief international economist Tostan Srock calculated the wealth of American households by income level. The report shows that the wealth of the richest 0.1% of households in the United States is equivalent to the bottom 90% of households. The sum of wealth owned.

　　The size of the middle class continues to shrink. The Associated Press reported on May 13, 2016 that the middle class situation in 90% of cities in the United States tends to deteriorate, and many American families fall out of the middle class. A research report released by Gallup on September 20, 2016 shows that Americans who position themselves as middle-class or upper-class fell from an average of 61% from 2000 to 2008 to 51% in 2016, which means that The quality of economic life of 25 million people has fallen sharply. According to a report released by the Pew Research Center on May 11, 2016, in nearly 25% of metropolises, the middle class no longer occupies the majority.

　　The poverty rate remains high. Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau in 2018 show that the number of poor people in the United States reached 38.1 million, with a poverty rate of 11.8%. According to a 2018 report by the American Policy Institute, the poverty rate officially announced by the United States is underestimated. According to its estimates, 43.5% of the total population of the United States (approximately 140 million people) has a limited or low income. According to a report released by the Stanford University Poverty and Inequality Research Center in 2017, the overall poverty rate in the southern United States is 20%, where the poverty rate for African-Americans is 33% and the poverty rate for African-American women is as high as 37%. In rural areas in the western United States, the poverty rate of Native Americans is as high as 32%.

2. The polarization of the rich and the poor has a serious negative impact on the enjoyment and realization of human rights

　　Nearly half of American families cannot maintain a basic life. The USA Today website reported on November 19, 2018 that more than 5 million full-time Americans have annual incomes below the poverty line of US$15,000, many of whom still have to support their families and children. According to a report released by the Federal Reserve in 2018, 43% of American households cannot make ends meet and can only borrow to pay for housing, food, child care, medical care, transportation, and communications. Forty percent of Americans can't afford $400 of disposable income to pay for unexpected expenses such as medical emergency or auto repair. Thousands of young people cannot go to university because they cannot afford tuition, and millions of people have to bear heavy student debt. Due to the long-term differentiation of the rich and the poor and structural discrimination, the ability of the working class in the United States to resist risks has greatly diminished, and it has fallen into a crisis of survival under the economic impact of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic. According to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on May 28, 2020, the cumulative number of first-time jobless claims in the United States from March 15 to May 23 reached 40.8 million. Vox News reported on April 10, 2020 that those groups that were already the most vulnerable were the first to be affected by the economic impact of the epidemic. "The people most vulnerable to layoffs are those with the lowest salaries, such as low-wage workers in the catering and retail industries." Although the US government has also launched a "salary protection program" aimed at assisting SMEs, some funds are more abundant However, some large enterprises took advantage of the loopholes in rules to take advantage of huge loans, while some small businesses and small shops in desperate need of loan renewal could not be rescued and had to close or lay off employees.

　　Low-income groups face the threat of hunger. In the US, where the economy is already highly developed, many citizens still face the threat of hunger. According to data released by the US Department of Agriculture in 2015, about 20% of children live in households with insufficient food security. The British "Guardian" website reported on November 26, 2015 that between 2008 and 2014, at least 48.1 million people in the United States were classified as "food insecure" each year, including 19.2% of families with children, which means that they A balanced diet is difficult to guarantee. The USA Today website reported on August 17, 2014 that an excessively high poverty rate caused about 14% of Americans to rely on food relief. Among the population dependent on food relief, 65% of households have at least one child under the age of 18 or an elderly person over 60, and 79% buy cheap and unhygienic food to feed their families. Hunger and malnutrition cost the United States 160 billion more dollars a year to treat chronic diseases. According to an estimate by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015, 48 million people suffer from foodborne diseases each year, of which 128,000 need hospitalization and 3,000 people die. Forbes News reported on May 7, 2020 that a survey showed that a large number of American children faced hunger in the new coronary pneumonia epidemic. As of the end of April 2020, more than one-fifth of American households faced a food crisis; among American households with children under 12 years of age, the proportion of people facing food crises was as high as two-fifths.

　　The living conditions of the homeless are poor. The British "Guardian" website reported on February 24, 2017 that every year millions of people in the United States are expelled from their homes because they cannot afford rent. The Reuters website reported on November 20, 2015 that more than 565,000 people were homeless in the United States due to inadequate supply of affordable housing and weak economic recovery in most regions, and a quarter of them were children. Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland and Hawaii have all declared a state of emergency in recent years due to the increase in homelessness. The British "Guardian" website reported on December 6, 2017 that the number of homeless people in New York increased by 4.1% compared to 2016. The living conditions of the homeless are extremely bad. Many homeless people urgently need medical assistance and suffer from mental illness. Homeless people sleeping on the streets are generally faced with the problems of violence, lack of toilets and bathing places. During the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, homeless people on the streets were severely deported and forced to live in temporary shelters for isolation. The Reuters website reported on April 23, 2020 that homeless shelters across the United States are difficult to maintain social distance due to crowded personnel, making the virus extremely easy to spread. The New York Times website reported on April 13 that the homeless shelter became the "time bomb" of the New York City epidemic. More than 17,000 people lived in centralized shelters for single adults and slept almost in bed You can touch your hands. The "Nature" magazine website reported on May 7 that when researchers began to conduct virus testing on homeless people in the United States, they found that the situation there has been out of control. The Los Angeles Times website reported on May 14 that research shows that the number of homeless people in the United States affected by the epidemic may surge as much as 45% within a year, leading to a further aggravation of the public health crisis.

　　Poverty pressure has led to a decline in people’s health. Philip Allston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, pointed out in his report to the United States that the “health gap” between the United States and countries of the same level of development continues to widen, and its national life expectancy is shorter and more susceptible to illness Died. Agence France-Presse reported on October 14, 2015 that 76% of residents living in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City are of African descent, nearly 40% live below the poverty line, and the rate of new HIV infections is The city has more than doubled the average life expectancy of 11 years younger than the residents of Manhattan’s financial district. "Medical News" website reported on June 13, 2017 that 15.7 million people in the United States are drinking alcohol and 7.7 million are using illegal drugs. The CBS website reported on June 6, 2017 that overdose has become the leading cause of death among Americans under the age of fifty. According to a report released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in December 2017, more than 63,600 people died of overdose in the United States in 2016.

　　Those who lost medical insurance due to poverty were unable to pay for medical expenses. Gallup’s annual health and medical survey conducted from November 1-11, 2018, showed that 46% of the respondents worried that they would not have enough money to pay for medical expenses. A 2018 study by the American Urban Institute showed that the number of Texas residents under 65 years old without medical insurance is as high as 4.7 million, a proportion as high as 19%. According to a report issued by the Consumer Rights Protection Organization of the American Family Alliance on June 20, 2012, in 2010, there were 26,100 American laborers aged between 25 and 64 who lost their lives due to lack of medical insurance, an increase of 31% from 2000 . This means that on average, 72 people per day and 3 people per hour lose their lives due to lack of medical insurance. The British "Guardian" website reported on November 13, 2017 that due to the risk of losing medical insurance, more and more Americans were unable to quit their jobs and were forced to fall into what the economists called "career lock-in". The Atlantic Monthly website reported in April 2020 that after low-income people in the United States became ill, they "usually delay seeing a doctor, not because they do not want to recover, but because they have no money at all." In the face of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, tens of millions of people in the United States do not have medical insurance, but the New Coronary Pneumonia intensive care costs are as high as tens of thousands of dollars. "Survival or destruction" is not just a philosophy of life in literary works, but also a realistic choice faced by the American people at the bottom.

　　The polarization between the rich and the poor has led to a decline in life expectancy per capita and an increase in suicide rates. According to data released by the US National Center for Health Statistics on December 8, 2016, the overall life expectancy of Americans has declined. Men have dropped from 76.5 years in 2014 to 76.3 years, while women have dropped from 81.3 years to 81.2 years. Life expectancy dropped from 78.9 years to 78.8 years. At the same time, the suicide rate in the United States continues to rise. According to data released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2014, a total of 41,149 people committed suicide in the United States in 2013, an increase of about 41% over 1999. In the United States, one person commits suicide every 13 minutes. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death, more than double the number of homicides. According to the "Fatal Injury Statistics Report 2015" released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9.8 million adults in the United States claim to have suicidal thoughts, of which 2.7 million have suicide plans and 1.4 million have taken non-fatal suicide attempts.

　　Low-income people lose equal access to education. American higher education resources are always disproportionately inclined towards the rich, leading to rising public dissatisfaction with higher education. The Washington Post website reported on October 10, 2018 that children born in different families in the United States have basically the same IQ distribution, but children born in wealthy families have a higher probability of success. Children in high-income families, even with poor talents, are more likely to obtain college diplomas than smart children in low-income families. The New York Times report pointed out that among 38 American universities including Yale University, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania, the number of students from the top 1% of American families is higher than the number of students from the bottom 60% The sum of students from American families. According to a survey released by Gallup in October 2018, less than half of Americans have confidence in the higher education system. Philip Allston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, pointed out in a US visit report published in May 2018 that the intergenerational mobility of the United States is at the lowest level among rich countries, "The American dream is rapidly becoming American Fantasy."

　　Poor children and single mothers are struggling. The BBC reported on December 11, 2017 that 2016 data showed that there were approximately 13.3 million poor children in the United States, accounting for 18% of the population under the age of 18. The US Urban Research Institute website reported on May 18, 2017 that nearly 9 million children were growing up in families with persistent poverty, accounting for 11.8% of the total population of children in the United States. Children who are chronically impoverished are less likely to have improved economic status in adulthood than adults who are not poor and less impoverished. Many single mothers and their families in the United States have a difficult life. The Single Mother’s Guide website reported on September 17, 2016 that 23.2% of the more than 9.6 million single mothers were unemployed throughout the year. Among single mothers who were laid off or looking for work, only 22.4% received unemployment benefits. About 7.83 million children raised by single mothers live below the poverty line.

3. The problem of the polarization between the rich and the poor in the United States is difficult to solve

　　The cause of the polarization between the rich and the poor in the United States is not accidental or cyclical. The so-called democratic system in the United States ignores the economic, social and cultural rights of citizens, and the problem of the polarization of the rich and the poor in the American society has become increasingly serious. To solve.

　　(1) Structural reasons leading to the differentiation of the rich and the poor

　　First, disorderly competition and malicious acquisitions in the capital market have led to a reduction in middle-income jobs. Gallup’s website reported on September 20, 2016 that the high-priced acquisition of competitors by companies has resulted in a significant reduction in middle-income jobs. In the previous 20 years, the number of companies listed on the American Stock Exchange has dropped from about 7,300 to about 3,700. The number of bankruptcies of small businesses in the United States in recent years is greater than the number of new establishments. The British "Guardian" website reported on December 8, 2017 that the unemployment rate of young Americans was as high as 15.9% in 2017. There are not enough full-time jobs, and about 4.8 million people who want to do full-time work can only do part-time work.

　　Second, the structural increase in housing prices has made housing for low-income people more difficult. According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors in 2018 on home buyers, due to rising housing prices and rising interest rates, and the decline in affordability, whether to buy a house has become an increasingly difficult choice for the public. According to the "State of American Housing 2018" report released by the Harvard Center for Housing Research, more than 30% of middle-class families spend at least 30% of their income on housing in 20 urban areas. "Washington Post" website reported on August 6, 2018, urban poor residents have experienced a sharp rise in rents in recent years. Since 2011, the national minimum rent has increased by 18%. Of particular note is that since the summer of 2017, in San Francisco, Atlanta, Nashville, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, Pittsburgh, Washington, Portland, Oregon, etc., the rents of the highest earners have declined, while the poorest Rents are rising.

　　Third, the high price and low efficiency of medical services have led to worrying health conditions for low-income people. The decline in the health of the American people is closely related to the high price and low efficiency of the US medical system. According to a 2014 survey of the medical service system by the Commonwealth Foundation, of the 11 countries of the same level, the US medical service system has the lowest efficiency, the most unfair, and the worst medical output. The United States has the highest mortality rate and infant mortality rate, and the health of the 60-year-old population is the worst. But compared with people living in other countries mentioned above, Americans have to pay more than twice the medical expenses. The British "Guardian" website reported on November 13, 2017 that medical expenses and medical insurance in the United States are becoming more and more expensive, especially for the treatment of chronic diseases, and the prices of drugs from asthma to cancer continue to hit record highs.

　　Fourth, soaring higher education fees deprived low-income groups of access to higher education. Gallup’s website reported on August 3, 2017 that since 1980, there have been no measurable indicators to prove that the quality of higher education in the United States has improved, but fees have increased rapidly. Forbes News reported on February 21, 2017 that student loan debt became the consumer debt category second only to mortgage debt, higher than credit card and car loans. There are more than 44 million student loans to school, with a loan amount of up to 1.3 trillion US dollars. The per capita loan for 2016 students is US$37,172. In some regions, fiscal plan cuts are leading to a drop in school enrollment. The Chicago Tribune website reported on September 30, 2016 that the number of freshmen enrolled at many state universities has fallen sharply. For example, the number of freshmen enrolled at Chicago State University has decreased by half compared with 2010, and the number of freshmen at the University of Illinois has fallen from the previous year. About 25%. A 2016 research report from the “Partnership and Policy Priority Center” of a non-partisan think tank in Washington showed that public colleges and universities in Illinois have reduced the level of funding for each student by 54% compared to 2008, while the decline in Arizona is as high as 56%. %. According to the World Bank’s “Overview of Global Intergenerational Economic Mobility” published in 2018, the people born in the 1980s were used as the research object. In terms of achieving class mobility through education, the United States is only the world’s 50 worst performing economies. One of the four high-income economies is also one of the high-income economies that performs poorly in terms of intergenerational mobility of income.

　　(2) The US government lacks the political will to reverse the polarization between the rich and the poor

　　The US government lacks political will to change the structural root causes of the polarization between the rich and the poor. Instead, it has adopted a series of policy measures that aggravate the polarization between the rich and the poor.

　　First, the policy measures formulated by the US government to stimulate economic growth only focus on benefiting the rich, but do not consider how to reduce the burden on low-income people. Philip Allston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, pointed out in a report to the United States in May 2018 that the current US government has implemented a series of measures to stimulate economic growth, but the development results have only benefited the rich and ordinary people have not. Benefit. At the expense of social welfare, the US government has implemented an unprecedented large-scale tax cut plan for large companies and the wealthy. This strategy seems to be tailored to expand inequality. According to the analysis of the US Tax and Economic Policy Institute, in 2019, 27% of the income generated by the United States through tax cuts is expected to flow into the pockets of the richest 1% of the United States. The rich have become the biggest beneficiary of the tax reform policy. Inadequate government financial investment leads to the lack of corresponding social security for the difficult groups. According to a research report released by the Pew Research Center on August 18, 2015, the United States is seriously underfunded for social security, with a deficit of approximately $74 billion in 2014. According to a 2015 report from the Trustee's Social Security and Medical Insurance Trust Fund in the United States, the US social security system has suffered a loss of US$25.8 trillion, which is almost 1.5 times the total annual GDP of the United States.

　　Second, the medical reform bill was overturned and medical insurance coverage was refused. The United States is one of the few developed countries that does not have universal medical insurance. A considerable number of residents do not have medical insurance, so they cannot get the medical care they deserve when they get sick. Although the US Congress passed the healthcare reform bill proposed by the Obama administration in 2010, promising to establish a universal health insurance system, according to data released by the US Census Bureau, 33 million Americans were not covered by medical insurance in 2015. On May 4, 2017, the US House of Representatives passed the draft of the US Medical Insurance Law by 217 votes to 213 votes, overturning many important contents of the "Obama Medical Reform".

　　Third, the rural hospitals were closed, and the “medical desert” continued to expand. Al Jazeera’s American Channel website reported on December 17, 2017 that since 2010, more than 80 rural hospitals in the United States have been closed, and hundreds more are on the verge of closure. “Medical deserts” are becoming more common. According to research data from the North Carolina Rural Health Research Project, there are approximately 10,000 residents served by each closed hospital. They are the most vulnerable group in the society and have the least understanding of how to live a healthy life. The closure of the rural hospital destroyed the original network of rural hospitals and forced local residents to drive to hospitals tens of miles away for treatment. According to a survey report released by the Pew Research Center on December 14, 2017, since 2015, the public's positive evaluation of government guarantees for medical services has fallen by 20%.

　　Fourth, Internet management policies have expanded the “digital divide”, and the disadvantaged position of low-income groups has become more prominent. Al Jazeera’s American Channel website reported on December 15, 2017 that the “Open Internet Rules” enacted by the United States in 2015 stipulates network neutrality rules, that is, all Internet service providers must treat all data equally, and cannot block or block certain data streams. "Throttle". However, this rule was repealed by the US government on December 14, 2017. The report believes that this move will enable the rich to spend money on faster network services, thereby deepening the "digital divide" between the rich and the low-income groups, and placing the low-income groups at a disadvantage in the competition towards a digital future . For example, the poverty level in Detroit is close to 40%, and about 40% of households have no Internet. Nacia Valdez of the Detroit "Balancing Internet Advocacy" organization believes that the more expensive Internet will be even more detrimental to the poor. "This will be devastating and will further exacerbate the existing inequalities."

　　The reason why the US government lacks the political will to reverse the trend of the polarization between the rich and the poor, from a deeper analysis, is closely related to the US political system and the capital interests represented by the US government. Increasing money politics has made the US government a spokesperson for the rich. The British "Guardian" website reported on August 7, 2018 that the general public believes that the US elections are corrupt, and members of Congress are captured by businesses, rich people and special interest groups. As the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Philip Allston, pointed out in a report released in May 2018, the United States is one of the richest, most powerful and most technologically innovative countries in the world. Wealth, power, or technology have not been used to solve the situation of about 40 million people in persistent poverty. "The persistence of extreme poverty is a political choice made by those in power."

　　The polarization of the rich and the poor in the United States is a stable long-term trend. One cannot expect any substantial reversal of this situation in the short term, and the serious negative impact on the enjoyment and realization of human rights of the American people will also deteriorate.