In today's life, social inequality is based on a variety of different characteristics, race, ethnicity, gender, culture, economic class, immigration status, and sexual preference that a person may have. It is the power of privilege that holds honor and respect, and the prestige of income and property, that wins every time. Self-differentiated positioning of the poor as minority groups holding less power and manipulated by those who want to maintain themselves as elites. “They often experience unequal treatment compared to the dominant group, giving them a collective sense of discrimination” (Carl 2013, Pg.41). It is clear that society still struggles to find opportunities to live on equality with the poor. Rewarding them only with an unequal distribution of opportunity that only increases, today's wage gap and the disadvantages they must overcome on their path to survive and succeed in life. What factors can increase this inequality? The poor must overcome a lack of economic resources, stereotypes created within their group, and government cuts that they must live with on a daily basis for the rest of their lives. Lack of Economic Resources How should people from the lower classes find success in life if they suffer from a lack of economic resources? Society has the permanent certainty that whoever gains the power of economic resources will be showered with better opportunities, benefits and power over the minority group. On the other hand, the lower economic classes, such as the working class and the urban underclass, have to work very hard at very demanding physical jobs in order to support themselves and survive from paycheck to paycheck. “They are the ones who are really feeling the effects of poverty” (Carl 2013 ...... middle of paper ...... d high housing costs) (Barber, 2014) Works Cited Barber, E. (2014, February 20 ). Income inequality: Among US cities, larger ones are more unequal. Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.comCarl, J.D. (2013). “The Permanent Class Divide.” Reuters Media, 21 March 2013: np SIRS Issues Web, 17 March 2014. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.comLazarus, D. (2013, October 11). The wealth gap is only getting worse. Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.comWomen and Gender Inequality (2002, People, Poverty and Possibilities, , 25+. Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com Yates, M.D. (2005, A Statistical Portrait of Class American worker. Monthly Review Vol.56 no.11, , 12-31. Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com