Three of the Greatest Challenges the United States Faces Today (Essay Sample)

The United States is currently experiencing numerous challenges that impact on the living standards of its citizens. Despite the many promises from the politicians to address the prevailing issues, the United States continue to struggle like other nations. Most of the challenges have resulted from the lack of definite policies to curb them. Some of the challenges that United States is experiencing include; climate change, economic inequality, poverty, racism and unaffordability to healthcare services. These issues require the collaboration between the citizens, non-governmental organizations, federal, state and local governments to be mitigated. Therefore, climate change, economic inequality and racism have continued to be predominant issues in the United States therefore affecting the living welfare of the citizens.
Climate Change
Climate change is a global concern affecting all nations including United States. Unlike in the past, the temperature levels have been rising gradually in the United States due to climate change. Climatic change has been caused by human activities like deforestation, burning of oil and coil, improper farming practices and emission of harmful substances to the environment. Conferring to the American Government’s Climate Change Science Program, global warming is also a significant contributor of climate change. The impacts of climatic change have been primarily witnessed in North America where there is frequent and severe draughts. Besides, other regions of the United States have been experiencing rising seas, wildfires, intense heatwaves, hurricanes and floods. A study conducted Climate Science Special Report (CSSR), indicates that humans are the main causes of global warming. The study showed that there is a rising surface area of the sea ice and levels. Also, the research exhibits that there is ocean acidification and reduced intensity of rainfall in the United States. The CSSR was established by the US government organization to determine whether there has been changes in climate. These impacts threaten the American economy since it has led to decrease in agricultural production. Besides, it has led to suffering of some citizens due to the unavailability of clean and safe drinking water. Such impacts could potentially lead to other adverse effects like outbreak of diseases among others. As such, these implications show that there is need for the US government to establish policies that mitigate climate change. The government needs to create awareness on the significance of citizens adhering to sustainable energy sources. Failure by the government to address climate change will negatively affect the future generations. This is because the US will become an uninhabitable place to live in because humans are incapable of sustaining their needs.
Economic Inequality
Economic inequality continues be a growing concern in the United States. It essential to note that income inequality has been improving in the United States since the 2009 Great Recession. However, the improvement has occurred to the upper income households. On the other hand, the middle class which includes the majority of the Americans have not benefitted from the income benefits. Most of the low and middle class individuals continue struggling with high poverty rates because of the inequitable distribution of resources. Majority of these persons live in the rural areas which have scarce resources and limited access to the government programs. There is a continual rise in the income inequality between the rich and the poor. Income inequality infers to the large disparity on the amount of income that populations, individuals and social classes earn. The U.S Census Bureau specifies that income inequality is measured using the household income. The demographic experts in the United States claim that the long-term socioeconomic trends are resulting to the widening gap between the wealthy and the underprivileged. Notably, the economic inequality in the US has led to other adverse impacts including unaffordability to health care and other social services. Besides, the poor are unable to satisfy the fundamental needs including; food, shelter, clothing and education. The income inequality in the United States adhere to Karl Marx’s articulations on conflict struggle. According to him, the rich individuals continue to strive to increase their wealthy at the expense of the poor. This is because they control most of the factors of production and also regulate contributions of the employees. Remarkably, the outbreak of COVID-19 has also contributed to the increased economic inequality in the United States. This is because of the employees who were fired were from the low and middle classes. These individuals have ended up depending on government support to satisfy their basic needs.
Immigration
There has been an increase in the immigration rates in the United States. The rise of migration rates has led to other adverse effects like illegal immigration and increase of terrorist attacks. Majority of the migrants move to the United States looking for employment and seeking educati