"But visiting a place like Grundy reveals a more complicated picture. There are undoubtedly some who exaggerate their ailments in order to collect their checks. But many of the coal workers here have experienced horrific on-the-job accidents and can't go back to the mines. Other residents have been battered by diabetes, obesity, and tobacco. Others still suffer from severe depression and intellectual disabilities that would preclude most kinds of work. And most importantly, there are no other options here: no orthodontist's office where someone can work the front desk; no big firms brimming with entry-level secretarial jobs. It's not even clear how a person would go about calling around for a job here: My iPhone stopped working a few miles outside the county line." This article describes a small county, nestled in the Virginia Appalachians where many of the citizens rely on disability checks coming in every month. It argues both sides of the 'responsibility' argument, with examples of people who truly need disability payments and people who abuse the system.

"Coyner explained there is a huge gap in achievement between those who live in a higher income school and lower income neighborhoods. Reading and math SOL tests for students in disadvantaged areas have dropped dramatically over the last three school years. Those in most schools in Chesterfield have dropped as well. SOL testing of students during the 2013-14 school year indicated that the pass rate of non-disadvantaged students was 85 percent in reading and 83 percent in math, while students who came from disadvantaged homes had a pass rate of 58 percent in reading and 63 percent in math." This article outlines the achievement and educational gaps in Henrico, Chesterfield, and the City of Richmond. It displays the educational differences between privileged and non-privileged students.

"Gates' solution? Shift the American tax code from one that taxes labor to one that taxes consumption. Now, this sounds like standard, right-wing economic theory. Consumption taxes are usually favored by the wealthy and by conservative economists because they tend to be regressive in nature. Since everyone-rich and poor-have to consume some amount of goods and services, and because the proportion of income spent is much higher for the poor than the rich, consumption taxes like state and local sales tax burden the poor more than the rich." This article outlines different solutions to income inequality posed by different people with varying social statuses. It also displays causes of some of these problems and introduces unique solutions.