Income inequality has been growing in the past two decades in the United States to a degree that it has become ethically unacceptable. The reason for its being so ethically problematic is that extreme relative inequality, by permeating health, education, and other environmental factors affecting children erase the notion of a level playing field. Children of wealthy parents are better educated, better nourished, healthier, less likely to be subjected to violence, etc. and thus go to elite universities, leading to economic opportunities unavailable to the poor. Those born in poverty are deprived of the opportunities and environment that would enable them to work their way out of poverty. This leads not only to a situation that is morally repugnant but also to social instability.