What are some of the root causes of increasing levels of economic, political, and social inequality and poverty and how does this impact various social classes and groups in the United States?

The first two framing questions for the Inequality in America program are as follows:
What are some of the root causes of increasing levels of economic, political, and social inequality and poverty and how does this impact various social classes and groups in the United States?
How are economic, political, and social inequality and poverty reproduced? Consider the two sub-questions here.
What mechanisms, systems, structures and/or behaviors perpetuate inequality?
How does the political system remain stable in the face of continuing and increasing inequality and poverty? Why do people “consent”? And why do some people sometimes act against their own interests?