Monday, November 8, 2010
wealth in America
In class Erin asked in what way do we see the issue of the great economic disparity in this country, more like that of car crashes or the way we see terrorist attacks. I really think that people see it in the way one sees a car crashes. People detach themselves from the situation and they blame others. "Oh they didn't work hard enough" or "All they have to do is pull themselves up by their own boot straps." Well, what happens if there is no work for them? What happens if they don't have boots at all. For me this is a touchy topic. I am not upper class, I am not middle class, I come from a single parent household. I live in inner city. I went to public schools in a school system that is failing children. I also had the opportunities that many students like me do not get the chance to recieve. I went to a school that, basically helped to nurture my raw ability, gave me the opportunity to do research with NASA, Intern with the ACLU ect. But I go home and I see people with more potential than me amounting to nothing and I assure it is not always because they did not work hard enough. It is because some people don't get the chance to better themselves, they do not get the opportunity to work. There are very few chances they get to do better than their parents, what we know to be called "Social Mobility" I think that the economic gap is a problem for national security. The current system is breading generations of people who can not climb out of a hole that they did not even digg for themselves. A child can be smart and have great potential, but if that child is forced to read outdated books, in a classroom with 37 children, on an empty stomach, in a neighborhood that is not entirely safe. It is scientifically proven they can not succeed( Maslows Hierarchy of Needs). The system of capitalism is not the fatal flaw, in my opinion. I feel that there are systematic social constructions and things that take place in society that create an inequility of opportunities. America is falling behind in technology, competition abroad, and in education in general. Can people say that it has nothing to do with the economic state today. There are potential scientists, doctors, economist ect, hidden among the lower classes, but they will not get the opportunity to do so because they are not afforded the tools to turn potential into substance and reality.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hey Holly,
ReplyDeleteI guess I can't stay away from your posts this week (note: http://andorranatmosphere.blogspot.com/2010/11/mundane-notions-on-fear.html), but I suppose it can only be a compliment to share like-minded ideas . . . or, in the case of this post, I believe that it was fate. When Erin referenced the "boot straps" analogy in class, I immediately thought back to our first (blogging) discussion in World Politics about the disparities of wealth and opportunities (http://andorranatmosphere.blogspot.com/2010/08/wealth-of-world-politics.html).
Again, most people do not choose to be poor. As you noted, “The current system is breading generations of people who cannot climb out of a hole that they did not even dig for themselves.” The problem is not with the people or with capitalism, as you referenced. The problem is with our ideologies, our skewed priorities, and our egos/the structure of society. Egos/structures of society because it may not be that some people are too proud to acknowledge the poverty surrounding them, so much as that they are too busy living secluded, one-track-minded lives. Americans can be cold in interpersonal relationships compared to other cultures.
We need to “nurture,” but not out of ignorance. To illustrate, I attended public schools K-8 where literacy, graduation, etc. were problems. In elementary school, to increase education, there was a “25 Books Campaign,” or contest to see which students could accomplish the goal over the school year. It was a great incentive (I will admit that I had fun doing it), but looking back, I realize I was able to succeed because I had the support of my family. My parents read, worked… I was in a suitable learning environment. Yet, this campaign would have meant nothing to many students at the same school if they did not have the knowledge and support. Similarly, the middle school I attended loved NCLB, and received chairs and a SmartBoard for its library. When was the library used? Almost never.
In economics, we learned that knowledge can be classified as capital. Like real capital ($), it can be acquired and is valuable. I could not agree more.
~Rachael W.
Thanks, Glad to know someone agrees with me :)
ReplyDelete