As human beings we strive to create order and understanding in our lives. One such way that we organize information is through the use of stereotypes. Stereotypes form in many ways and for many reasons. Often times theyare used as “cognitive shortcuts” that are put into affect when interacting with others. Individuals learn stereotypes from a very early age through the process of socialization. These beliefs are deeply embedded in the structure of society and the culture.
The Muslims and Arab-Americans have continuously had stereotypes applied to them. They have been categorized and branded as terrorists and dangerous people. This stereotyping of this group of people has been going on for many years. However, it reached an all time high after the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The United States government has been suspicious of Arab-Americans since the early 1970s. The government began monitoring Arab-American’s communications, joining their political groups in order to gain information, arresting people on false pretenses, and watching influential members of the Arab-American community. Most of the actions of the United States government was illegal, and all of this was done because of stereotypes about this particular group of people. When the stereotyping began in the early 1970s, it was a reaction to the Israelian-Palestinian conflict. During this time period, there was extreme fighting between the Palestinian and Israeli people. The United States government got involved and tried to help make peace between the two groups of people. The conflict between the groups is what kick-started the stereotyping of Muslims and Arab-Americans as terrorists. However, once the 9/11 attacks happened, the negative attitudes towards and the stereotyping of Arab-Americans and Muslims only deepened. However, there was a distinct change over time in the stereotyping. After the 9/11 attacks, just by being a Muslim or Arab-American, and belonging to that religion and particular ethnicity were reason enough for legal and cultural scrutiny. Before this time, the government focused on an entirely different aspect. The stereotyping was done mainly towards immigrants and activists and did not include all Muslims and Arab-Americans. This shift in stereotyping was definitely because of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The stereotype of Muslims and Arab-Americans being terrorists and dangerous people is seen frequently in popular media of today’s society. Hollywood makes movies in which this group is continually portrayed as the bad guys. For example, in the movies Back to the Future (1985), Broadcast News (1987), and Patriot Games (1992), Muslim and/or Arab-Americans are shown as the enemy who does some horrible act like murder innocent people. Current movies such as The Kingdom (2007) still negatively portray this group. In this particular movie, a group of United States government agents are sent overseas to investigate an attack on an American facility in the Middle East. In the movie the attack on the facility was by a Saudi terrorist group, thus furthering the negative portrayal again. Another example of the media playing a part in the stereotyping is in the movie Rendition (2007). In this movie a Muslim-American is taken by the United States government to a secret facility and tortured. The man was taken by the government on suspicion of having links to terrorism, and they tortured him with the hopes that he would give information about acts terrorism. In reality he was a United States citizen and businessman that grew up in the United States and had no ties whatsoever to terrorism of any kind. However, because of his ethnicity he was a suspect in the eyes of the government. This portrayal over and over in the media creates an environment that is conducive to stereotyping this group.
The September 11th terrorists attacks created this stereotype of all Muslims and Arab-Americans being thought of as terrorists. This stereotype has caused the target group to suffer greatly. Every single Muslim and Arab-American will be considered as “one of them” for who knows how long.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Friday, December 05, 2008
Immigration
Every year, thousands and hundreds of illegal immigrants cross the boarder between Mexico and the United States. It is estimated that there are around 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. Over one third of the 12 million live in the three major cities in America: Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. Traditionally immigrants have settled in what are called “boarder states” which included Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. However, with the recent crackdown on illegal immigration and the increase in Boarder Control Agents, life is becoming very difficult for immigrants in these states. Because of these, there is an increasing surge in immigrants traveling further into the United States to avoid deportation. In addition to traveling to the non-traditional boarder states to avoid deportation, they also are going further north for better wages. States such as Virginia, Maryland, and Washington are seeing an increase in the Hispanic population, which is believe to be due to the illegal immigrants coming to find work that pays better. Even places like Oregon and Illinois are seeing a flux in the number of migrant workers. Many times the coyotes avoid the boarder states all together because it is so easy to get caught. In fact, some coyotes charge 10 times more if a immigrant wants to go to one of the boarder states.
However, there are many problems associated with the migration of illegal workers. The biggest problem is the safety of the immigrants. Many times the illegal immigrants go to great lengths to cross into the US, many times risking their life. Once in the US the danger to their health and safety is not over. The workers usually have to live in horrible conditions and work in even worse conditions. One Tufts Professor found that in 2005 immigrants made up 17% of the workforce in the US and they accounted for 28% of on-the-job deaths. It is not just immigrants from Mexico or South America that are struggling with the working conditions. In 2004, two Vietnamese floor finishers died after the varnish they were applying to a floor ignited. Generally speaking, the immigrants are so vulnerable to get hurt and be “abused” because they do not know their rights. They are so terrified to speak out because first they are here in this country illegally, and second because they need the job so desperately. The challenge is getting the message out to the immigrants that they do have rights. They do not have to work in such horrible conditions or suffer from injuries. Many corporations and business are getting in trouble because OSHA has begun investigating more and more of the work related deaths and injuries. For example, the Tyson Food, a giant multi-million dollar company who is the world’s largest processor of chicken, beef, and pork who employees 114,000 people at 300 plants around the globe, recently was investigate and is being charged from purposely recruiting immigrant workers. At a Tyson Food plant in Kansas, at least one worker is hurt every single day. This has caused the largely immigrant composed employees to try and unionize. They work in the nation’s most hazardous occupations: meatpacking. The workers at the Tyson plants have to work in the most unbelievable conditions. They work eight-hour shifts, with very few breaks, in near freezing temperatures, covered in blood as the carcasses are flung around. What is so disturbing about this is that Tyson’s not the only company that treats the migrant workers like this. Tyson’s just so happened to get caught. Think about the hundreds of other corporations out there that possibly are doing the same things. When writing for this blog, I came across articles that discussed the lawsuit with Tyson’s and how they were treating the workers. I decided to go to Tyson’s website to just look at it. I was disgusted that on their homepage when they claim to care about communities and help others. Very ironic if you ask me. What really made me mad is they have listed their “Core Values”. Here is what they say they believe in:
We are a company of people engaged in the production of food, seeking to pursue truth and integrity, and committed to creating value for our shareholders, our customers, and our people in the process.
Who we are:
We strive to be a company of diverse people working together to produce food.
We strive to be honorable people.
We strive to be a faith-friendly company.
What we do:
We feed our families, the nation, and the world with trusted food products.
We serve as stewards of the animals, land, and environment entrusted to us.
We strive to provide a safe work environment for our Team Members.
How we do it:
We strive to earn consistent and satisfactory profits for our shareholders and to invest in our people, products, and processes.
We strive to operate with integrity and trust in all we do.
We strive to honor God and be respectful of each other, our customers, and other stakeholders.
I think that this is very, very, ironic that these are supposedly their “Core Values” yet the violate so many of them. It makes me so sad and so angry knowing that there are probably other companies out there like Tyson’s. Personally, after finding out this information about them, I will never buy another Tyson’s product. It disgusts me.
Hopefully, after our new President sorts out the issues with the economy, the issues with illegal immigrants will be addressed. Some thing has to give. We cannot claim to care about people and help others and yet continue to let this sort of thing happen to the most vulnerable population. It's not fair and it's not right.
However, there are many problems associated with the migration of illegal workers. The biggest problem is the safety of the immigrants. Many times the illegal immigrants go to great lengths to cross into the US, many times risking their life. Once in the US the danger to their health and safety is not over. The workers usually have to live in horrible conditions and work in even worse conditions. One Tufts Professor found that in 2005 immigrants made up 17% of the workforce in the US and they accounted for 28% of on-the-job deaths. It is not just immigrants from Mexico or South America that are struggling with the working conditions. In 2004, two Vietnamese floor finishers died after the varnish they were applying to a floor ignited. Generally speaking, the immigrants are so vulnerable to get hurt and be “abused” because they do not know their rights. They are so terrified to speak out because first they are here in this country illegally, and second because they need the job so desperately. The challenge is getting the message out to the immigrants that they do have rights. They do not have to work in such horrible conditions or suffer from injuries. Many corporations and business are getting in trouble because OSHA has begun investigating more and more of the work related deaths and injuries. For example, the Tyson Food, a giant multi-million dollar company who is the world’s largest processor of chicken, beef, and pork who employees 114,000 people at 300 plants around the globe, recently was investigate and is being charged from purposely recruiting immigrant workers. At a Tyson Food plant in Kansas, at least one worker is hurt every single day. This has caused the largely immigrant composed employees to try and unionize. They work in the nation’s most hazardous occupations: meatpacking. The workers at the Tyson plants have to work in the most unbelievable conditions. They work eight-hour shifts, with very few breaks, in near freezing temperatures, covered in blood as the carcasses are flung around. What is so disturbing about this is that Tyson’s not the only company that treats the migrant workers like this. Tyson’s just so happened to get caught. Think about the hundreds of other corporations out there that possibly are doing the same things. When writing for this blog, I came across articles that discussed the lawsuit with Tyson’s and how they were treating the workers. I decided to go to Tyson’s website to just look at it. I was disgusted that on their homepage when they claim to care about communities and help others. Very ironic if you ask me. What really made me mad is they have listed their “Core Values”. Here is what they say they believe in:
We are a company of people engaged in the production of food, seeking to pursue truth and integrity, and committed to creating value for our shareholders, our customers, and our people in the process.
Who we are:
We strive to be a company of diverse people working together to produce food.
We strive to be honorable people.
We strive to be a faith-friendly company.
What we do:
We feed our families, the nation, and the world with trusted food products.
We serve as stewards of the animals, land, and environment entrusted to us.
We strive to provide a safe work environment for our Team Members.
How we do it:
We strive to earn consistent and satisfactory profits for our shareholders and to invest in our people, products, and processes.
We strive to operate with integrity and trust in all we do.
We strive to honor God and be respectful of each other, our customers, and other stakeholders.
I think that this is very, very, ironic that these are supposedly their “Core Values” yet the violate so many of them. It makes me so sad and so angry knowing that there are probably other companies out there like Tyson’s. Personally, after finding out this information about them, I will never buy another Tyson’s product. It disgusts me.
Hopefully, after our new President sorts out the issues with the economy, the issues with illegal immigrants will be addressed. Some thing has to give. We cannot claim to care about people and help others and yet continue to let this sort of thing happen to the most vulnerable population. It's not fair and it's not right.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Carbon Footprinting
Carbon footprint is defined as the total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, and it is usually expressed in equivalent tons of CO2. A person’s carbon footprint is calculate by taking into account the state you live in, the number of people in the household, make/model/year of car, how many miles driven every day, flight takes per year and the distance of the flights, average monthly electric bill, natural gas bill, percent of electricity from clean, renewable sources, and the size of house/apartment. There are many websites that a person can go to calculate their own carbon footprint. The gases that are produced by the burning of fossil fuels for everyday living such as heating and electricity is what produce the CO2. CO2 emissions are the leading cause for global warming in the world. This rapid consumption that produces CO2 is reeking havoc on the world. Global warming in itself is the biggest problem due to these high levels of CO2. However, in addition to global warming there are other environmental problems associated with high levels of CO2. The water supply and pollution of the water is a big problem along with solid, toxic, and radioactive wastes. Land degradation such as desertification and deforestation, declining biodiversity, air pollution, climate change, heavy pesticide and other chemical use, and high energy consumption all contribute to the damage that is being done to the environment. Every human on this planet contributes to the damage that is being done. A person’s carbon footprint essentially measures the damage that a person is doing to the planet. I decided to measure my carbon footprint using the calculator on www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/. My total was 7.05 which the website told me was average. The national average given on this website was 7.5, so I feel like my number is okay. I thought that it would be a lot higher because I drive a SUV, fly a lot, and don’t recycle (bad I know!). So I was a little surprised that mine was considered “average”. I feel like taking into consideration that I know all the things I do/don’t do that are bad for the environment and then that my carbon footprint was labeled as average, that just maybe this level is really too high in retrospect, and should not be considered average? This website also gave data on CO2 emissions for countries in 2002. The CO2 emissions were labeled in million tons and they were as follows:
1. United States 5773
2. China 3783
3. Russia 1534
4. Japan 1213
5. India 1106
These are the top five countries with the highest emissions in the 2002. The lowest country was Iceland with 2. However, the data for 2006 was 12 to 15 % higher for each of these countries. I was a little shocked at which countries fell into the top five. I really did not think that Japan would be fourth. I thought that it would be second or third at least. I also was very shocked that the UK was not in the top five. However, in the text I found a chart that listed the energy consumed among nations from 2004. This data was measured in million of BTUs per person and is as follows:
1. United States 342
2. Germany 178
3. Japan 178
4. UK 166
5. Mexico 63
I still find it very interesting that the UK is once again low on the list of countries, in this case the level of energy consumption. Another important result of carbon footprinting, global warming, energy consumption, etc. is a concept called carbon offsets. Essentially this is a response to the high levels of CO2 and the damage being done to the planet. This concept seeks to mitigate carbon emissions through the development of alternative projects such as solar or wind energy. This could even mean in the near future the use of nuclear energy, and the use of more and more biodegradable products. What I find so fascinating and scary at the same time is that global warming is a big, big, big problem. Regardless if a person believes that it is the planets naturally occurring warming process, or whatever, but a person cannot deny the problem of the CO2 and greenhouse gases and the damage that is being done from them. What shocks me the most is how so many people know about this problem, yet do nothing about it. It is almost as though they are like, well someone else will do something about it, and I’m not going to worry about it. I feel like public awareness on the issue is really high, yet people actually caring and everyone doing their part to lower their carbon footprint does not happen. This is a really big problem and it's scary that more people do not do anything to help the situation.
1. United States 5773
2. China 3783
3. Russia 1534
4. Japan 1213
5. India 1106
These are the top five countries with the highest emissions in the 2002. The lowest country was Iceland with 2. However, the data for 2006 was 12 to 15 % higher for each of these countries. I was a little shocked at which countries fell into the top five. I really did not think that Japan would be fourth. I thought that it would be second or third at least. I also was very shocked that the UK was not in the top five. However, in the text I found a chart that listed the energy consumed among nations from 2004. This data was measured in million of BTUs per person and is as follows:
1. United States 342
2. Germany 178
3. Japan 178
4. UK 166
5. Mexico 63
I still find it very interesting that the UK is once again low on the list of countries, in this case the level of energy consumption. Another important result of carbon footprinting, global warming, energy consumption, etc. is a concept called carbon offsets. Essentially this is a response to the high levels of CO2 and the damage being done to the planet. This concept seeks to mitigate carbon emissions through the development of alternative projects such as solar or wind energy. This could even mean in the near future the use of nuclear energy, and the use of more and more biodegradable products. What I find so fascinating and scary at the same time is that global warming is a big, big, big problem. Regardless if a person believes that it is the planets naturally occurring warming process, or whatever, but a person cannot deny the problem of the CO2 and greenhouse gases and the damage that is being done from them. What shocks me the most is how so many people know about this problem, yet do nothing about it. It is almost as though they are like, well someone else will do something about it, and I’m not going to worry about it. I feel like public awareness on the issue is really high, yet people actually caring and everyone doing their part to lower their carbon footprint does not happen. This is a really big problem and it's scary that more people do not do anything to help the situation.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Prisons, Social Power, and the Criminal Justice System
The criminal justice system is composed of three different areas, which include the police, the courts, and the prisons. The purpose of these areas in the criminal justice system is to protect the people, deter people from committing crimes, and to rehabilitate those who have been convicted. The prison system in the US is faulty in many ways, and there is continuous debate over the overall success and effectiveness of the criminal justice system as a whole. However, the purpose of the prisons is not functioning as well as it should. Fist of all, prisons are way over crowded and many more people are being send to prison and for longer periods of time. Currently, the prison population in the US is at 2.2 million people, which is one-fourth of the world’s total. In fact, since 1970 the number of people in prisons has risen eight-fold. The number in 1970 of prisoners was 196,429 compared to today’s number of 2.2 million Americans. In addition to this increasing number of people being incarcerated, the United States has the world’s highest rate of incarceration followed by Russia. This increasing number of people being convicted and put in prison, one would think that the crime rate would decrease. However, that is not the case at all. In addition to no change in the crime rate, prisons are also a huge cost for taxpayers and society in general. It has been estimated that it will cost $27.5 billion to house prisoners, run prisons, and build/maintain the actual buildings. That is an extremely high number.
To improve this faulty prison system, experts have recommended several things that would better the prison system. Experts recommend shorter sentences and parole terms, alternative punishments, and more help for released inmates. These proposed suggestions could cut the prison population in half and save nearly $20 billion a year while also easing social inequality. The over populated prisons is caused by many factors. One such factor is the issue of how harsh a sentence should be. There are many expamles of harsh punishments for crimes that seem not so terrible. For example, the former Vice President aide, Lewis Libby, was indicted on federal obstruction and perjury chargers resulting from a grand jury investigation into the CIA identity leak. Libby was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, two years of supervised release, and 400 hours of community service. However, just short of a month after his sentencing and once appeal failed, President Bush commuted Libby’s 30 months prison sentence. What is so interesting is that then you hear in the news about a Florida woman who was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for throwing a cup of coffee at another car in traffic. These two examples show just how faulty the criminal justice system is, and how the courts have a huge role in the problem with the overcrowding of the prisons. The examples also show how the court system is very socially stratified. This is exactly what conflict perspective theorists argue. They state that the socially dominant group can control the criminal justice system either by influence, money, and/or power. This is very apparent in the case of Lewis Libby receiving such a lenient sentencing. Yet another example of such social stratification in the criminal justice system would be when there are cases of CEO’s or powerful people embezzling a huge sum of money and receiving a sentence of less then seven years in prison. Yet a person that is arrested for say possession of an ounce of crack cocaine is convicted and sentence to at lease ten years. Once again, that is an example of how social power and the dominant group has a huge amount of influence on the criminal justice system.
Another problem with the prison system and the stratification is who is convicted and sent to prison. Research shows that one-third of all black males go to prison, one-sixth of all Latino males go to prison, and yet one in seventeen white males are sent to prison. This is very socially significant for many reasons. Not only does this show yet again how the dominate group, in this case the white males, have more social power than other people, which in this case would be the minorities. In addition to this, the people that are making up the prison populations are mostly from the low socioeconomic status and are from the working poor. This goes to show how social stratification and social power play a huge role in the criminal justice system. This massive incarceration of Americans really makes it hard for people to develop healthy families, achieve financial gain, and also allowing them to be able to break free from the cycle of poverty and crime.
To improve this faulty prison system, experts have recommended several things that would better the prison system. Experts recommend shorter sentences and parole terms, alternative punishments, and more help for released inmates. These proposed suggestions could cut the prison population in half and save nearly $20 billion a year while also easing social inequality. The over populated prisons is caused by many factors. One such factor is the issue of how harsh a sentence should be. There are many expamles of harsh punishments for crimes that seem not so terrible. For example, the former Vice President aide, Lewis Libby, was indicted on federal obstruction and perjury chargers resulting from a grand jury investigation into the CIA identity leak. Libby was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, two years of supervised release, and 400 hours of community service. However, just short of a month after his sentencing and once appeal failed, President Bush commuted Libby’s 30 months prison sentence. What is so interesting is that then you hear in the news about a Florida woman who was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for throwing a cup of coffee at another car in traffic. These two examples show just how faulty the criminal justice system is, and how the courts have a huge role in the problem with the overcrowding of the prisons. The examples also show how the court system is very socially stratified. This is exactly what conflict perspective theorists argue. They state that the socially dominant group can control the criminal justice system either by influence, money, and/or power. This is very apparent in the case of Lewis Libby receiving such a lenient sentencing. Yet another example of such social stratification in the criminal justice system would be when there are cases of CEO’s or powerful people embezzling a huge sum of money and receiving a sentence of less then seven years in prison. Yet a person that is arrested for say possession of an ounce of crack cocaine is convicted and sentence to at lease ten years. Once again, that is an example of how social power and the dominant group has a huge amount of influence on the criminal justice system.
Another problem with the prison system and the stratification is who is convicted and sent to prison. Research shows that one-third of all black males go to prison, one-sixth of all Latino males go to prison, and yet one in seventeen white males are sent to prison. This is very socially significant for many reasons. Not only does this show yet again how the dominate group, in this case the white males, have more social power than other people, which in this case would be the minorities. In addition to this, the people that are making up the prison populations are mostly from the low socioeconomic status and are from the working poor. This goes to show how social stratification and social power play a huge role in the criminal justice system. This massive incarceration of Americans really makes it hard for people to develop healthy families, achieve financial gain, and also allowing them to be able to break free from the cycle of poverty and crime.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Inequality in Education
***I did my Class, Power and Privilege paper on the inequality in education in the United States. This topic is something that I am very passionate about because not only do I find it shocking that so many people are oblivious to the cold, hard facts about this huge social injustice, but also because I plan on becoming a teacher so I can relate to the topic. This blog entry is just a general overview of some of the stuff that I found out while doing my research.***
Education is one of the major and most important social institutions in society. This social institution has been around for many, many years, and has changed as time has passed. Within this social institution, along with other social institutions, there is a high level of inequality. Education is important to both society and individual human beings because it enables children to grow into adults that become contributing members of society. Education not only creates jobs for many people, but it is also greatly responsible for the socialization of children. On another level, education is key in a person’s opportunity to break free of poverty. It allows them to achieve and be able to receive a good education, which in turn will aid them in getting a job. However, the inequality in education prohibits some people from being able to break free of poverty. Educational inequality deprives certain resources from certain people in an unfair way. The unequal distribution of educational resources is a complex issue that affects particular groups of people.
The type of quality of education a person receives is dependent upon the educational resources available to them. However, the resources are not distributed equally throughout schools in the United States. Educational resources include many different items, things such as money, textbooks, computers, teaching aides, and facilities. All of the resources and their availability to a child affect the achievement of the student. Inequality among the distribution of educational resources, be it money, quality of teachers, material goods, etc. has a disastrous impact on children. The distribution of educational resources throughout the United States is wildly unequal, and it is very obvious that besides the inequality of education itself, there is inequality in achievement of students. The inequality however awful it might seem, is dependent on race and class. Studies have shown that United States schools still give much more resources and opportunities to white students than African Americans. In addition to that, studies have found that schools that are composed of students from poor, lower class backgrounds have less per-students funding than schools made up of upper and middle class children. However, the inequality of the distribution of educational resources is a major problem in the structure of schools today. The distribution is determined by such factors like the race and socioeconomic status of the school. The decisions about the distribution are made on a federal, state, and local level, thus showing that there is some form of prejudice somewhere among those governmental levels. The inequality in the resources has grave consequences for both the individual student and society as an entirety.
As former Vice President Al Gore said, “There is no greater test of our national responsibility than the quality of the education we provide.” Equality in education is the most important aspect of our society. Everyone having a fair and equal education benefits everyone and everything, and making sure that every child has the opportunity to receive an equal education should be the main concern and goal of our society.
Education is one of the major and most important social institutions in society. This social institution has been around for many, many years, and has changed as time has passed. Within this social institution, along with other social institutions, there is a high level of inequality. Education is important to both society and individual human beings because it enables children to grow into adults that become contributing members of society. Education not only creates jobs for many people, but it is also greatly responsible for the socialization of children. On another level, education is key in a person’s opportunity to break free of poverty. It allows them to achieve and be able to receive a good education, which in turn will aid them in getting a job. However, the inequality in education prohibits some people from being able to break free of poverty. Educational inequality deprives certain resources from certain people in an unfair way. The unequal distribution of educational resources is a complex issue that affects particular groups of people.
The type of quality of education a person receives is dependent upon the educational resources available to them. However, the resources are not distributed equally throughout schools in the United States. Educational resources include many different items, things such as money, textbooks, computers, teaching aides, and facilities. All of the resources and their availability to a child affect the achievement of the student. Inequality among the distribution of educational resources, be it money, quality of teachers, material goods, etc. has a disastrous impact on children. The distribution of educational resources throughout the United States is wildly unequal, and it is very obvious that besides the inequality of education itself, there is inequality in achievement of students. The inequality however awful it might seem, is dependent on race and class. Studies have shown that United States schools still give much more resources and opportunities to white students than African Americans. In addition to that, studies have found that schools that are composed of students from poor, lower class backgrounds have less per-students funding than schools made up of upper and middle class children. However, the inequality of the distribution of educational resources is a major problem in the structure of schools today. The distribution is determined by such factors like the race and socioeconomic status of the school. The decisions about the distribution are made on a federal, state, and local level, thus showing that there is some form of prejudice somewhere among those governmental levels. The inequality in the resources has grave consequences for both the individual student and society as an entirety.
As former Vice President Al Gore said, “There is no greater test of our national responsibility than the quality of the education we provide.” Equality in education is the most important aspect of our society. Everyone having a fair and equal education benefits everyone and everything, and making sure that every child has the opportunity to receive an equal education should be the main concern and goal of our society.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Poverty in the United States
EPI proposed budget for a 2parent 2children household in Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC MSA, SC:
Monthly housing $654
Monthly food $643
Monthly childcare $859
Monthly transportation $482
Monthly healthcare $414
Monthly other necessities $312
Monthly taxes $200
Monthly total $3,564
Annual total $42,766
2008 Government Poverty Guidelines for a 4-person family:
$21,200 (annual)
The rates for a four-person family have a difference of $21,569, which is almost half of what the EPI budget recommend. My family could not live at the government’s poverty line and defiantly would not be comfortable. Personally, I do not see how my family would even be able to live at the EPI budget for a two-parent two-child household, and without a doubt we would not be comfortable. Perhaps this is because we are used to living beyond that. My dad is 58 and my mom is 54, so granted they have been in the work force longer and they both have established careers. My dad makes well over half of the total income for our household, and my mom alone makes over the annual total of the EPI proposed budget for a 2 parent 2 children household. I think that perhaps if my family was used to making less money than we would be able to survive and be comfortable at the EPI budget, but defiantly not at the Federal Government’s budget of $21,200. I think that it would be incredibly scary to be a young couple with two young kids in today’s economic situation. Luckily since my parent’s are older and have been working for 30 something years, they would be okay, but I do not see how a young couple with small children could survive if one or both spouses was laid-off…especially since the job market is so bad.
After watching the video in class and seeing what the Government defines as the poverty line, I totally understand how so many people are constantly struggling to make ends meet. It does not seem that anyone would have a chance to “catch-up” in a sense and break free of this horrible cycle of poverty. When you think about it, it is actually rather astounding that any child raised in a family that is considered to live below the poverty line, grows up and breaks out of the working poor class. One would think that a child that is raised in the group that is below the federal poverty line would not have as many opportunities in life, especially educational opportunities, and therefore, would not be able to excel in life and become a member of the middle class. The movie we watched in class hit home the fact that poverty is a real crisis that many Americans are in. For some reason it seems that a lot of people do not realize that this is a rampant problem.
If I were advising the next President about poverty and calculating poverty rates, I would tell him several things. The first thing I would say is that there needs to be a new formula for calculating the poverty lines. The new formula should take into account things such as the increase in cost of gasoline, food, etc. I would also suggest that some form of subsidized childcare be made available to a broader portion of the population. My last suggestion to the future President would be creating a universal healthcare system. This would greatly lower the cost of medicine, doctor’s visits, hospital bills, and so on. This would decrease a families budget by a tremendous amount.
Monthly housing $654
Monthly food $643
Monthly childcare $859
Monthly transportation $482
Monthly healthcare $414
Monthly other necessities $312
Monthly taxes $200
Monthly total $3,564
Annual total $42,766
2008 Government Poverty Guidelines for a 4-person family:
$21,200 (annual)
The rates for a four-person family have a difference of $21,569, which is almost half of what the EPI budget recommend. My family could not live at the government’s poverty line and defiantly would not be comfortable. Personally, I do not see how my family would even be able to live at the EPI budget for a two-parent two-child household, and without a doubt we would not be comfortable. Perhaps this is because we are used to living beyond that. My dad is 58 and my mom is 54, so granted they have been in the work force longer and they both have established careers. My dad makes well over half of the total income for our household, and my mom alone makes over the annual total of the EPI proposed budget for a 2 parent 2 children household. I think that perhaps if my family was used to making less money than we would be able to survive and be comfortable at the EPI budget, but defiantly not at the Federal Government’s budget of $21,200. I think that it would be incredibly scary to be a young couple with two young kids in today’s economic situation. Luckily since my parent’s are older and have been working for 30 something years, they would be okay, but I do not see how a young couple with small children could survive if one or both spouses was laid-off…especially since the job market is so bad.
After watching the video in class and seeing what the Government defines as the poverty line, I totally understand how so many people are constantly struggling to make ends meet. It does not seem that anyone would have a chance to “catch-up” in a sense and break free of this horrible cycle of poverty. When you think about it, it is actually rather astounding that any child raised in a family that is considered to live below the poverty line, grows up and breaks out of the working poor class. One would think that a child that is raised in the group that is below the federal poverty line would not have as many opportunities in life, especially educational opportunities, and therefore, would not be able to excel in life and become a member of the middle class. The movie we watched in class hit home the fact that poverty is a real crisis that many Americans are in. For some reason it seems that a lot of people do not realize that this is a rampant problem.
If I were advising the next President about poverty and calculating poverty rates, I would tell him several things. The first thing I would say is that there needs to be a new formula for calculating the poverty lines. The new formula should take into account things such as the increase in cost of gasoline, food, etc. I would also suggest that some form of subsidized childcare be made available to a broader portion of the population. My last suggestion to the future President would be creating a universal healthcare system. This would greatly lower the cost of medicine, doctor’s visits, hospital bills, and so on. This would decrease a families budget by a tremendous amount.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
South Carolina Divorce Laws
The South Carolina state divorce laws are in my opinion not very fair. I think that there are some aspects that make sense and some that are just ridiculous. For example, I do not understand why they make two people wait an entire year of being separated to then be able to get divorced. Getting a marriage license in South Carolina is so easy, and yet the state makes it near impossible to have a divorce done quickly. It is almost as if the state is trying to propagate heterosexual marriages by making it easy to marry and hard to divorce. I do not think it is fair to make people wait that long. Maybe if the state required a longer waiting period before the marriage license is granted, then they would not be in the position of having to grant divorces. Perhaps people would have a chance to think longer about the decision they are about to make.
I do think though that the laws about property distribution and spousal support are good. However, they could be a little better. I totally agree with the laws that state that the spouse has the right to keep non-martial property including things such as property acquired prior to marriage, acquired by gift or inheritance, acquired in exchange for non-marital property, acquired due to an increase in the value of any non-marital property, or property protected in a pre-marital contract (such as any thing in a prenuptial agreement). This way if a person say has inherited a large piece of land that is very valuable and then is getting a divorce, the land is not included in the martial property that is to be divided.
I also think that the spousal support laws are good too. It is only fair that in the case of a divorce the partner who did not work, or makes less money, would be supported by the husband if she has the children. For example, if a woman was a stay-at-home-mom and had been out of the work force for a substantial number of years in order to take care of the kids, home, etc and then her husband, who was the breadwinner, divorces her, it is only fair that she be supported. It is especially fair that she gets half of the marital assets even though she never technically had an income contributing to the household. Also, in the case of child support, I think that some how the courts should come up with a foolproof way to ensure that child support is being paid. Maybe the money should be taken directly from the paycheck and given to the person with custody. Somehow the laws on child support need to be stricter because there are so many times where no one cent of child support is ever paid.
Overall I think that the South Carolina divorce laws are outdated and not very good. They make it incredibly hard to get divorced and then do not do a lot to help out the children and spouse once the divorce is done as far as monetary support. The system seems to be faulty.
I do think though that the laws about property distribution and spousal support are good. However, they could be a little better. I totally agree with the laws that state that the spouse has the right to keep non-martial property including things such as property acquired prior to marriage, acquired by gift or inheritance, acquired in exchange for non-marital property, acquired due to an increase in the value of any non-marital property, or property protected in a pre-marital contract (such as any thing in a prenuptial agreement). This way if a person say has inherited a large piece of land that is very valuable and then is getting a divorce, the land is not included in the martial property that is to be divided.
I also think that the spousal support laws are good too. It is only fair that in the case of a divorce the partner who did not work, or makes less money, would be supported by the husband if she has the children. For example, if a woman was a stay-at-home-mom and had been out of the work force for a substantial number of years in order to take care of the kids, home, etc and then her husband, who was the breadwinner, divorces her, it is only fair that she be supported. It is especially fair that she gets half of the marital assets even though she never technically had an income contributing to the household. Also, in the case of child support, I think that some how the courts should come up with a foolproof way to ensure that child support is being paid. Maybe the money should be taken directly from the paycheck and given to the person with custody. Somehow the laws on child support need to be stricter because there are so many times where no one cent of child support is ever paid.
Overall I think that the South Carolina divorce laws are outdated and not very good. They make it incredibly hard to get divorced and then do not do a lot to help out the children and spouse once the divorce is done as far as monetary support. The system seems to be faulty.
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