Saturday, October 22, 2011
Right from the start of the article I was immediately hooked. The first paragraph really got my attention and overall the article was very interesting. I believe inequality is an issue throughout the world. But what do you think the World Health Organization discussed during their conference? What types of topics and issues of inequality do you think are vital to discuss? Another issue the article talked about was the baboons, how inequality not only effects humans, but also animals. Do you think one of the main reason why people deal with depression is because of inequality? Explain why you feel this way? The lesser people dying seemed to be a pattern, why do you think this is so? In the last paragraphs what did you think about the statistics of average income?
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The baboons point makes it obvious that humans are not only capable of equality, it is a genetic trait. While I am not suggesting that we should kill all the people who benefit from inequality, it brings up an interesting point about human nature. I thought that it was really interesting that, if the alpha males died out, with the beta males created a society of 'subdued' baboons (from a secondary article). But, as the saying goes, "the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer," shown by the statistics, and frankly, is an atrocity. This trend must stop, something that we will have to make big changes to do.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Diego. The current trend has to stop. Now. Not tomorrow, not a year from now. Now. The direction the U.S. is going is not ok. We should try and be more like our nordic buddies. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is impossible to stop. Human nature dictates that there has to be some kind of hierarchy within society. Just because it is less pronounced in scandinavian countries doesn't mean it's not there.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grant. Although there should be equality, it will never happen. The trend of the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer is awful and must stop. But, as Grant stated, this type of social and economic hierarchy is next to impossible to stop. The way I see it is that there will never be a U.S. where everybody lives in complete social or economic equality.
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ReplyDeleteThis article really struck me and allowed me understand so much more about issues surrounding our society. Although I knew economic inequality existed, I was unaware that it is directly proportional to stress and mortality rates. I agree with what all of you have said about inequality being impossible to overcome, and I think that it is always something that will be present in a capitalist society when everyone cares so much about money. It will also never be possible for the "alpha" members of society to die out, because there will always be somebody ready to step in and take control. Overall, the article taught me that we really do live like apes.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all your comments I totally agree with Grant. Although we wish for this to happen, results will never come. I really liked how Sean said it with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. I think that is so true. And I agree just like everyone else this does have to stop. We if we want equality, which I think we all do, then we need to stop this constant difference from one another that makes us all very different. Overall, I really enjoyed this article. It got my thinking about topics that I don't really think about.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I took from the article was not only how much economic inequality worsens life, but how much equality improves it. In Scandinavian countries as well as Japan, citizens have a higher life expectancy, and lower rates of infant mortality, obesity, illness, and crime when compared to other nations. This conveys even more how important economic equality is and why nations should strive to achieve it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with CJ. I found it fascinating how much of an impact it could have on a community. the effects were definitely astonishing. Equality among people is such a grand solution to the problem and as CJ stated given evidence and proof of this from other countries it is apparent that change is needed. People are dying due to inequality, this is an extremely serious matter and big companies and governments are overlooking this greatly.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grant and Diego immensely. This has to stop. From the article it is apparent that inequality is extremely problematic. America is taking the steps in the wrong direction by giving more money to the upper class-men and decreasing the poorer classes incomes. This is why we are occupying wall street and the leaders of these big corporations are being called corporate zombies. They don't care about the working class as long as theier making more money they could care less about whats happening to people of a lower socioeconomic status.
ReplyDeleteCj, you make a good point. The trend does not just stop when equality improves, it goes the other way. But on a somewhat negative note, as Ferris eluded too, its like saying "I want to have world peace," its something that CAN happen, but due to our current situation and state of mind is very unlikely. On the other hand, it is something much more manageable than, again, say, world peace, but it is something that the world will have to work together for many years to do, and it might just be something utopian, as there will always be those "fat cats" with an excessive amount of sway.
ReplyDeleteI am happy that many of you agree with me. I liked Cj's point about a capitalist society, but I would like to pose a question: Is this not a capitalist world? There are a seldom few countries in the world where money is not a large factor. Although in every country there are places one can get away from finanical woes, few (if any) countries exist where money is a nonissue. Wouldn't a money-free world be great?
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