Sociology 273 Final Exam – Flashcards

- welfare is monetary assistance for the poor, sponsored by government taxes - welfare programs are often the first cut during budget slimming - wealthfare people are less visible to us --> wealthfare is money porovided to people who are already wealthy (bailouts, etc.) - either way the government is giving money to a certain group --> we resent welfare, we don't see wealthfare - the author is presenting an argument that the U.S. public routinely complains about people receiving government aid through welfare, but has not idea about the incentives that people on wealthfare get - agricultural subsidies and the issue of what counts as a "farm" --> farms are turning into huge food production monoliths - agribusiness subsidies: if you have excess production you get price supports in the form of the government buying it (one type of wealthfare) --> production quotas can be instilled on certain farms and products --> support for the tobacco industry despite its dangers to health - crop insurence and deficieny payments --> you are paid when things don't grow - the original reason for subsidies was to make food cheaper so that people could afford it, but that did NOT happen - the land for farming has become overvalued --> the single biggest contributor to the cost of our food is land prices because arable land is limited - agribusiness is now mostly a corporate model --> led to serious deterioration of the environment (poisoning of lakes, streams, etc.) - anti-smoking groups were demonized for years but the government still supports farmers growing tobacco - land is too expensive now for small farmers to afford it, but big corporations are able to afford it just fine

- tax cheating includes tax evasion, shelters, dodging - the farming industry has many legal tax loopholes - there are audits of income taxes, but it's what people call an "audit lottery" --> there is so littel chance of being audited - corporate shelters exist in part because big corporations have lobbying power in Congress --> allowed to break into subsidiaries and move profit to their least taxed areas --> there are multiple tax evasion policies - corporations trying to avoid taxes due to greed, not wanting to be expected to pay all the time, the U.S. mindset of being very mericratic (being a meritocracy) - it is very significant that Walmart just raised their minimum wage freely, because other companies are likely to follow - the interconnectedness of companies (people on multiple boards) can then lead to price setting and companies having increased political power - corporations do a lot of tax dodging --> far too many investors and business owners are tempted to understate their gross business receipts or overstate their expenses, move their investments offshore, fail to report capital gains accurately, etc. - Reagan passed the Tax Reform Act, which replaced most of the 1981 enacted tax breaks along with many others in exchange for lower tax rates

- commercials are the backbone of non-public television, they reflect the values of our society - the main source of news for U.S. residents is television, and this allows commericials to make a lot of money - the main point of a commercial is to make you want to buy a product --> they are selling a solution to some problem - commericals often use a parable format --> quick solution to your problem - "The beauty of commercials is that we the public don't analyze them." - commercials are the backbone of non-public television - they represent a lot of money and social values --> what matters is the size and demographic of your audience (age, race, ethnicity, etc.) --> advertising towards females focuses on beauty, attractiveness, etc. - commercials provide a vision of how you should look, and many of us fall for that vision - there is a huge amount of money invested in commercials, but there is also a huge payback a large part of the time - use of the parable format: there is a problem, some product comes along, you have a solution to your problem - non-avid consumer: somebody considered kind of "other," close to nature, groups such as the Amish, anarchsits, tiny house movement, etc.

- the foucus is on an increasingly strong trend to privatize water - the underlying principle issue is that water is a public good - the problem in the U.S. is that we provide relatively cheap, clean water as a public good , so why would we want to privatize that? - politically, municipalities are being pushed to consider privatization before upgrades are able to be made - if tight supervision of water supplies is possible, why would you privatize it? - the biggest goal of companies who privatize water is to make a profit - many people are opposed because it puts a monopoly on a public good - privatizing does not necessarily work but there is a big push for it in the U.S. - Atlanta turned its municipal water system over to a global company and havoc ensued --> fire hydrants were cut off for weeks, water mains leaked without repair for weeks, more than 5 boil alters were issued to neighborhoods --> this was supposed to usher in a new era of privatized public goods, but did not go very well - two huge questions: should water be controlled for profits and can multinational companies actually deliver what they promise? - Vivendi Universal and Suez are French conglomerates that manage water for 230 million people throughout Europe and the developing world --> they are now targeting America, where 85% of people get water regulated by the government --> they argue that only "corporate efficiency" can rescue the nation's aging waterworks - Atlanta is now suing United Water --> citing illegal chemical levels, maintenance issues, and fired 25% of staff - in the developing world, water prices have been hiked up --> in Bolivia, some residents experienced up to 35% and have been spending up to 20% of their income on water --> this led to riots and people were killed, eventually the government voided the contract

- in the summer of 1998 Ehrenreich leaves behind her middle-class life and decides to try to live for a summer as a low-wage worker - posits herself on applications as a divorced woman who never finished college and whose work experience is mostly housekeeping jobs in private homes - her first issue is finding a place to live that she can afford --> at an estimate of $7 an hour for pay at whatever job she will get, she can afford something that is $500 a month, or $600 if she really stretches her budget - she ends up having to a rent a cabin behind a man's trailer in a swampy area that is a 45-minute drive from Key West, where she hopes to work - according to her estimates about costs of living, child care, etc., low-wage work is not a solution to poverty and may not even be a solution to homelessness - she applies for 20 jobs, but only one calls her back --> the want ads are not a reliable measure of the actual jobs available at any given time --> these ads are the employers' "insurance policy" against the relentless overturn of the low-wage workforce --> finding a job is often a matter of being at the right place at the right time - she gets hired at a the restaurant (Hearthside) of a local hotel chain - she discovers that many of the workers feel a compassion towards their regular customers, who are all working class --> many of them will dip into their own pay and tips to help feed customers who are out of work - they are often berated by management for gossiping, drug use, etc. --> threatens to take their break room away, they can't eat at the restaurant when they are off-duty, etc. - housing is the principle source of disruption in many of their lives because they can't afford a regular apartment --> some live in a flophouse with roommates for about $250 a week, some live with their parents, some live in an apartment shared by more than 4 people, some live on their boats, some stay in a hotel across the street for $60 a night, and some don't have a home and live in their vans behind stores - the biggest issue is that you need to put down payments on apartments and there's no money left to save for that so many people have to find other living situations - because they earn so little money, and because the places they live don't have storage areas for food, they have to survive on fast food or stuff that can be microwaved at a convenience store - no money for health insurance, so many go without the prescription drugs they need - other issues come into factor, such as gas, etc.

- the average credit card debt of Americans between the ages of 25-34 has increased by 55% between 1992 and 2001 --> self-reported household average of $4,088 - this age's bankruptcy rate grew by 19% over the same period --> by 2001, 12 out of every 1,000 young adults were filing for bankruptcy - young adults now have the second highets rate of bankruptcy, just after those aged 35-44 - the major adult costs (housing, child care, health care) have increased dramatically over the past decade --> the rising unemployment, slow real wage growth, and skyrocketing tuition and resulting student loan debt all erod the economic security of today's young adults - the newly-deregulated credit industry began aggresively marketing to young people on college campuses, and deregulation brought higher rates and fees, so young adults find it very difficult to get out of debt - nearly 7 out of 10 young Americans have one or more credit cards --> this level is unchaned since 1992 --> compared to the population as a whole, young adult cardholders ar emore likely to be in debt --> 71% revolve their balances - all but the lowest-income young households experience dramatic increase in credit card debt over the decade --> debt rose 37% among moderate-income young adults earning between $10,000-$24,999 --> middle-income young adults earning between $25,000-$49,999 experience 65% increase in debt --> upper-middle-income young adults with incomes between $50,000-$74,999 experience a 55% increase in debt - debt service-to-income ratio (the amount of income devoted to debt payments): steadily rising for young adults since 1992; the average ratio in 1992 was 19, while in 2001 it had risen to 24% --> the average indebted young American spends nearly a quarter of every dollar earned servicing debt --> this ratio only accounts for outstanding mortgage and consumer debt, leaving out stuff like rent, auto lease payments, etc. - debt hardship: a family spending more than 40% of their income on debt payments is considered in a state of debt hardship --> over 13% of young adults experience debt hardship, which is twice the percentage of 1992 --> low-income households are the most likely to be in debt hardship, but middle-income young adults are also experiencing higher levels of debt hardship --> many young adults aer struggling to make payments - factors driving debt: slow real wage growth, under- and un-employment, student loan debt, aggressive marketing to college students, rising housing and transportation costs, the cost of being uninsured, child care costs

- many companies wove a safety net for the war generation that included long-term employment, pension security, and retiree health insurance --> this safety net has been unraveling since then, and it directly tied to the current debate over Social Security - the younger generations are faring worse and worse --> in particular, younger generations have worsening prospects for retirement - until now financial planners have likened retirement to a three-legged stool composed of employee pensions, personal savings, and Social Security --> the savings leg is almost gone for the current generation, and the benefits that one can expect to see from Social Security are decreasing - the War Generation: many people who came to adult age during the war years had protections built in by the government and businesses --> because of the war, companies had wartime wage controls so that most employers provided pensions and health insurance --> many jobs came with a home --> Paugh was on the company baseball team, so he was exempt from layoffs after the Korean War --> he gets pension and large Social Security benefits from spending 41 years with the same employeer --> he is very thrifty, which was instilled in him during the war --> retired with lifetime health insurance from his employer - the Boomers: only the lucky ones from the Boomer generation can reire with full pensions and lifetime health insurance --> many have had to find work after their jobs are eliminated through the reorganization of companies, and they lose any prospect of health insurance or retirement pensions --> they face the challenge of providing for grown-up children (ages 18-24) who still live at home --> many have save and invest in their 401(k)s, but they are nowhere close to having enough savings to sustain them in retirement - the Grandchildren: much of the younger generation does not expect to have any type of retirement security --> companies are sold and bought so often that many expect to have to adapt and expect to not work at the the same job for the entire lives --> cradle-to-grave security and loyalty are no longer feasible for this generation --> retirement experts say that for grandchildren the three-legged stool only have the two legs of Social Security and 401(k)s (which are the merger of pensions and savings) --> many can't put too much money into their 401(k) due to other living expenses --> many of them expect that they will never be able to afford a house

- subprime is thebroad term for credit extended to people who would not ordinarily qualify for loans, either because their income is too low to meet the anticipated payments or because of poor credit history - early 2000s: mortgage lenders introduced even more complex variants on traditional home mortgages, such as mortgages with no down payment, low "teaser" rates that rose after a brief period of time, and ones that did not require a credit check --> an estimated 60% of subprime loans required no income verification or only the most cursory check - by 2007, the subprime mortgage lending sector began incurring huge losses, bringing heightened risks to the $65 trillion mortgage securities market - mortgage companies made these loans because they did not bear most of the risk --> these mortgages were sold off as soon as the loan closed and packaged as securities known as collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) --> the securities rates of return supposedly aligned closely to the risk - subprime loans increased more than twelvefold --> between 2005 and 2006, the value of high-risk mortgage securities more than doubled - when the subprime sector got into serious difficulty in early 2007, the interest rates were flat or falling --> due to lax standards, an increasing number of borrowers had undertaken larger obligations than they could financially bear --> subprime lenders looking for quick profits had increased the risk of defaults --> by 2007, 15% of subprime loans were in default --> mnay risked not being able to afford their payments at the end of the teaser period - most companies on Wall Street did not bear the full risks since they were middlemen and the securities were sold off to investors such as pension funds - subprime mortgage originators revealed that they were heavily financed by hedge funds - early warnings of this were unfolding in 2005 and 2006, but the regulatory agencies did nothing --> mortgage companies are not directly regulated by the federal government --> the Federal Reserve had residual authority to mount investigations but did not - in principle, the secondary mortgage market polices the standard, but the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight had little interest in the subprime problems - Congress didn't investigate until the spring of 2007, but the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) defended its members by using the low-income home buyer as its poster child, yet the only goal of these loans was to make them middleman rich

- inequality in the United States has increased hugely over the last quarter century, as there has been a shift from labor income to profits, and an upward redistribution from low wage earners to high wage earners - this upward redistribution has been largely driven by deliberate policy decisions --> trade and immigration policies have been designed to subject workers at the middle and bottom of the wage distribution to international competition, while leaving the highest paid workers such as doctors, lawyers, accountants largely protected - the Federal Reserve Board's anti-inflation policies disproportionately affect the wages and employment prospects for less-educated workers - as the Fed raises the interest rate to slow the economy, the people that suffer most are those at the middle and the bottom of the wage distribution - government labor-management policy has become much more tilted towards management - for practical purposes, it is now legal to fire workers for organizing a union - the soaring cost of the United States health care system disproportionately affects lower and middle-income workers - the wealth gap is now wider than at any time since the Great Depression --> poor children are much worse off than other industrialized nations

- February 2006: the Center for American Progress convened a group of experts to examine the causes and consequences of poverty in America --> calls for a national goal of cutting poverty in half in the next ten years and provides a strategy to reach that goal - Task Force on Poverty established in the wake of Hurricane Katrina --> Katrina revealed that racial and economic disparities in New Orleans were enormous - 37 million Americans live below the official poverty line --> millions more struggle each month to pay for basic necessities or run out of savings when they lose their job or have a health emergency - povery imposes huge costs on society through the lost potential of children, lower worker productivity and earnings, poor health, increased crime, and broken neighborhoods - many low-income and middle class Americans are concerned about uncertain job futures, downward pressure on wages, and decreasing opportunities for advancement in a globalized economy - we should expect adults to work and young people to stay in school and not have children before they are able to care for them --> we should also expect that jobs be available to those who want to work, that full-time work provides a decent standard of living, that children grow up in conditions that let them reach their full potential, and that a nation of opportunity should be a nation of second chances - dramatic periods of poverty reduction in the U.S.: between 1959 and 1973 the poverty rate fell from 22.4% to 11.1% --> between 1993 and 2000 the poverty fate fell from 15.1% to 11.3% --> this was due to near-full employment economy, sound federal and state policies, individual initiative, supportive civic institutions and communities, and a sustained national commitment - in the last 6 years, the number of poor Americans has grown by 5 million, the federal minimum wage has remained flat, and funding for key federal programs that help epople get and keep jobs has been stagnant or cut - facts on poverty: 1 in 8 Americans lives in poverty --> nearly 1 in 3 Americans is low-income with an income below twice the poverty line --> 1 in 20 Americans lives in extreme poverty, with an income below half of the poverty line --> nearly 1/5 of children are poor --> minorities are much more likely to be poor than are whites --> immigrants are poorer than natives --> women are more likely to be poor than men --> work among poor families grew dramatically during the 1990s --> poverty rates are highest in urban and rural areas, but in the largest metropolitan areas, more poor now live in the suburbs than in the central cities --> more poor people live in the South than in any other region --> millions of Americans will spend at least one year in poverty at some point in their lives --> poverty in the U.S. is higher than in many other developed nations - poverty violates our fundamental principles as a democratic nation and as ethically conscious individuals - one cannot fully participate in society and help shape the decisions of our government and its priorities if confined to abject poverty - it is estimated that allowing our children to grow up in persistent pvoerty costs our economy $500 billion annually in lost adult productivity and wages, increased crime, and higher health expenditures

- many women complain that they cannot get any sleep in the shelter due to too much noise and they can never get a full night's rest because they have to be up at 7am --> it was hard to get up that early every morning because they never had the joys of sleeping in - another issue about shelters is finding storage or enough space for their stuff and theft was common in shelters --> the longer a woman was homeless, then the less stuff she eventually has because she can't carry everything - many women spend almost 25% of their income on storage units alone

- it is a myth that Americans with ambition can go from rags to riches --> Americans are no more or less likely to rise above or fall below their parent's economic class than they were 35 years ago --> shows that class mobility is stalling - research proves that 60% of parent's advantage in income is passed to their children - many politicians argue that increasing minimum wage will hurt economic growth - a child starting in poverty in Europe and Canada has better chance at prosperity than one in the Americas --> more specifically, the U.S and Britain are the least mobile societies - intergenerational mobility has not changed dramatically over the last two decades - research proves that IQ is not a big factor in determining economic success --> race is a significant reason why children's economic success mirrors their parents'

- we are trying to find out why, even after the Civil Rights Movement, blacks are still held in the underclass --> the root of the problem goes back to the most recent benchmark, which was the New Deal - three laws passed in the 1930s were instrumental in generating the current pattern of racial stratification: Social Security Act, Wagner Act, and Federal Housing Act --> these policies were intended to help people but they still ended up discriminating - Social Security Act: domestic and agricultural workers were not covered by the act and therefore many blacks were not included --> Social Security bill was a "sieve with holes just big enough for the negroes to fall through" --> the act hurt blacks because unemployment compensation and old-age insurance rewarded long-term stable jobs rather than intermittent jobs, this caused white people to gain the benefits and blacks not to because of labor market discrimination and the seasonal nature of agricultural work --> even today black workers receive lower Social Security benefits on average but pay a higher proportion of their income towards Social Security than white workers --> labor discrimination forced many African Americans into welfare - Wagner Act: labeled Magna Carta of labor movement, but it was the Magna Carta of white labor movement and failed to include blacks --> unions didn't accept black workers and it encouraged organized labor to exclude those who didn't belong to a union --> banned strikebreaking, which was a tool used by black workers to get into northern industries --> black workers had to do the low-wage, unskilled jobs, and then after the technological advanes of WWII, they were unemployed, and therefore unemployment was caused by black workers being excluded from unions in the first place - Federal Housing Act: the FHA and Veteran's Association boosted white people tremendously, as these organizations built almost half of all suburban housing in the 1950s and 1960s --> FHA loans were greater in the suburbs than in the cities as blacks in the cities were usually denied loans or had more unfavorable terms --> housing subsidies caused the white exodus to the suburbs --> the FHA guidelines were incredibly racist in nature, as segregated neighborhoods would receive better loans, and there was less investment in black communities --> the 1946 Hill Burton Act led to "separate but equal", and almost $37 million of federal money had been used to promote segregation in neigborhoods by the time this clause was struck down in 1983 - these policies caused huge accumulation of wealth amongst whites and huge de-accumulation of wealth amongst blacks --> by this time today, whites possess substantially more property and financial assets than blacks do, and the root of this issue came from these government aid policies

- no institution has changed more since Brown v. Board of Education than the criminal justice system and it profoundly affects African Americans - there is unprecedented growth in the prison system, with 9 times as many African Americans in jail as there were in 1954 --> especially prominent amongst African American men - 1 in 21 black men is incarcerated on any given day --> for black men in their 20s, that figure is 1 in 8 - black women also have a high likelihood of going to prison, 6 times higher than white women - there are 8 factors for the increase that lie within and outside the criminal justice system: crime rates, rising imprisonment, war on drugs, crack/cocaine sentencing, school zone drug laws, "3 strikes" and habitual offender policies, inadequate defense resources, and zero tolerance policies - crime rates: crimes rates have increased in general, and especially in the black community due to increased concentrated poverty - rising imprisonment: since 1970, there has been a rise in imprisonment throughout the country in general --> this is due to a new "tough on crime" approach by the public and politicians - war on drugs: there is a higher rate of imprisonment due to drug offenses, even though there has not been a large increase in the amount of drugs used --> blacks are arrested disproportionately because drug problems are more likely to be addressed through the criminal justice system in communities with low resources --> in contrast, communities with substantial resources (like the suburbs) address drug problems as a public health problem and use prevention and treatment approaches - crack/cocaine sentencing: federal legislation puts way harsher punishments on crack-cocaine offenders than on powder cocaine users, even though crack is a derivative of powder cocaine --> persons convicted of selling 500 grams of powder cocaine are sentenced to five years in prison, for crack-cocaine it is the same sentence for only 5 grams --> enforcement of these laws results in blacks constituting 83% of crack defendents, even though 2/3 of cocaine users in general are white - school zone drug laws: there are increased penalties for drug offenses that occur near schools --> for blacks this is problematic because most of their schools are in urban areas and are a lot closer to their homes, whereas white people often live in suburbs where schools are much further from their homes - "3 strikes"/habitual offender policies: harsher prison sentences on previous offenders exerts disproportionate effect on African Americans --> non-violent offenses that would have only gotten a few years' sentence turn into 25 years or more because of previous convictions - inadequate defense resources: the defense counsel is a guaranteed right to anyone charged, but the people who work for the public defense are often highly inadequate --> many attorneys hired by the state are overworked and are paid little to nothing for it --> African Americans are on average much poorer, so they get hit the hardest by this - zero tolerance policies: schools are now focusing on zero tolerance policies for violation of their rules, and this gets people in trouble for menial things such as water pistols or advil --> it makes expulsion and suspension more common, resulting in more high schools dropouts, a disproportionate amount of which are black (and then Latino) - these issues affect not only black prisoners, but their families --> 1 in 14 black children have a parent in prison on any given day --> a large amount of the black population can't vote because they are in jail or have been priorly convicted

- rich kids get into college because the colleges want access to their families' wealth --> this is not always a full bargain, sometimes it's called a "development admit" where the child is admitted even though they are not up to standards but will likely develop while in college - many schools consider parental wealth when making decisions, one exception is MIT - Duke makes this such a normal practice that there is a system to it --> Duke aggressively tries to snare donors through admissions breaks --> Duke takes about 120 underqualified students each year strictly based on the fact that their parents are wealthy, the original list is about 500 and it is narrowed down to 120 - this trend increases the white majority at colleges because it is largley known that many rich students will be white

- immigrants are deprived of many of the rights that are automatically given to U.S. citizens including the right to vote, so elected officials and the general public can often discriminate them and marginalize them with little to no repercussion --> even though immigrants contribute to society as much as the rest, they are not eligible for rights that more than 90% of the U.S. population enjoys - Mexico is the largest source of foreign-born immigrants, and over half of all immigrants come Mexico, Central American, and Latin America --> 18% of immigrants come from Asia - immigration rose dramatically in the 1990s - immigrants today are often blamed for issues with the U.S. economy --> this is a myth, as they pay the same taxes that everyone else does --> those who work informal jobs are the same as citizens who work untaxed informal jobs (babysitting, lawn-mowing, etc.) --> many immigrants actually work in the formal economy, and many illegal immigrants get through with fake Social Security numbers - illegal aliens are the only ones who lose from their work --> they contribute $7 billion annually to Social Security but never see any of it returned to them - immigrants actually contribute more to the public sector than they use, so they are not actually a drain on our economy - the only thing immigrant households use more than others is food assistance programs, but these are often used to get free school lunches for their children who are U.S. citizens - first-generation immigrants pay more taxes at a federal level than the services that they use --> the more generations you go, the greater they bring in because of increased education and better wages (?) - the use of immigrants is more beneficial to businesses, and illegal aliens are especially preferred as businesses can pay them very low wages --> the constant flow of illegal aliens to the U.S. causes their children to live below the poverty line (39% to be specific) - as long as there continues to be a group of "illegal people," U.S. policies guarantee that there will be a permanent underclass

- "glass ceiling" coined to describe the apparent barriers that prevent women from reaching the top of the corporate hierarchy - in 1995, the Class Ceiling Commission published its recommendations --> it said the barrier was continuing to deny untold numbers of qualified people the opportunity to compete for hold and hold executive level positions --> found that 45.7% of America's jobs and more than half of master's degrees were held by women, but 95% of senior managers were men --> female managers' earnings were on average only 68% of their male counterparts' - in 2005, women acount for 46.5% of America's workfoce and less than 8% of its top managers --> female managers' earnings now average 72% of their male colleagues' - Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm that monitors departing chief executives in America, found that in both 1998 and 2004, 0.7% of them were women - the picture is similar in other countries --> there were no women featured in Fortune magazine's list of 25-highest paid CEOs in Europe --> in Japan, until 20-30 years ago, it was unacceptable for a woman to stay in the office after 5 PM - a sample of British quoted companies found that 65% had no women on their board at all in 2003 --> no British woman has yet headed a big British company, as the women who do are from eiher the U.S. or Canada usually - diversity programs and "Women in Leadership" conferences are often held by major companies that have little to no women in their top ranks - companies no longer see the promotion of women solely as a moral issue of equal opportunity and equal pay --> research has shown that there is a strong correlation between financial performance and women in top executive positions - for some companies the push towards greater diversity has come from their customers - other companies don't reflect their customer base at all --> Proctor & Gamble (P&G), which produces Pampers, Tampax, and more, has 93% of its corporate officers as men, and only two women serve on its board in non-executive positions - many companies are motivated by a desire to broaden the pool of "talent" they can choose from, as they worry about ageing populations in the developed world --> management consulting firms try to hold on to their women employees but cannot accomodate maternity leave, and therefore lose twice as many women from the middle rungs of its career ladder - a 2002 survey of top executives in American multinationals did show that women were less ambitious: 19% of men aspired to be CEO, while only 9% of women did --> 43% o women hoped to join a senior management committee, which is closer to the 54% of men that did - three main explanations by women for why so few of them reach "C-level" jobs: exclusion from formal networks (jock-talk, late-night boozing, strip clubs), pervasive stereotyping of women's capacity for leadership, lack of role models - another reason suggested: flattening of organizations in recent years lead to layers of management have been stripped out which means that promotions are now far steeper than they used to be, leaving fewer opportunities for people to re-enter the workforce at higher levels --> many women inevitably need to take time of during their careers to care for children - many women are also withdrawing from jobs to care for elderly parents at a point when they are on the cusp of the higher echelons --> many women bail out of corporate life to become self-employed consultatns and entrepreneurs, where they have greater freedom and autonomy to manage their lives - women often have to take care of the household and therefore are twice as likely to work part-time - across sectors, women lost 37% of their earning power when they spent three or more years out of the workforce - women with MBAs are quickly dropping out of the workforce --> 1 out of every 3 qualified women is not working full-time - opportunities for flexible working are particularly helpful in keeping women in the workforce --> mentoring is also helpful

- most college students (89%) say that sexual harassment occurs among students at their college, and 1/5 (21%) say that peer harassment happens often - 2/3 of students (66%) say that they know someone personally who has been sexually harassed - students generally indicate that verbal and visual kinds of sexual harassment are common, but incidents involving contact or physical threat are not rare - 41% of students admit to sexually harassing someone --> in most cases, they say that thought it was funny, the other person liked it, or it is just a part of life at school - unwanted comments, jokes, gestures, and looks are the most common type of sexual harassment on campus --> about half of college students have been the target of unwanted sexual comments, jokes, gestures, or looks and a similar number know someone else who has experienced it - more than 1/3 of studnets know someone who has been called gay, lesbian, or a homophobic name - physical forms of harassment are prevalent --> 1/4 of colelge students hav ebeen touched, grabbed, or pinched in a sexual way, and nearly 1/3 know someone who has experience this - other common types of sexual harassment include flashing or mooning, intentionally brushing up against someone in a sexual way, and spreading sexual rumors about individuals - the percentage of college students experiencing some types of sexual harassment is relatively low, but that still means that the number of implied incidents is quite high when looked at nationwide - both male and female students are harassed --> female students are more likely to experience sexual harassment that involves physical contact --> more than 1/3 of females and males experience sexual harassment during their first year - LGBT stduents are more likely to be harassed than heterosexual students --> they are at higher risk for both contact and noncontact types of sexual harassment --> more likely to be harassed by peers, teachers, and school employees - white college students are more likely than black and Hispanic students to experience sexual harassment --> white students are more likley to experience verbal and other noncontact forms of harassment, to be flashed/mooned, or to be called a homophobic name --> students are equally likely to experience physical or contact sexual harassment regardless of race/ethnicity - student-to-student harassment is the most common form of sexual harassment on campus --> more than 2/3 (68%) say that peer harassment happens often or occasionally and more than 3/4 (80%) of students who have been harassed have been so by a student or former student - 1/5 of students (18%) report sexual harassment of undergraduates by faculty and staff --> only 25% of students say that faculty and staff never harass students --> about 7% of harassed students have been harassed by a professor - sexual harassment by faculty is more likely to be reported by students than sexual harassment by their peers - men are the most common harassers of both females and other men --> the least common type of sexual harassment is female-to-female (less than 10% have been harassed by another woman) --> males are most commonly harassed by a group of men or group of men and women - a relatively large number of students (13% total) do not know who harased them, suggesting that some incidents are conducted anonymously - about 1 in 4 college students admit to harassing someone, largely noncontact harassment, usually unwanted sexual comments, jokes, looks, or homophobic remarks - more than half of male college students admit that they have sexually harassed someone in college, and 1/5 admit to harassing someone often --> 1/5 say that they have physically harassed someone - almost 1/3 of female students admit to committing some type of harassment - many students who admit to harassing others have been harassed themselves - male students are more likely than female students to think sexual harassment is funny --> white students are more likely than black students to say they harasseds someone because they though it was funny --> black students are more likely than white students to say they harassed because they thought the person liked it - the majority of female students say that they have felt very upset about their experience, compared to only 1/3 of male students - female students are more likely than male students to feel embarassed, angry, less confident, afraid, confused, or disappointed due to sexual harassment --> female students are also more likely to worry about sexual harassment --> LGBT students are more likely to be upset than heterosexual students - female students are more likely than males to have their educational experience disrupted by sexual harassment --> LGBT students are especially likely to have their educational experience disrupted by harassment - only about 7% of students actually report the incident to a college employee, while most confide in their friends or tell no one

- set at Weston Middle School in Weston, California --> town's sole middle school and it serves nearly 900 students a year from the disparate population - "hidden curriculum": the unstated lessons that students learn in school --> the running subtext through which teachers communicate behavioral norms and individual status in the school culture, the process of socialization that cues children into their place in the hierarchy of larger society --> recently applied to the ways in which schools help reinforce gender roles, whether they intend to or not - young girls, such as Amy Wilkinson, are very "bold" and talkative outside of the classroom, talking often and interacting with others while waiting for class to start - in class, many girls adopt the feminine pose of crossed legs, folded arms across chest, hunching forward to their desks --> the boys sprawl in their chairs, stretching their legs, taking up the available space - the teacher often has multiple power struggles with the boys in the class throughout the day --> when female students such as Allison raise their hand, they are often ignored by the teacher, who is arguing with the boys - most of the boys shout out the answers to the questions without being called on --> when the boys are ignored in favor of other students, they often shout over the other students' answers - when the girls in the class speak, they follow the rules such as raising their hand and waiting their turn --> many girls choose to answer the easiest, lowest-risk questions in order to not be embarassed --> the girls' stabs at public recognition depend on the boys' largesse --> when girls try to answer more complicated questions, the boys become territorial and shout them down - the teachers don't say anything to condone the boys' behaviors, but their actions do --> boys insist on and receive attention even when the teacher tries to shift it elsewhere - girls in the schoolyard pretend to be disgusted by spiders, bugs, etc. that the boys bring to them because they know that guys like it if they act all "helpless and girly" - in schools, girls opt out or are pushed out of science at every stage of advancement --> science laboratory groups at schools can become a microcosm of unintended lessons about gender - clear passive resistance to participation by the girls that went unquestioned by the science teacher --> the teacher doesn't seem to notice that boys participate much more actively than girls - for the "Cartesian Diver" experiment, the one boy in the group performs the experiment while the two girls watch and occassionally offer encouragement, but no criticism --> in another group of two girls and one boy, the boy watches over the girls' shoulders and taunts them when they don't get it right --> when another group of two girls can't get it right, they default to asking for a boy's help rather than asking the many girls seated nearby

- marriage entered presidential politics for the first time as a farce --> Dan Quayle's June 1992 attack on the television character "Murphy Brown" for having a child outside of wedlock - in the wake of the Los Angeles riots, Quayle addressed the Commomwealth Club in San Francisco, citing that the "social anarchy" that the country was witnessing was a direct result of the breakdown of the family structure in the U.S. --> the poverty at the root of the disorder was a "poverty of morals" - at the end of his speech, Quayle denounced Murphy Brown and her Hollywood creators for mocking fatherhood, glamorizing single motherhood, and thereby encouraging family disintegration among the poor - this attack launched a media frenzy and many late-night talk show jokes - the Thirty Year Detour: blacklash of Quayle's attack turned into a large political issue with politicians and the Clinton administration referring to two-parent households as the best anti-poverty program --> pundits and politicians stated that single-parent households were the root cause of all poverty, crimes, drug use, juvenile violence, and failing schools - in the early 1990s marriage became a major combat zone for culture wars --> poverty, welfare, sexuality, divorce, and gay rights --> 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) stated that governments could not consider same-sex relationships as marriage even if some states do --> the "marriage movement" led to negative stigma around single-parent homes primarily by religious and economic conservatives, and they never faced a coherent opposition - Home Economics: many worries about marriage are rooted in economic concerns, which factors into societal concerns about growing economic inequality and insecurity --> no one has focused on the implications of the new economic landscape (widening gaps between middle and high income households) --> conservatives and the media talk about women that "opt out of motherhood" and enter the workforce, but the vast majority of mothers in the U.S. currently work - the (New) Trouble with Marriage: shift in gender relations --> there is a global movement, not just in America --> women in the workforce, movement began in the 1890s, but in the 1970s it became far more common and reaching a "tipping point" --> scholarly assumption that the growth of feminism will decrease the interest in marriage in both males and females (though this has been found to be untrue) - What About Divorce?: marriage movement insists that rising divorce rates since the 1950s clinch the case that Americans no longer value lifelong marriage --> the divorce rates actually peaked in '79 and '81 and have decreased since then --> researches have suggested that divorce rates are due to the high expectations that many Americans bring to marriages --> gay marriage has strengthened marriage

- government spending on childcare hasn't increased despite the number of women on welfare and the price of care relative to earned wages --> 4 out of 10 single mothers who pay for child care spend more than half of their income on it - some mothers put the costs of child care on their credit cards and some declare bankruptcy --> some don't work at all in order to care for their children, which means that they have no income - parents who receive help paying for childcare are more likely to be employed and to have higher incomes --> preschoolers often require one-on-one attention - Florida may offer some of the starkest examples of low-quality child care because of the rates providers are paid for subsidized kids, which are low throughout the state - there is a chronic shortage of qualified people with the patience, skills, and willingness to work with young children --> it is not unusual for one lone adult to be in charge of an absurd number of young children - in Florida, one child care worker can legally look after as many as 11 2-year-olds, 15 3-year-olds, or 20 4-year-olds --> there is no pool of substitute teachers in these schools --> even the best run centers struggle to find qualified adults to hire - most Florida workers make minimum wage, a salary of $14,000 a year, for full-time work - Florida has high poverty issues, but childcare would be an easy problem to solve - it would take $30 billion per year to boost the quality of childcare and guarantee to help pay for it for everyone with an income below 2x the federal poverty level --> another option would be to spend more per capita on children, such as countries like France do

- children in Sweden are not considered merely a lifestyle choice, but are seen as citizens in their own right --> children in Sweden are seen as people, not property - family policy is very much about creating a better system for men and women who choose to have families, but at its core family policy is very much about the children - family policy includes ensuring healthcare coverage, making sure children have enough to eat, and keeping children free of the risks that inevitably accompany poverty - in Sweden, every child is entitled to be home with his or her parents for the first full year of their life - parents are legally entitled to reduce hours at their current jobs until their children reach the age of 8, and can take up to 60 paid days a year to care for sick children

- there has been a population explosion recently --> the world population has increased 4x in the past century, but the world economic output has increased 20x - 20th century growth has brought enormous benefits in terms of health, education, and overall standard of living --> these gains have been purchased at a huge cost to the environment, and have resulted in enormous environmental deterioration - after WWII, the chemical and nuclear industries emerged, giving rise to a vast armada of new chemicals and radioactive substances --> many of these chemicals are biocidal even in small quantities and some with the potential to accumulate in biological systems or in the atmosphere - there have been extreme losses in the world's natural resource base - somewhere between a third to a half of the world's forests are now gone - 24% of mammals, 25% of reptiles, and 30% of fish species are now threatened - the 20th century expansion is significant because it has pushed human enterprise and its effect to a planetary scale --> human influences on the environment are everywhere, affecting all natural systems and cycles --> human activites have significantly depleted the Earth's atmospheric ozone layer - in part due to the use of fossil fuels in the 20th century, CO2 levels in the atmospheric are at the highest they have been in the past 420,000 years - humans have unwittingly embarked upon a brand experiment with our planet --> the outcome of this experiment is unknown, but it has profound implications for all life on Earth

- Diamond is town located near a huge Shell complex in Louisiana --> there are streams of chemicals pouring out of the vast plant similar to the chemicals that are used in factories throughout the U.S. --> town is sandwiched between two giant plants - terrible cost of introducing heavy industry into a residential neighborhood --> there were many signs both in the homes of Diamond residents and in the residents themselves that Diamond was not a safe place to live --> many residents of Diamond suffer from asthma, as well as respiratory issues, allergies, and skin problems - there have been periodic explosions at the plants that sit on either side of Diamond --> few of those who live in Diamond stay because they want to - in the summer of 1973, the Shell chemical pipeline sprang a leak --> a young man started a lawnmower, and it exploded, ultimately killing him and others --> people began to realize how dangerous it was to live there - fear of additional explosions continued to plague the residents for years - when asked how much families were paid in compensation for their losses due to the explosions, the Shell officials say that they have no record of it --> the residents of Diamond claim that one family was paid $3,000 for the burned house and lawn, and the family of Leroy was paid $500 - the "Big Bang" that occurred in Diamond was not a cosmic event that occurred light years away, it was right next door --> on May 4, 1988 at 3:40 AM, there was a catalytic cracking unit at the Shell refinery that blew up, killing 7 Shell workers and injuring 48 other people --> many people left Diamond for good after this - this left people with a bad case of the nerves and severe fear of a future explosion - an older woman prays to God that the Shell officials will move her so that she can have a few years of peace --> her government check is only $525 a month, which is not enough to move out on, and nobody will buy her home in Diamond - people want to get out because they know what has happened and don't want their children to grow up in it

- the Union of Concerned Scientists created a report that offers the most comprehensive documentation to date of how ExxonMobil has adopted the tobacco industry's disinformation tactics, as well as some of the same organizations and personnel, to cloud the scientific understanding of climate change and to delay action on this issue - ExxonMobil funneled nearly $16 million between 1998 and 2005 to a network of 43 advocacy organizations that seek to confuse the public on global warming science --> they have raised doubts about even the most indisputable scientific evidence - ExxonMobil has been able to amplify and prop up work that has been discredited by reputable climate change scientists - ExxonMobil built a vast echo chamber of seemingly independent groups with the express purpose of spreading disinformation about global warming - it is shameful that ExxonMobil has sought to obscure the facts for so long when the future of our planet depends on the steps that we take now and in the coming years --> the burning of oil and other fossil fuels results in additonal atmospheric carbon dioxide that blankets the earth and and traps heat --> the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased greatly over the last century and the global temperatures are rising as a result - ExxonMobil needs to be held accountable for its shameful disinformation campaign regarding global warming

- the issue of nanny/housekeeper jobs for immigrant women --> they can never feel at home in these houses, there is alway something invisible that reminds them that it is not their house - there is no clear line between work and non-work time, and the line between job space and private space becomes blurred - some employers restrict the ability of their live-in employees to receive telephone calls, entertain friends, attend evening ESL classes, or see their boyfriends during the workweek - the indignities of food and access to food are deeply felt --> some employer families readily share access to all food, but other keep certain high price food items off-limits - the issue of food symbolizes the way that many Latina domestic workers feel about their live-in jobs --> it symbolizes the extent to which the families they work for draw the boundaries of inclusion or exclusion --> it marks the degree to which these families see the nanny/housekeeper as human beings who have basic human needs - these workers earn less than minimum wage for working marathon hours --> once they experience it, most women are repelled by live-in jobs - the lack of privacy, the mandated separation from family and friends, the round-the-clock hours, the food issues, the low pay, and the constant loneliness prompt most Latina immigrants to seek other job arrangements - being treated as though one is invisible is a complaint commonly voiced by domestic workers of color who are employed by white families

- there are 2-3 million youths aged 16-24 years old who are without postsecondary education and are "disconnected" - "disconnected" means they are not in school and have been out of a job for substantial period of time

- the terms and words that are used to describe the poor often question their morality and are a part of the reason why they can't escape poverty - words like "underclass" distance intellectuals from the poor and contribute to the idea that poverty is largely their fault

- demonizing of welfare mothers implicitly allows Americans to wash their hands of that population - mainstream America considers welfare mothers to have different values, beliefs, and practices than its own --> in reality, these mothers do share the values of mainstream America, but they are forced to live in an unjust society - from their first interaction with the welfare system, welfare mothers must be looking for employment, training for a job, or holding a position in which they receive monetary compensation - some Americans, especially those who consider themselves socially and fiscally conservative (aka those who endorse a residual view of welfare) attack recipients of assistance by blaming the state of poverty in the U.S. on welfare cheats and those who freeload off the hard-working taxpayer - the TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) program includes provisions that are in some ways even harsher than former policies - after 5 years, all welfare recipients are expected to be self-sufficient, no matter how destitute they might be --> they will remain ineligible to receive welfare assistance for the rest of their lives - we need major welfare reform --> the cycle of poverty will remain in place until we create policies that empower the impoverished, instead of gluing the population to a limp net that is set far too low

- there are deteriorating conditions under which we educate the poor and minority populations in the U.S. --> they are trapped, almost uniformly, in old schools that are overcrowded, in poor repair, with scanty teaching materials and disgraceful toilets, and are staffed by under-qualified teachers - black and Hispanic students are concentrated in low-income schools where they make up the majority of the student population - during the 1990s, the proportion of black students in majority white schools decreased to a level lower than any year since 1968 - desegregation efforts produced lackluster academic results, and the schools lost their district neighborhood character --> one would think it would be important to consider whether the results are indeed lackluster and whether retaining neighborhood characteristics is valuable - increasing emphasis on testing --> resultant pressures on young children, teachers, and principles --> drastic effect that failures on these tests can have for a school and its staff have badly thinned out education in schools for the poor and minorities - schools are neglecting subjects like history, social science, geography, music - expenditure in NYC has risen by 2/3 since 1991, with no obvious educational effects --> in New York state, the litigation has now resulted in a judicial requirement that school expenditure in NYC be increased by something like 40%

- many students are forced to work full-time jobs while attending school --> the rising costs of education coupled with the lack of ability to get grant money makes it difficult to pay for school - universities are getting less funding from the state, and students are forced to pay the difference - many students graduate with a significant amount of debt, and many lack access to education which causes society to be stratified

- education is always the answer to the world's problems - rising workforce skills can make American firms more competitive --> better skills, while essential, are not the only source of productivity growth - the honesty of our capital markets, the accountability of our corporations, our fiscal policy and currency management, our national investment in R&D and infrastructure, and the fair-play of the trading system (or its absence) also influences whether the U.S. economy reaps the gains of America's diligence and ingenuity - the singular obsession on schools deflects political attention from policy failures to other realms - our problem is not education, but discrimination, inequality, and lack of regulation, etc. - education as the cure-all to everything around us, but this exaggerates the role of schools in the economy and conflates two issues: how American firms increase productivity to compete with the world and how the fruits of U.S. productivity growth have been distributed and how that explains rising inequality - after decades, the education as panacea argument is being overwhelmed by contradictory evidence --> the modern obsession with schools as a cause and cure of our economic problems began with Reagan and his report "A Nation at Risk" - some economists insist that there is an upside to income inequality in that in makes people want to go to college --> they warn that raising taxes on high-income households and reducing them on low-income households is tantamount to a tax on going to college and a subsidy for dropping out of school --> in this way of thinking, preserving Bush-era tax cuts is a way to stimulate college enrollment - we need to work to improve schools for the middle class --> we have an urgent need to help more students from disadvantaged families graduate from good high schools --> if they can, our society will become more meritocratic, with children from low-income and minority families better able to compete for jobs with children from more priviledged homes - the biggest threat to the next generation's success comes from social and economic policy failures, not from schools --> enhancing opportunities requires much more than school improvement - skills matter, but a poorly educated workforce cannot explain why the wages of workers in the middle have grown more slowly in recent years than workers at the lower end of distribution, even though of the two groups workers in the middle are better educated - no rebalancing of labor force can restore a more equal distribution of productivity gains without government intervention and changes in private sector behavior

- research at institutions of higher education are no longer funded by the government, but instead by industries, which encroaches in the impartiality of the studies - when funded by industry, 98% of research done is in favor of the product, as opposed to only 78% when funded by the government - conflict of interest is a big problem in university research --> many drugs have been pulled because of this

- overview: the number of armed conflicts has (generally) decreased --> there is less war and less lethal war specifically than before, but wars still cause long-term economic damage and result in a lot of refugees --> a country is not peaceful until it can have conflict without violence, and to achieve this people need to be involved in shaping the way that they are governed --> this does not look feasible because of the large number of people living in countries with political and social instability and large-scale criminal violence - War in the 21st Century: since 1989 there has been substantial peace, but there is also a lot of awareness about the issues surrounding armed conflict --> there were 50 wars in 1990 and 30 in 2012 --> in general North America and Europe have only fought wars outside of their national borders while Africa and Southeast Asia have experienced war within their borders --> even with wars declining, the number of wars in which the state is not a participant have increased --> non-state wars happen when the state's ability to impose order is weak --> local leaders gain power by controlling key economic activities and using soldiers to carry out their own desires that often violate human rights abuses --> the most common abuse perpetrated by militias is the recruitment of child soldiers - Military Muscle: the top 5 armed forces as of 2011 are China, North Korea, USA, India, Russia --> the U.S. holds the most nuclear warheads and is still the top military spender in the world - The New Front Line: drones and special forces are used for the most powerful attacks --> terror attacks are the best tactical option for the less powerful but more determined groups --> there is a race for cyber supremacy - Casualties of War: the casualities of war are always reported as lower than they actually are --> about 600,000 deaths have been recorded as directly caused by violent conflicts from 2000-2010 --> there is a significant amount of death caused by other factors of war including disease, malnutrition, and poverty, but most deaths occur from armed conflict --> regionally Sub-Saharan African has the highest death toll from violent conflict (from 2000-2010) - Refugees: 30 million refugees are unable to return to their homes because of war or repression --> refugee families can be displaced for several generations --> over 85% of refugees, displaced people, and stateless people come from just 8 countries - Peacekeeping: there are about 100,000 peacekeepers in the UN --> 5 South Asian countries provide 33% of all UN peacekeepers --> the number of peacekeeping missions has been increasing over the last decade - Global Peacefulness: the Global Peace Index focuses on what countries do right to make peace possible in their states

- overview: people usually use the justifications of complacency and alarmism when talking about the environment because they don't know/understand all the research --> the Phillippines is one country in which the right to live in a supportive natural environment is inscribed in the constitution --> in the end the government must take action to protect the environment because it is the only entity with enough resources to have a real impact - Warning Signs: scientists can't always be sure on research about the risks because they are future-facing risks and some key information, such as number of species, is not complete --> 304 million people were affected by disasters in 2010 and 304,000 were killed --> the changing environment is causing severe unlikely natural phenomena to occur and is hurting humans a well as animals - Biodiversity: plant and animal species are slowly being lost and in some places the rate is accelerating --> the world lost 3% of forest cover from 1990-2010, and the lost forest was largely rainforest --> Brazil has lost the most forest area and China has gained the most forest area - Water Resources: there are two types of water scarcity, over-withdrawal (taking out water faster than it can be replenished) and inadequate infrastructure for delivering clean water --> it is estimated that by 2025, 2/3 of the world will be experiencing shortages of clean water --> 70% of all water is used for agriculture - Waste: people are now starting to realize that the way we dispose of waste is important for both life and nature --> countries have passed laws to regulate the use of plastic bags - Energy Use: most energy comes from coal, oil, gas, and uranium, all of which emit a lot of carbon dioxide --> other forms of energy production have pros and cons, such as nuclear energy producing harmful waste and wind, water, and solar not producing enough energy --> from 1970-2011, the human population nearly double while the amount of cars grew fivefold --> the U.S. uses the most energy in the entire world - Climate Change: climate change has surely been caused by excess greenhouse gas emissions --> international climate change talks aim at controlling emissions to a max of 450 ppm --> many scientists argue that emissions needs to be kept at 350 ppm, a level already exceeded - Planetary Boundaries: developed at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, it is an attempt to deal with gaps in knowledge about how far we can go before the consequences of our environmental impact get too serious past our understanding of the risks --> we have crossed three boundaries, biodiversity, climate change, and the nitrogen cycle

- crime is the mirror image of order --> criminals who fill the jails are poor and almost always use small arms and crude methods - Queen Victoria was the greatest drug trafficker of the nineteenth century --> under her rule, opium became the most valuable commodity of imperial trade - the richest countries in the world are Switzerland and Luxembourg, two small countries with large financial markets --> little is known about miniscule Luxembourg, but Switzerland is known for the famous marksmanship of William Tell, the precision of its watches, and the discretion of its bankers - Swiss banks clean money and hide it for bad people - some praise Uruguay by calling it the "Switzerland of America" - "you don't need to be a poli-sci major to realize that political speeches usually have to be read backward for their real meaning" - in the U.S., candidates buy favors in the form of donations and funding --> only 2 percent of North Americans believe that their candidates have high morals - the Haitian people did not elect or even cast a single vote for the directors of the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank, but that's who decides the fate of every dollar that enters Haiti's public coffers --> as in all other poor countries, the veto is more powerful than the vote, as the democratic vote proposes and the financial veto disposes - governments govern less and less, and the people who voted for them feel less and less represented by them - in the 1980s, Great Britain became the model for Europe and Chile became the model for Latin America --> in those two countries, inequality is greater than in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal - German companies are prohibited from paying bribes to Germans - the main enemy of open society is no longer the Communist but the capitalist threat

- unemployment sends the crime rate soaring and humiliating wages spike it higher still - in industrialized countries, unemployment remains high and contributes to increasing social inequality --> in so-called developing countries, both unemployment and povery have risen spectacularly - in the U.S. there is much less unemployment than in Europe, but the jobs are temporary, poorly paid, and without benefits - fear of unemployment allows a mockery to be made of labor rights --> the eight-hour day no longer belongs to the realm of law but to literature instead, where is shines "among other works of surrealist poetry" - Americans hate foreigners who come and work for cheap - Haiti was the first country to abolish slavery - workers outside the law put in more hours, earn less, get no benefits, and are not covered by labor legislation won through long, hard years of union struggle - "in the upside-down world, education does not pay" --> teachers in Uruguay don't get paid well

- major characters: oil industry, military, the chemical industry, crime as an industry - re-interpreting the factual truth of these lessons from what we learned in the press - Shell and Chevron operating in Nigeria: violted nature and poorer peoples/countries --> the "hanged writer environment": the hanged writer was a part of the Ogoni people of the Niger River Delta --> Shell's general manager in Nigeria (Achibi?) supported military government because commercial companies needed "stable environments" - democratice countries have a voice and regulations, while the military dictatorships don't, so Shell and Chevron prefer those --> the people who did resists in Nigeria were hanged, and it ultimately amounted to genocide - the U.S. responded by suspending arms sales to Nigeria --> tells us that they were providing arms to the military dictatorship in the first place --> the contracts of selling these weapons continued anyway due to an addendum to the original contract, the U.S. sells about half the weapons in the world and buys about half of the oil we consume (Shell and Chevron split oil harvests from Nigeria) - "The Price of Poison (1996)": the island of Curacoa was thought to have "healing breezes," but Shell set up a huge refinery on the island and showered posion on the island until the local authorities shut it down --> experts calculated $400 million to pay for damages to the environment (not counting damages to people) --> Shell bought impunity for $1 by selling to refinery to the government and receiving complete exoneration from responsibility - "The Blue Butterfly (~1994)": Chevron was original Standard Oil of California, it started an ad campaign about what they were doing to protect the environment, which was to build a sanctuary for the blue butterfly --> the sanctuary costs about $5000 to build, and was set up next to El Segundo, one of the worst sources of water/air/land pollution in California - "The Blue Stone in Brazil (1987)": one of the greatest nuclear catastrophes in histry --> ragpickers found a metal tube that had a stone of blue light that turned the air blue (Cesium-137), they rubbed their skin with it and it turned into a disaster, but there was no media coverage --> people suffered from medical conditions all over, and Cuba provided free medical care to the people --> the Chief of Federal Policies was quoted saying that nobody was responsible for the disaster - "Buildings Without Feet (ongoing)": an earthquake occurred in Mexico City in 1985, and thousands of buildings collapsed --> the newery buildings didn't have the required flexible building materials --> nothing happened to the officials, engineers, and developers of these buildings, or the inspectors who looked the other way - "Green, I Want You Green": environmental companies are making more money than the chemical industries, saving the environment is the most brilliant enterprise of the very companies who are trying to destroy it --> damage to Louisiana and Mississippi from oil spills, Dawn dish detergent went in to rehabilitate wildlife, but the irony is that Shell was responsible for the spill --> General Electric owns four of the companies that most poision the air, but is also the largest U.S. producer of equipment for air pollution control --> Dupont Chemical Co. is the largest producer of toxic waste, but it also developed services for incineration and disposal of toxic waste --> Westinghouse sells nuclear weapons and millions of dollars worth of equipment to clean up its own radioactive waste - "Sin and Virtue": the ones who produced land mines are now the ones who are being paid to remove them --> 100 million+ land mines are spread throughout the world, half of the victims are children and some of the mines are shaped like trinkets that children would pick up --> removing the mines has become a very lucrative business --> Vernon Joint was charged with cleaning Mozambique and Angola of mines that he invented for South Africa's army, and he is sponsored by the UN - Pinochet: Chilean dictator --> from 1982-1991, the U.S. had trained Latin American military officers in the arts of threat, extortion, torture, kidnapping, and murder at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia and at the Southern Command in Panama - like business, crime pays, but only when it's done on a grand scale --> the top brass who gave orders to kill so many people in Latin America are not in jail for murder even though "their service records would make gangsters blush and criminologists go bug-eyed" - the Argentine military dictatorship had a habit of sending many of its victims to the bottom of the ocean - impunity is the child of bad memory, all dictatorships that have ever existed in Latin America know this well

- exterminators of the planet: masters of war and masters of industry - militaries and companies that produce weapons are closely tied --> agreements, international accords, etc. allows the U.S. to have access to other countries' resources (the language of power) --> promotes consumerism in the name of development, diverts responsibility from the U.S. and U.S. consumers - large corporations make the planet sick and sell the medicine to make it well, especially the fast food industry and the pharmaceuticals industry - environmental experts: the "bubble wrap of ambiguity" --> a lot of environmental experts can look at the same issue and give different reasons for it and different opinions regarding the extent of the damage - the world's health is suffering because the mantra is "we're all responsible," but 1/4 of humanity commits 3/4 of the crimes against nature - differences between the North and South in use of resources and access to them: North America consumes 10x the energy of South America, has 19x the amount of aluminum in its water - global suicide is being perpetrated by the most prosperous members of the human species, they find their identities in ostentation and waste - Galeano considers the giants of oil, nuclear energy, and biotechnology to be some of the worst offenders - max production, max costs, open markets, high profits all very important to big industries - poor people and countries suffer the most from the production of weapons, stell, aluminum, automobiles, pesticides, and plastics --> Lawrence Summers and the idea of taking the risk out of the U.S. and placing it elsewhere - each inhabitant of the North consumes 10x as much energy, 19x as much aluminum, 14x as much paper, and 13x as much iron and steel as someone in the South --> the average North American puts 22x as much carbon in the air as an Indian - "those who suffer most from this punishment are the poor - poor people and poor countries condemned to expiate the sins of others" - Lawrence Summers: economist with a degree from Harvard and a post high in the World Bank hierarchy --> in an internal document leaked by mistake, Summers proposed that the World Bank encourage the migration of toxic waste towards less developed countries for reasons of economic logic that had to do with the "comparative advantages" that those countries enjoy --> the advantages turned out to be pitiful wages, vast expanses where there is still room for polluting, and the low incidence of cancer among the poor (who have a habit of dying young from other causes) - at the end of 1984 in the city of Bhopal, India, 40 tons of deadly gas leaked from a pesticide factory run by the chemical company Union Carbide --> the gas spread through the shanty towns, killing 6,600 and harming another 70,000, many of whom died shortly after or were maimed for life --> Union Carbide in India did not abide by any of the security regulations that it must adhere to in the U.S. - the rich countries grouped in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development cooperate in economically developing the South by sending it radioactive garbage and other toxic expressions of kindness - there are no longer edible fish in the half of the rivers in China - in the U.S., public transportation has been eliminated in virtually all cities and only counts for 5% of all transportation - the U.S. has the greatest concentration of cars and the greatest quantity of weapons --> "six, six, six": of every six dollars spent by the average North American, $1 is for the car; of every six hours of life, one is spent traveling in the car or working to pay for it; and of every six jobs, one is directly or indirectly related to the car, and another to violence and its industries - every year cars kill and wound more people in the U.S. than U.S. soldiers killed and wounded in Vietnam

- it is easy to become "pickled in horrors" --> difficult for one person to make an impact - offers suggestions so that we don't become mired in rage - urges "defiant generosity": people in the U.S. are not raised to be defiant in a generous manner --> only those who work hard enough get a reward, focus on individualism, belief in U.S. exceptionalism - we should model ourselves after the Book of Noah - Williams encourages us to find a language that opens hearts rather than closes them --> nine women in her immediate family have masectomies due to radiation, linked to cancer from bomb testing - see a world where all of us work to create bridges among our different cultures in the U.S. --> respect for our fellow human beings and the planet that usstains us

- famouse black feminist/humanist writer/thinker - belief that humans are fundamentally good - even the smallest acts of justice are important - she tells a story about a white companion in the Civil Rights struggle --> she was at first annoyed that he was co-opting the struggle, but then she realized that he was just offering his protection as a white mean

- Williams is a Mormoan women from Utah - her family has a high rate of breast cancer (and other cancers) --> 9 women in her family have had masectomies - Williams believes that the high rate of cancer in her family is due to atomic testing in Nevada - idea that activism is better than complacency --> she was arrested for trespassing at a nuclear testing site

- Mas'Ha is a peace camp at the Israel/Palestine border - it is a place where people are actually communciating cross-culturally - in risk of being torn down

- he is part of a team that drafts Israel/Palestine peace deals - struggles to write legislation that will aid in the peace process - it is up to the world leaders to use the work of the people tirelessly communicate, strive, and write for peace

- Desmond Tutu is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient --> he was the first black Anglican Archbishop in South Africa, and he is generally awesome - speaks about Rwanda facing the question of whether to use punitive or restorative justice after the Hutu/Tutsi conflict - the Tutus speak of reprisal violence --> oppressed people oppressing the people - Tutsis were favored by the British colonialists, but then they achieved independence the Tutsis oppressed the Hutus - Tutu was involved in a restorative justice process in post-apartheid South Africa through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission --> he says that this type of justice should be the model for the rest of the world because we need to understand and forgive people and actually move on from our conflicts --> it is better to give amnesty than put perpetrators in prison

- the family moves from Mexico to California for work - they continuously move around, taking different jobs on different farms (strawberries, grapes, etc.) --> this makes the narrator (Francisco) and his older brother (Roberto) unable to have a normal education --> they never stay at one school for long - the narrator is very smart and works hard to do well and catch up with the English-speaking children in his class - the immigration officials find out about the family's illegal status and come to Francisco's school to take him away

- Berkeley, Spring 1942: moving during the war, killed the dog and buried it in the backyard, two kids (boy and girl), moved using the train, passing through Nevada, girl didn't sleep on the train a lot because the train was hot af, father was arrested so he is not with them, train entered Utah - 1942 late summer in Utah: lived in barracks in desert, schools opened in October, weren't allowed to mention the Japanese emporer at the camps, dad got taken away in December right after Pearl Harbor (loyalty hearing), the mom used to live in Japan, got really cold in the desert, the mother stopped eating much, in February the army recruiters came around and handed out a loyalty questionnaire, summer came around and they began making streets and having street signs which indicated that they weren't leaving for a while - coming back after the war: came back after 3 years and 5 months, many people had lived in their house while they were away, they configured themselves in the house the same way they configured themselves in the barracks, the war was seen as an interruption and nothing more, the father had yet to join them, the war relocation authority sent every person home with train fare and $25 in cash, soldiers began coming home, students and teachers were nice to the children but the students also wouldn't sit with them during lunchtime or invite them over to play, the children had to apologize for doing the most minute things because they had to not draw attention to themselves, they were often seen as the enemy after coming back home, they tried to go everywhere and see everything to make up for the time they lost at camp - November: they start saving money and penny-pinching, the mom tries applying to jobs but no one will hire her because she's Japanese, they get a telegram from their father saying that he has been released and will leave Santa Fe on Friday and will arrive on Sunday, when their father returns they see that he has changed a lot, he never speaks to them about the time he was away/his arrest/politics, the company that hired the father before the war was liquidated, no one else wants to hire the father because he is old and unhealthy and just came back from a camp for dangerous enemy aliens, the father starts spending more and more time alone in his room, the father always has the same dream where it is 5 minutes past curfew and he is trapped outside on the wrong side of the fence and he wakes up screaming - End: book ends with the father's confession when the FBI took him in, he is basically forced to confess to all of the things that the Americans think the Japanese are doing

- focuses on Latino high school students in Los Angeles - they focus on the idea that "the declaration teaches us that we are equal, but the school system teaches us that we aren't" - LA schools were extremely segregated in the 1970s because they were districted by neighborhood and therefore by financial situation and ethnicity - there is clear school segregation based on where you live because the property taxes fund the schools - the U.S. wasn't okay with bilingual education at the time --> claimed it was a communist threat, but those two words are rooted in fear - "what we know is us, what we don't know, we don't care about which is everyone but us"

- CNN investigation of the NC SBI and the stories of Greg Taylor and Floyd Brown - Greg Taylor (from Raleigh, NC) convicted of murdering a prostitute: Taylor decided to get high with his dealer one night and got his truck stuck in a cul de sac in some mud --> they saw the dead body of a prostitute but didn't call the police because they were high --> the next day he went back to retrieve his car and was confronted by the police and told them what he knew --> the police gave him the option to either be a witness or a defendent --> being a witness meant he had to pin the murder on his dealer or he would go down for the crime --> he cooperated with police and offered up hair samples, but he refused to pin the murder on his dealer - the court case: they reported that Taylor had the victim's blood on his car --> they also claimed they had his DNA and they used a fake testimony that claimed that Taylor was with the prostitute that night, a police dog that smelled his scent on her, and a jailhouse snitch --> he was convicted of murder and spent 17 years in prison --> his appeal went all the way to the Supreme Court - the investigation: mulitple inconsistencies --> there were no fingerprints/fibers from her in his car, there were bloody fingerprints on the victim's body, the jailhouse snitch was lying, the witness was a prostitute who had her charges dropped, the police dog was untrained - NC Center for Actual Innocence: dedicated to investigating post-conviction claims of innocence by under-represented NC inmates --> the 8 members voted unanimously that he was innocent --> they had access to records that proved his innocence that the original defense had not had --> there was a file in the SBI report which included bench notes, the notes showed that even though the court claimed there was blood on the car, tests showed that it wasn't blood --> the blood sample was referenced over 1000x during the trial --> Duane Deaver was the blood stain analyst who noted that he couldn't scientifically prove that it was blood, but he couldn't say anything during the trial because it was against policy --> he eventually testified that it wasn't blood during Taylor's re-trial --> Taylor was offere the chance to be released, but he refused to do so without a trial to prove his innocence, which did happen --> his trial shed light on the inconsistencies in the SBI - Floyd Brown (from Wadesboro, NC): black man with the IQ of a 7-year-old --> everyone in the community knew him and loved him --> on July 16, 1993, an SBI agent took him to jail on charges of murdering and killing an 80-year-old woman --> the ones who knew him claimed that he would never commit this type of crime --> the suspect was a black man and Brown did not match his description, but he was taken in anyway due to a false "confession" - the confession: reported to have been written verbatim --> 6 page long confession detailing the crime, was written in first person --> this was the only evidence that was lodged against Brown --> due to his lack of competence, he was deemed unable to stand trail and sentenced to a mental facility where was locked up for 14 years - the inconsistencies: Brown does not have the communication skills to reflect what was written in the report --> the only thing Brown wrote was his own signature, where he signed his name incorrectly --> the report cited a time and address where Brown committed the murder, but Brown was unable to tell time or cite addresses --> he was charged based only on a fictional confession --> prosecutors withheld evidence that proved Brown was innocent - after: Brown still doesn't understand what happened, lives at him with a full-time caretaker and works as a school janitor, is currently being helped to sue the state of NC, Isley (who wrote the confession) has since been promoted - SBI: has many more conflicts of interest in cases similar to this, there should be individual science-based organizations that are paid to just tell the truth, 200+ reports have been found where the testimony does not correspond with lab results, the SBI lacks objectivity