tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post8684205044123113756..comments2024-03-27T14:20:05.905-04:00Comments on Montclair SocioBlog: Inequality and (Missed) OpportunityJay Livingstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06652075579940313964noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post-44898182757578664482009-12-08T17:54:24.128-05:002009-12-08T17:54:24.128-05:00Hey Bob. Come for the guns, stay for the socialis...Hey Bob. Come for the guns, stay for the socialism. It's hard to find a 10-minute exercise that accurately models the US economy. The trouble is that if you just show a pie chart of the income distribution, students might not have a sense of what that means. The exercise puts it in terms that are closer to home. How the income gets generated and the mechanisms by which it really gets distributed are outside the scope of this little demo.Jay Livingstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06652075579940313964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post-44067400815703193742009-12-08T14:24:14.700-05:002009-12-08T14:24:14.700-05:00Jay,
Aren't you also forgetting the fact that...Jay,<br /><br />Aren't you also forgetting the fact that the efforts of the individuals should determine how much they have to spend?<br /><br />The bottom limit is set only by the effort of the individual, right?<br /><br />You artificially created a zero sum game that doesn't exist.<br /><br />Experiences like this is what got me in so much trouble in school. I don't play along with the fundamental mindset inherent.Bob S.http://3boxesofbs.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post-69849074772321401612009-12-08T09:50:17.733-05:002009-12-08T09:50:17.733-05:00Dan, Thanks for your comment and concern. In fact...Dan, Thanks for your comment and concern. In fact, I did not say slackers. And I didn't really put them into groups. I just used the geography of the classroom -- the fifth of the class sitting over by the windows was arbitrarily my top fifth, and so on across the room. None of the students took it personally; nobody thought I was referring to his or her specific abilities or performance in the course.Jay Livingstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06652075579940313964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post-43538514152200364922009-12-08T09:36:58.172-05:002009-12-08T09:36:58.172-05:00Interesting exercise although I see a definite pro...Interesting exercise although I see a definite problem with associating those who are receiving the least as "slackers". It perpetuates the myth of meritocracy and ignores the apartheid system this country was built on and which perpetuates today which is clearly evident when you consider facts such as black families having much less net worth than white families from similar economic backgrounds thanks to racially restrictive policies such as the FHA and VA loans of the mid-twentieth century, blacks are paid less for the same work as equally qualified whites in the same positions, etc. <br /><br />I understand the point you were trying to make with the exercise but as a professor of sociology, don't you think it's important to also instruct and inform about some of the reasons these inequalities and economic disparities exist in the first place?Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09750215304228534982noreply@blogger.com