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Income inequality in America has been growing rapidly, and is expected to increase [PDF]. While the widening wealth gap is a hot topic in the media and on the campaign trail, there's quite a disconnect between the perceptions of economists and those of the general public.
For instance, surveys show people tend to underestimate the income disparity between the top and bottom 20% of Americans, and overestimate the opportunity for poor individuals to climb the social ladder. Additionally, a majority of adults believe that corporations conduct business fairly despite evidence to the contrary and that the government should not act to reduce income inequality.
Even though inequality is increasing, Americans seem to believe that our social and economic systems work exactly as they should. This perspective has intrigued social scientists for decades. My colleague Andrei Cimpian and I have demonstrated in our recent research that these beliefs that our society is fair and just may take root in the first years of life, stemming from our fundamental desire to explain the world around us.
http://theconversation.com/lifes-not-fair-so-why-do-we-assume-it-is-45981
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Zinho on Thursday September 10 2015, @06:56PM
From TFA:
We look to simple descriptions of the objects in question – orange juice has vitamin C – without considering external information about the history of these objects or their surroundings.
What this means is the bulk of our explanations rely on the features of the things we’re trying to explain – there must be something about orange juice itself, like vitamin C, that explains why we have it for breakfast.
I always thought that the reason Americans associate orange juice with breakfast is that it was frequently shown on cereal commercials. I fairly quickly realized that "part of this complete breakfast" meant "you need this much extra nutrition to make up for the cereal's deficits". [tvtropes.org] (Warning, TV Tropes link!) The orange juice was always there because cereals only give you grains as far as food groups go. If I'm right that this is the origin of America's OJ+Breakfast connection, then we are one good ad campaign and celebrity endorsement from thinking of orange juice as a lunch and dinner sort of drink, or perhaps as a sports drink.
Many of these rationalizations we're making for the way things are in our environment aren't spontaneous, they are trained and targeted. "America is the land of opportunity" and "any child could grow up to be president" are ideas so common in the U.S. that I'd wager they're memes in the head of everyone old enough to read.
We teach kids these things for a reason. We want them to take responsibility for their successes and failures, working hard to succeed. A narrative focused on "historical and contextual factors" for lack of success acts as a demotivator, it's an excuse to blame lack of success on things out of the child's control. Sure, acknowledge the inherent unfairness of not being born rich, or white, or in whatever other advantaged class the child doesn't belong to. I'd hope that we can still instill hope and confidence in the next generation so they strive to succeed in spite of their disadvantages.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 10 2015, @07:41PM
Ever wonder why breakfast cereal is so big in the US (not not so much in other countries)?
Blame religious marketing - seventh day adventists to be specific. Kellogg was an adventist and thought the blandness of breakfast cereal would help keep horny teens from jerkin the gherkin. [mentalfloss.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 10 2015, @07:50PM
> Sure, acknowledge the inherent unfairness of not being born rich, or white, or in whatever other advantaged class the child doesn't belong to.
You have that backwards. We need tons more education of children to inform them of the all advantages they accrue due to the advantaged class they do belong to.
There are far too many people who "are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple."
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Thursday September 10 2015, @08:40PM
We need tons more education of children to inform them of the all advantages they accrue due to the advantaged class they do belong to.
To what end? So that they appreciate what they have, work hard to not squander it, and show compassion for those less fortunate? Or to train them to "check their privilege" and live in constant guilt for not being born poor? One of these is healthy, the other rather less so.
For what it's worth, I support the idea of encouraging kids of all classes to volunteer at soup kitchens/homeless shelters/etc. Reaching out to help those in need is a good habit no matter your background. The fact that it helps give suburban white kids a dose of reality and some perspective on their own #firstworldproblems is a bonus.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 11 2015, @12:05AM
I think his point was more that, if you're born rich stop thinking you've worked hard to get where you are. Realise that hard work doesn't always mean wealth, and rid yourself of that sense of entitlement: "I'm well paid because I worked hard: I deserve this money. If you're not well paid, you didn't work hard enough even if you worked harder than me, which you clearly didn't because I'm well paid for my hard work."
Ask anybody with a disability who has the same achievements as you, even though they're at a severe disadvantage and so had to work much harder, but is paid much less than you are if they're lucky enough to find a job at all. You'd be surprised at how often you hear something that translates to "Oh, you have a disability? Well, fuck off retard, I've got normal people who aren't stupid and lazy."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 11 2015, @03:31AM
To what end? So that they appreciate what they have, work hard to not squander it, and show compassion for those less fortunate? Or to train them to "check their privilege" and live in constant guilt for not being born poor? One of these is healthy, the other rather less so.
(a) That's a false dichotomy. And (b) "check their privilege" is literally the same thing as showing compassion for those less fortunate. The only people who think it is other than that are those lacking in that compassion and angry about being criticized for that failure of personality.
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Saturday September 12 2015, @02:25AM
Thanks for that explanation, because before now I had very little comprehension of what the phrase "check your privilege" meant. In context, it seems to mean "shut up and go away, you just lost this discussion because I'm offended." Until now I'd never even seen an attempt at defining it. The people using that phrase habitually need a better outreach program for those who sympathize with their cause but have no idea what they mean when they talk.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin