Looking Deeply at a Social Problem
economic & labor
The Harsh Truth
By Brittany Wetklow
At that moment, I began to understand why a majority of us are left behind in the chase to get to the top. Somehow, after working myself to death and putting my health and sanity aside for months, I was met with unemployment. How could this happen? I did everything right. I worked hard, I put my job above everything else.
Drowning in the Gap
By Anonymous
You’re still in debt from your daughter’s hospital bills. Can’t pay everything with this wage. You have to choose. You choose food. Medical debt grows. You pay taxes and do not get to vote. You can’t vote for someone to help you. You can’t afford rent. You’re months behind on bills. The soup kitchen is out of food and the shelters are unsafe. Your child is gone, living with your parents. They do not have much, but they have more than you. You can’t take care of her. You try to go to school to get a better job, so you can give your daughter the beautiful life America promised you. If you’re in school, you can’t clean as many houses a day. You drop out. You’re screaming. You’re crying. You’re gasping for air. You can’t find it, there is no way out.
Is a Society Working if Its People Are Struggling to Survive?
By Anonymous
One of the things that confused me as a kid was that Mark ate ramen noodles almost every day. My parents were able to afford takeout or cook, so my naive younger self wondered why he wasn’t able to receive the same luxury. On top of this, Mark and his family had to move often due to increased rent. There was a day where I visited him for the first time at his new home only to find out how run down it was. I was shocked when he told me how much his mom pays for rent.
What do You Want to be When You Grow up?
By Anonymous
As children we are often asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Answers like doctor, princess, or the president are normally fueled by curiosity, passions, and affinity for what they see, read, and witness… As teenagers the answers begin to shift, perhaps to that which seems more reasonable to accomplish and access based on their circumstances. As college students and adults, our perspective is quickly altered by what will pay the best, the job market, and what will have a reasonable return on investment, or what will brand us in society as being “successful.”
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Free Market
By Anonymous
As I started my official Economics courses, though, I see a much different approach to thinking about humans in an economy. We are taught to reduce people down to categories in an economy: producers, consumers, regulators, investors. We are taught to assume that economic actors are rational, utility-maximizing agents whose preferences we can clearly understand. There is a perverse reduction of humans, the real people behind those interactions of supply and demand, to mere financial forces
A Dream that Binds
By Karina Sanchez
I remember learning about The American Dream, the notion that if you worked hard enough, you could be successful in this country. It gave me hope that all of my hard work would finally pay off and I can repay my parents for all they’ve given me to get them out of poverty. I was young at the time, not yet experienced the real world for myself. All of my thoughts and beliefs weren’t mine but were shaped by the beliefs of those around me and by what schools wanted us to believe. As I begin to open my eyes and experience and understand the world for myself, I now realize that the American Dream is nothing more than a false belief to keep people in poverty working hard and keep them chasing after something that is far out of their reach. The truth is, the system is designed to keep those at the bottom where they are and to keep those at the top in power.
COVID-19 Removes the Cloak on Economic Inequality in China
By Junyue Liao
The coronavirus disease only removed the cloak that lay over the economic inequality in China. China’s national income disparity is currently one of the greatest globally (Hernandez). My hometown is in a rural, small and undeveloped area of China. Most people in the area have not been exposed to technology, quality education, or any other economic activity apart from farming. Before the virus, I had observed the stark difference in the way of living of people in my hometown and those in other developed areas of China.
Goodbye Darwin, Hello Darwin
By Mary K.
One major flaw that has plagued the progress for people with disabilities is the idea that contributions in society must have a price tag attached to it. We need to understand that the value of people is more than just their monetary output. The vast majority of people with disabilities in America are unable to work at all, so measuring their value in this way has destined them to lose in the game of life we’ve defined. Perhaps this isn’t the answer.
Enough is Enough
By Giuliana Rodriguez
As a woman, I understand the fear of people not believing me and I understand the feeling of being criticized and thinking it is my fault for what happened. Fortunately, I was not a direct victim of sexual harassment at my workplace, but witnessing it happen and seeing how power can dominate the weak has opened my eyes for the better. All I can think is if this happened at a small smoothie shop, imagine what goes on in big corporations.
Seeing Through Corporatist “Truth”
By William Rodriguez
My girlfriend and I were looking for a parking spot with “No for Prop 22” banners taped to our car windows. The light turns red and a man driving for Lyft pulls up next to us. He shouts through his open window and asks; “Why no on 22?”, I look at my girlfriend then the man in surprise. My girlfriend, after her surprise, says “ You can have flexibility and benefits.” the driver with curiosity says “Hmm… Really?!” The light changes to green, we continue to find parking for the labor union protest against proposition 22. The Lyft driver continues his route.
Falling Through the Cracks
By Anonymous
One night, while walking in the neighborhood, I was hit by a vehicle and my life was changed forever. Most of this time period is a blur- filled with sirens and beeps, dazed, and being wheeled in and out of surgeries. I had help from my partner, but soon after this event began our journey of navigating homelessness. Due to my injuries, I couldn’t walk or work. It took only one event to bring two working students to the streets, with most of our belongings shoved in the back of my SUV.
Unfeeling City
By Anonymous
Some of my earliest memories were being left with great aunts and uncles during the weekdays while my parents would work long hours struggling to find an apartment/house that we could permanently live in. We never had to sleep on the street or anything like that, but for the first few years of my life in America, we had no permanent residence. The difference between my parents and the streets was just a group of friends and family willing to put them up for a bit.
The Economic System Does Not Work for Us
By Rogelio Camargo
I saw pride in my father’s eyes of having his own business and having enough to support his family. I, however, also saw his business come down. I saw my father sell his business and take on small, low-paying jobs. I saw a business with my family's last name on the building disappear overnight when the business license switched hands. I saw him get wiped out and fall to a state of depression but was rescued by his faith and religion. I saw him be incredibly frustrated with the government for bailing out large investment, financial institutions and saw no justice or accountability in that.
Wiped out by the Automation Wave
By Younseo Ryu
When the automation wave actually becomes a thing in the U.S., the media will report the U.S. GDP to be a record high. However, we have to note that although the U.S. economy is doing well, Americans are losers in the game because those jobs that will be replaced by automation are simple and repetitive ones. The ones that will suffer from it are average Americans and the poor.
Closing the Gap
By Janell Novilla
My grandma grew up impoverished. She lived in an underdeveloped town in the Philippines where there was a lack of schools, hospitals, supermarkets, big buildings, etc. Because of the lack of resources, she was not able to receive an education and instead, she worked to help provide for her family. At just five years old, my grandma started working. She would harvest vegetables from the farm she lived on and would sell them on the street. She would also go out into the city, walk up to people passing by or she would walk to the cars waiting at a stoplight, and beg for money. At 16 years old, my grandma had her first child.