Welcome to Social, Cultural and Political Topics

“The Economy is doing well, why aren’t people feeling it?” The trend line for wealth and income inequality is well documented. As the cliché goes, “the rich have gotten richer while the poor have gotten poorer.” This trend was given significant impetus in the 1980s under the Reagan administration and has continued to diverge since.

Governmental policy, racial advantage, educational opportunities, and technology are but some of the inputs that enabled a massive accumulation of wealth by primarily the baby boomer generation. Upward of $50 trillion will be transferred from one generation to the next over the next twenty years. Read more

Needless to state, affordable rents is a growing issue with renters being pushed out by gentrification and the need to allocate upwards of 30% of their income for rent. Home ownership, the greatest pathway to wealth acquisition and growth is out of reach for over one-third of Americans. Read more

Labor and Collective Efforts The overwhelming majority of the global population are in engaged in some form of labor. Labor is also defined as work, a job, a profession, or a career. These descriptors often stratify us along socio-economic lines. Serving a wide variety of functions, work provides meaning and purpose which can often indicates identity and status. Caregiving or parental work are also functions which usually entails uncompensated care and nurturance; a degree of intimacy not associated with most work. Work is social. If we spend a third of our lives on the job then we are engaging with co-workers often for more time than we spend with family and other intimates. Work is tedious, burdensome, repetitive, imprisoning, demanding, backbreaking, stressful, necessary, demeaning but also satisfying. But ultimately work is survival. Whatever the compensation, it pays at least some of the bills; a necessary vehicle to the acquisition of a wide array of consumer needs and goods. And for those higher up the socio-economic ladder it is a vehicle for more and better-quality goods. It is a means to an end. Many use their job as a stepping-stone to for other opportunities. A professional career pathway and trajectory is preserved for a minority of the population. And for some individuals, work is often power. Certain jobs and its compensation can buy influence which may be used to effect dynamics in the social, economic, and political spheres.

The disparity in wealth and income has been well documented in popular and academic press. In spite of this documentation and attention, movement to reverse the trend has not gained significant traction.  In fact, wealth and income disparity continues to grow each year under both democratic and republican administrations.

The cost of higher education has significantly outpaced the rate of inflation over recent decades. Students and families are burdened with debt that prevents them from utilizing those funds for basic needs such as home ownership. Read More

The right to healthcare continues to challenge the wealthiest nation in history. There is clear correlation between income and wealth and health status. Individuals on the lower end of SES have more health problems and shorter life spans than their wealthier peers. Health care in the U.S. is for profit and unpaid medical bills account for more than half of all debt in collections. Read more

It is old news that re-allocation of the wealth has been upward for the better part of the last 40 years. “Tax relief” for the wealthy has been a hallmark of various presidential administrations. Read more

There is a growing list of municipalities that are experimenting or even committing to a basic level of income for its citizens. In fact, there is an organization of U.S. Mayors who have committed to the concept. The underlying principle is that individuals should be guaranteed an income floor. Read more