Socio-Economics

Dated Dec 13, 2019; last modified on Sat, 27 Mar 2021

Articles related to income inequality, fairness, etc.

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Jul 4, 2020	»	On Socio-Economic Classes 13 min; updated Nov 24, 2023 #meritocracy #inequality #socioeconomics Our Lot in Life Not recognizing your blessings feeds into the dark side of capitalism and meritocracy: success is a choice, and that those who haven’t achieved success are not unlucky, but unworthy. I’m relatively lucky. I don’t know how much of the techie hubris that I bear. I have unresolved feelings about meritocracy and fairness. Race is usually used as a proxy for bridging the gap, e.g. affirmative action at colleges. But who is affirmative action better suited for - a rich black kid or a poor white kid? I’m in the camp that believes wealth is a bigger divider than race. ...
Mar 14, 2020	»	An Overview of the World's Current State 5 min; updated Nov 24, 2023 It’s hard to give pessimistic answers when ’s title says “Things Are Better Than You Think”… Educational Attainment Q1. In all low-income countries across the world today, how many girls finish primary school? There has been lots of efforts to get girls to finish primary school, e.g. providing sanitary towels. Surely, they must be at \( \ge 40% \) completion rates. 🔲 A: 20 percent ❌ B: 40 percent ✅ C: 60 percent ...
Sep 18, 2022	»	On Societal Oppressions 8 min; updated Nov 19, 2023 Looking for parallels should be done cautiously. For example, the advantaging associated with race may be different from the one associated with heterosexism. It’s also hard to disentangle [dis]advantaging where social class, economic class, race, religion, sexuality, ethnic identity, and other factors interact. Isn’t this the crux of intersectionality studies? Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of advantage and disadvantage. Factors include gender, caste, sex, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion, disability, weight, and physical appearance. These intersecting and overlapping social identities may be both empowering and oppressing. Criticisms of the framework: tendency to reduce individuals to specific demographic factors; its use as an ideological tool against other feminist theories; ambiguous/undefined goals; reliance on subjective experiences (standpoint theory) leading to contradictions and inability to generalize. ...
Apr 26, 2020	»	Philanthropy 4 min; updated Feb 19, 2023 Criticism/Defense Of Billionaire Philanthropy Taxes will probably not go to the same causes, e.g. reforming the bail system, grassroot efforts for migrants, etc. Admittedly, these are things that the government should be doing, but it seems that the government doesn’t do enough. Furthermore, some of these issues so politicized, e.g. immigrants, that government support can be fickle. Foundations are more effective than governments as they do their due diligence, e.g. Bill Gates. Reforming the government is a long battle. ...
Nov 21, 2020	»	Experiments/Theories in Socioeconomics 2 min; updated Sep 5, 2022 Programmable Money South Korea’s COVID-19 stimulus payments were programmed to expire in Aug 2020, and could only be spent at qualifying shops. Australia’s cashless welfare card [currently in pilot stages] cannot be withdrawn as cash, nor used at alcohol, tobacco and gambling joints. Monzo, a UK-based digital-first mobile baking app, supports IFTTT recipes. This enables budgeting logic, “If I spend at KFC, then move $5 to my penalty pot”. The Self-Esteem Craze in America In the 80s and 90s, there was research that low self-esteem was related to undesirable results, but there wasn’t any conclusive work that high esteem causes good outcomes. The self-esteem craze was defined by a simple inspiring message, a lot of half-baked research, prevalent confirmation bias, cottage-industry (books, videos, seminars). Self-esteem grew into a panacea for academic performance, crime, teen pregnancy until more rigorous research arrived. Similar overhyped[?] panaceas: power posing, growth mindset, grit. ...