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This article not only suggests that education in excellent public schools is beneficial to end poverty, but learning comes in the form of new ideas in jobs. Workers are able to learn on the job and apply these skills to an even better, more qualified job. Furthermore, the article says that equality is another key to economic success.

Terrific article, Sophia. Did you watch the accompanying video? Pretty darn inspiring!

Through this article I have gained a deeper insight in how public expenditures and public goods promote wealth equality in a society. "Public services are an important antipoverty tool."

Cool theory in regards to "the tipping point". Interesting, and solid criticism of large social expenditures. Wonder how socialists view this, as opposed to free-market economists.

"Public services are an important antipoverty tool. Their benefit doesn't show up in income data, but they appear to play a key role in reducing material hardship." INteresting to see the statistics and how social expenditures help reduce poverty and the wealth gap.

While not directly related to the freedom and equality paradox, I think this article is related. As freedom is going down with government restrictions on speech in Hong Kong, equality is too (as human rights abuses are more likely to continue). So maybe the freedom-equality inverse relationship is only the case in terms of economics.

yup, I think so.

"Corrections & Amplifications The cheapest ticket on the 300-kilometer-an-hour service on China's new high-speed rail line between Beijing and Shanghai costs 555 yuan ($86), which equals about 35% of monthly disposable per capita income for China's urban…"

This article reviews an ad run in Australia advocating a no vote on the marriage equality postal survey. I think it is interesting because I've never seen an ad like this before. Perhaps this is because I live in a liberal environment, but I was still interested to see such an ad and also their take on the issue.

In Ukraine, thousands joined together to in the March for Equality to support the rights of the country's LGBT community. Ukraine has made some efforts in progress for LGBTQ rights, but many conservative groups have worked towards backpedaling their progress. Interesting to see the difference in equality in other countries, especially with Head-Royce celebrating bi-awareness week.

I personally don't know very much about the queer community and LGBTQ+ rights in Ukraine, but I hope these protests help make the situation there better. While I hope for swift and immediate change, it seems like these protests might be met with inaction for a while. It's also possible that there's backlash from conservatives in the country. I think that the path to queer rights in Ukraine will, unfortunately, be a long and hard road. That said, I'm glad to see that people are willing to speak up and fight for rights in a country like Ukraine.

Yes to all of the comments, and this observation: social change is often not linear, though it may appear so at first.

Norwegians voted in a parliamentary election on September 12th-13th, with growing economic inequality, climate change, and oil dominating the political issues. The Labour Party candidate, Jonas Gahr Stoere, is leading in polls, expected to beat incumbent conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg. Climate change has surfaced as a key issue among voters, leading an increasing number of seats to go to members of parties that would curtail Norway's oil and gas drilling, a major source of jobs for the country. Though Stoere may become reliant on left-leaning parties to claim a majority in parliament, the Labour Party candidate has rejected ultimatums over oil, citing major job loss, and instead promised to cut the countries carbon emissions.

Interesting to see Norway's political shift and hopeful class shift with new parliament leaders.

Good job finding a non-American source, Ershai. . .the Irish Times! "the Labour Party candidate has rejected ultimatums over oil, citing major job loss, and instead promised to cut the countries carbon emissions." , , , how? Too bad that in this case, labor and environmentalism seem to be political opponents.

Russia is hitting its highest daily cases of COVID since the beginning of the pandemic despite being the first to authorize a vaccine. They have plentiful supplies but like the U.S., they are suffering from vaccine hesitancy. Putin is ordering a one-week lockdown starting October 30th.

On second thought (in response to my initial comment on "Amnesty International to close Hong Kong offices this year"), I think that maybe a decrease in freedom can also lead to an increase in equality (in this case fewer virus cases) in a non-economic situation. Although, this lockdown in Russia is in a way economic because poorer people will suffer more and have a harder time making money.

I was surprised to hear that Russia had such low vaccination rates since they were the first to authorize the vaccine. The article says that public attitudes are "lax", especially with conflicting signals from authorities, and I wonder if these lax views on vaccination relate in any way to nationalism or to their views on freedom vs. equality.

I think that finding a balance between the freedom and social welfare has always been an issue in America and thats why this is such an interesting article. The Nordic countries seem to have a very good balance of free market success and equality. These countries would be good examples for America but there are two reasons that make this difficult. First off, many Americans seem to be deeply afraid of anything resembling socialism or communism. Second all these nordic states are small and relatively homogenous. This makes it much easier for the government to provide social welfare that meets everybody's needs and keeps everyone happy. The US is huge and has a much more diverse population. This makes for a completely different problem. While a social democratic government has worked so well for Scandinavia, we are far from getting to a state like that in the US.

Even though I believe a government like that would be ideal for the US, it is not very realistic due to how conservative the US is compared to Scandinavia.

Clive used to be a reasonable guy; in his mind he probably still is a reasonable guy. But he has misunderstood what it means to be reasonable. He now apparently believes that it means declaring, in all circumstances, that Democrats and Republicans are equally in the wrong, even if the Democrats are talking Econ 101 [...]

A record-breaking 137 economies around the world have established reforms that make starting and operating small/medium-sized business easier. "Doing Business" is the World Bank Organization's annual report that measures the ease of business, and better scores on the report has a correlation with more income equality and less poverty. An especially interesting aspect of the 2017 installment is that it also added gender discrimination to the criteria when assessing a state.

A good article on the balance between freedom (economic growth) and equality.

Good find, Sam! Indeed, the article covers a lot of ground very concisely. We'll have to compare notes with other sources. . . this is the sunniest portrayal of Mexico's path that I have perhaps ever read. Thanks!

An uncomfortable article about the UN in Congo. It talks about how the UN has spent billions of dollars and more than a decade on trying to keep peace, but they've accomplished very little.

These rapings are atrocious, and I'm surprised that its coverage on the media has been so meagre, considering the long history of the crisis in the Congo. While the U.N. has not been able to improve the Congo significantly, I'm wondering if the problems lie in the desolateness of the area (no lines of communication, etc) or in the management of the U.N. bases there. I believe that the U.N. could be doing more, but I don't think they should be the only solution; the local economy and infrastructure must improve as well so that better communication and control can be established.

What was most shocking to me about this article was the scale on which this is happening in Congo and how open the attackers are about it- raping an 80 year old woman, raping women with UN peacekeepers right up the street. The rapists have absolutely no limits. Scary and very sad. It was equally shocking that the Congo government (police, law enforcement etc) has been unwilling or unable to do anything about this (the article cited them as often "too drunk" to do much about it). It's sad and heart wrenching that the UN has so far been unable to come up with a plan to help these people, and perhaps even more sad that their own government hasn't done anything. It's notable that Congo is being called the "UN's crowning failure" and their greatest failure so far.

France is out of line on several different measures here: their laws include the right to equal housing, they may be violating EU freedom of movement laws, the ignored a European Parliamentary decision to suspend Roma deportation. In addition to not following laws, France also appears to be majorly discriminating against the Roma people: the legislature that cracked down on illegal camps ordered "systematic action to dismantle illegal camps, priority given to those of Roma", and there has been campaigning directly associating them with crime. Furthermore, "France denies that it has any minority populations and is the only EU member state that has not signed the Council of Europe's convention on the rights of minorities."....Wow.

I was shocked (and horrified) to see that such a small group of men could harass and rape over 200 women, including an 80 year old, with UN peacekeepers located up the street. It was equally shocking that the Congo government (police, law enforcement etc) has been unwilling or unable to do anything about this (the article cited them as often "too drunk" to do much about it). It's sad and heart wrenching that the UN has so far been unable to come up with a plan to help these people, and perhaps even more sad that their own government hasn't done anything. It's notable that Congo is being called the "UN's crowning failure" and their greatest failure so far.

This spring I watched a play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival called "Ruined". It was about women in the Congo: a "ruined" or raped woman runs a bar for soldiers and hires girls to show them a "good time". It was a really heart-wrenching play. I assume that "demolished", the word the woman uses, is, like "ruined", just another translation for "raped". It's interesting that they use a word that signifies total destruction, but also fitting. "Ruined" women often cannot find husbands, or are beaten or killed by their families out of shame. It is so bizarre and disgusting that rape has become such a common side-effect in the Congo. I wonder how accepted it is among the soldiers, or if they receive any punishment for their actions (I'm leaning towards no). I feel as though rape has by now become integrated into the military culture in the Congo. It's not just catching individuals, it's trying to thwart a whole mentality. Which will be very difficult to do, since they have much greater force than the UN presence. The description of how people try to stay as close to UN escort trucks as possible and camp outside the UN houses really illustrates the fear and feeling of defenselessness they must feel. It must be terrifying to live in the Congo right now, both as a villager and a UN worker. I understand why there are no women soldiers stationed there.

I think its interesting that piracy is increasing throughout the world. Personally, I feel that its good that other countries are working to counter this threat.

I found it interesting that American-made American flags are lower quality than those made in China. It struck me as very similar to the situation faced by the speaker who came to talk to us about her bag business: how she had to outsource because she couldn't find a quality producer in the U.S. Something that bothered me is that many of the flags are synthetic; if the government is going to hand our hundreds of free flags that might just get thrown away, it seems as though it would be better to at least make them out of renewable materials like wood and cotton. However, I suppose that may be more expensive... Also, I visited the Jinteng factory website because I was curious if they specialized in a certain type of flag or not. It turns out that they make all different types of flags depending on the order, just as the jeans we saw in China Blue varied order by order. I suspect that although some workers feel frustrated making other countries' flags, their catalog indicates that they make flags for many countries, not just one, so any anger would perhaps be less likely to be directed toward a specific country due to constantly producing their flag.

I thought that it is sad (and ironic) that, as Matthew said, our symbols of freedom and patriotism are being paid for with people's rights (in China). I had never considered how 9/11 would have caused a drastic increase in demand for American flags, and though it shouldn't have, it surprised me that the low price of American flags from retailers such as Wal-Mart does not cover the production costs of the flags. Like Larkin, I found the juxtaposition of the symbols of the flag and where it is actually made notable. I also had the same question as Alison about whether any flags are actually made in the United States. I thought that Matthew did a nice job pointing out the odd juxtaposition and talking about the production cycle of the flag.

"The Story of Catherine's iPod"

The disconnect here is so weird. It begins with people digging in the mountainside with sticks, and ends with a tiny, sleek, lightweight computer that makes images flick past at the swipe of your finger and makes music. It's like magic, except instead of the instead of using "toe of newt and eye of frog" the world is making these products by allowing people to be greatly mistreated. Beyond educating people, as Arshia and Alison said, it seems we must either: find other materials to make electronics out of (although that doesn't strike me as very likely?) or pressure companies (who have the money and the leverage) to enforce better regulation. To follow up on Catherine's video, I put three t's into google and got an article about an investigation into the mining in the Congo (maybe Catherine has already seen this): http://africarising2010.blogspot.com/2009/11/tracing-3-ts-from-congo.html. It says: "Even though they found that it is relatively easy to determine the source of minerals based on different coloration and texture based on the source mine, there is insufficient regulation to make this work....Export companies are required to register with the government, but their method of determining the source of minerals they buy is to merely ask the seller whether their goods are from conflict mines. There is no system of confirming what the seller says."

This presentation kept shocking me. I was surprised to hear that basic parts of the iPod (the Three Ts) originate in the Congo rather than China. I was then shocked (and horrified) by the rape statistics. I had heard the statistics before, but not in relation to the acquisition of the Three Ts and production of products that we use. The story about the woman whose brother was ordered to rape her and then stabbed to death when he refused was particularly awful. I was also In summary, I was appalled at all the crimes that took place in the Congo- before the Three Ts even got to the factories in China that Catherine talked about. When Catherine started talking about the factories in China, I was again shocked at the working conditions- 100 workers sleeping to a room and clothes locked in a bucket with no visitors allowed (to protect the secrecy of Apple's product plans) while workers worked 15 hour days. The suicide reports from the FoxCon (spelling) factories were also shocking, as was the revelation that workers make just half of what they did in the 1800s. It was sad that the factory earns only $4 per iPod sold- while Apple earns $80. This presentation was very thought provoking- I had never assumed that Apple would be one of the "bad" companies with very questionable labor and humanitarian practices (a la Wal-Mart). Thanks for bringing it up, Catherine. I'm now thinking about it in a whole new light.

This article makes an interesting connection between the Occupy Wall Street protests and the Arab Spring. The author suggests that the Arab Spring and the people's call for greater equality and freedom in the face of oppression have inspired other countries across the globe. Arab Spring shows the power that the young have in the new digital age, and this lesson has in a large part inspired young adults in other countries to protest against the injustices within their own society. IN the U.S. these protests have taken the form aversion and anger with the inequality that has resulted from our capitalist system

I think it is also interesting to note that both the Arab Spring and the Occupy Wall Street movements can in large part be characterized by large groups of people working towards lofty aspirations, but without tangible plans for moving forward. Arab Spring sought to overthrow the dictatorships, but didn't necessarily have a strategy for the new governments. Similarly, Occupy Wall Street protesters want to overthrow the current system, but don't have a realistic solution for the country's economic policy.