Technological advances and numerous discoveries have enabled people to live longer and healthier lives. Health services have been improving and people now are able to get high-quality services in many parts of the world. However, there are still many issues to address. One of the serious issues to solve for American public health is diversity. American society is one of the most diverse ones as people with different backgrounds settle in this country. At the same time, diversity in the public health sector is not that diverse, which negatively affects the quality of services provided.
Healthcare professionals are often unable to understand the needs and expectations of patients having various ethnic backgrounds. The major reasons for that are linguistic and cultural. In other words, healthcare professionals do not understand the language of patients. They also fail to understand the cultural peculiarities of these people, which may negatively affect the development of proper doctor-patient relationship as well as the healing process.
I have many friends coming from different parts of the world and they often tell me stories about issues they face at the hospital. They (and/or their friends/relatives) are often stressed out and unwilling to go to a hospital in order to avoid unpleasant experiences associated with language, culture. I believe this is a very serious shortcoming of the system that is created to help all people. I believe all healthcare professionals should have constant training (or self-learning) aimed at understanding other cultures and languages.
I also believe healthcare staff should be more diverse as this will help healthcare professionals and patients develop a proper relationship based on understanding and support. This will inevitably lead to improved healthcare services and lower rates of mortality and the development of serious disorders.
Health inequalities refer to the variation of the health status among the members of society. The conditions the people live in have a vital role in determining their natural health. Age is one of the essential determinants of the differences in the health situation of the members of society. Generally, younger individuals are healthier in many communities than the aged because younger individuals have a more robust immune system than the elderly. The environment a person lives in has a significant influence on determining his well-being. A population that lives in an environment with limited access to health facilities will have poor health compared to health resources close to its members. The nature of the occupation a person works may also play a role in influencing how healthy an individual is. Working in unhygienic areas predisposes the personnel to infections, thus worsening his health. A greater health inequality exists in third-world countries and is mainly due to the poor socioeconomic status of the nation.
Poverty in some third-world countries plays a significant role in determining the health inequalities that people face. The individuals work in poor conditions and have low salaries. These working environments may have poor hygiene, inadequate spacing, and a lack of resources that make the employer perform his work efficiently. Poor hygiene in the workplace predisposes the workers to diseases like bilharzia, salmonellosis, cholera, and other waterborne diseases. The low payment makes these persons not able to afford the essential drugs necessary for their treatment. These low economic standards worsen the populations health status compared to the industrialized countries where the individuals receive a better salary and have a good working environment. These poor living standards in third world nations increase the psychological stress among the population as they are worried about their health or succumb to acquired infections.
The bad governance and corruption experienced in many third-world countries worsen health inequalities. It makes it harder for citizens to have good access to health resources. Some leaders embezzle funds meant to construct hospitals and other treatment facilities, purchase drugs, and even pay health practitioners. Instead of treating the patients, health workers may opt to go on strikes to find a solution to the payment. The rulers may also fail to initiate and support the health policies meant to promote the peoples health. These rulers may even embezzle funds from international foreign aid bodies like the World Health Organization and First Aid. It makes it harder for third-world countries to have equal access to health resources as in developed countries.
Dietary Choice and the Role of Education in Chronic Disease Prevention
Various social and cultural factors determine what an individual feeds on in their daily life. These factors that determine peoples diet include family, peers, culture, and socioeconomic status. Higher social and economic status makes it possible to afford some kinds of food unavailable to the poor public. Some cultures have prohibited the consumption of certain foods by their members, thus making it hard for a person to eat such foods. Peers may influence an individual into choosing a particular brand or nature of food. Parents provide food for their children, which shows the role a family can play in determining childrens diet. Many individuals eat together with their families and friends as compared to when they eat alone. Religion may affect a persons dietary habits, such as Muslims are not allowed to consume pork. The Hindus avoid foods they believe tend to hinder their spiritual growth. Some religions, such as Muslims and Christianity, prohibit alcoholic beverages, thus affecting societies choices.
Proper education among the population plays a vital role in preventing chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer, renal failure, and cardiovascular diseases. Good diet education helps a person know the right food to consume, thus reducing the cases of obesity. Obesity is directly correlated to increasing the chance of developing heart diseases such as hypertension and myocardial infarction and even endocrine malfunctions like reduced insulin sensitivity that lead to diabetes. It can also reduce cancer onset as the public is educated to avoid all meals with carcinogens that induce mutations within cells, promoting carcinogenesis. They are also sensitized to avoid eating foods that are likely to predispose them to kidney failure. They are also educated on proper sugar consumption, vital in preventing diabetes mellitus and renal failure.
A good education helps in promoting the prevention of the onset of chronic diseases. It is easier for health practitioners to deal with an educated society by sensitizing them on the drugs they can take or avoid regarding severe illnesses. It helps in the effective prevention and treatment of these chronic diseases, thus reducing the disease burden experienced in a nation. Both the family, school, and government have a role to play in determining the diet of its population. Family plays a significant role in deciding what its members consume. They form the first line that can either encourage each other on the healthy foods they can consume. The school offers the second choice in ensuring that students learn healthy habits through the curriculum. The government plays a role in ensuring the formulation and implementation of beneficial health practices among its population. It determines which healthy foods they can import or process for their population.
Health Promotion and the Role It Plays
Health promotion practices entail enabling people to have more regulation over their health to improve their well-being. It involves informing a person what they can do so that they stay healthy. In this practice, things that influence health are brought to attention to initiate programs to improve status. Activities in public health programs are focused on preventing diseases in the whole population rather than just focusing on the person at risk. The entire population is actively involved in controlling the diseases. These health promotion activities have proven to be effective in changing the lifestyle of society. It requires the creation of a supportive environment to ensure the success of these programs. The main goal of this program is to engage and empower the population to choose healthy norms and thus reduce the risk of developing severe diseases.
The health promotion methods focus on addressing the social determinants of health. These include cultural, social, political, and economic conditions in which the people are born and live. Raising awareness among the whole population on how to live a healthful life is encouraged. A discussion of both the initial and secondary methods of disease prevention is emphasized. Primary methods of disease control include vaccination, nutritional change, and hygiene practices, while secondary disease prevention provides drugs and screening programs. The individuals are empowered by knowledge so that they can change their behavior and adopt a healthy lifestyle. It can be done through well-being education courses and even by forming community-based support groups. The governments are also encouraged to review the laws, policies, and regulations on health. The unfavorable policies that hinder health promotion are scrapped away. Good governance plays a significant role in ensuring the success of these health promotion programs.
The primary outcome of health promotion is behavior change among the people which leads to the adoption of both the primary and secondary ways of disease prevention. Behavior change makes the government save the government and the persons substantial financial burden used to treat preventable diseases. Improved quality of life among the inhabitants is observed as the conditions are prevented before their onset. The mental health of the individual improves as they do not suffer the worry of getting chronic illnesses. The cases of premature deaths significantly reduced due to the adoption of healthy living practices.
Disease Prevention Helps Saving Treatment Costs
Preventive strategies for diseases include the practices done to intervene before an illness occurs, primary prevention, or detection and treatment of a condition in the early stages, and secondary prevention. In many nations, incurable disease treatment consumes a vast amount of the budget set for the health sector. The loss of lives through these life-threatening chronic conditions massively leads to death and thus a reduction in the gross domestic product. The death cases associated with these illnesses will reduce, saving the countrys labor force. Prevention strategies combined with lifestyle change actions will significantly reduce the instances of chronic diseases.
Prevention interventions lead to a reduction in the cost of purchasing drugs. The prophylactic medications administered during the secondary prevention methods may be relatively cheaper than those issued to treat the chronic form of illness. Adopting immediate intervention methods may even save the individual from being the secondary prophylactic drugs or the drugs to treat the severe form of the disease. The chemotherapy drugs used in cancer treatment may be costly and unaffordable to some people. Adopting early prevention and control practices by the individual reduces the predisposition to cancer, thus saving the nation and humanity the treatment cost. It is not even sure that the severe disease will heal using the drugs; therefore, the individual may die even if treated, leading to a financial loss. Taking an early caution saves both the lives and finances that a nation and people are subjected to.
These chronic illnesses may also compel the nation to buy expensive medical equipment to help with cancer and hypertension treatment. The finance used to buy this medical equipment could be diverted to other sectors of the economy like education and transport if earlier prevention measures were undertaken. The purchase of this equipment can also put nations, especially developing countries, under financial constraint. Cancer therapy is one of the most costly treatments and is not affordable to every person. It may compel the relatives of the patient even to sell their property in search of good health. Treatment of hypertension may require cardiac transplantation, which may not be affordable to everyone. Adoption of early behavior change and health practices saves these individuals the cost of management of the conditions. Increasing the adoption of preventive practices requires education and government support in facilitating preventive programs. These preventive measures even save the insurance companies, employers, and communities money they incur when an individual falls sick. Many life-threatening diseases are curable by the actions undertaken to prevent their onset.
In the article Racial inequality: a public health issue in the KALW NEWS website on September 28, 2010, the author Heather Gilligan talks about the issue of public health and racial inequality. Poverty and health are interlinked, and people in poverty have poor health. In America, African Americans have more health problems than their white counterparts do due to poverty.
Wealth gap
The wealth gap between African American and white families is enormous. The difference in wealth affects life expectancy and whites live seven years longer than African Americans who live in poverty. Despite their cancer rate being lower than that of their counterparts, African American rate of death from breast cancer is higher. The black women lack adequate education on breast cancer and often go to the hospital when the disease is at an advanced stage hence deadly.
They also lack screening facilities in their poor neighborhoods. African Americans have less employment opportunities in their community. Consequently, their income levels have declined resulting to financial constraints that deny them the opportunity to seek medical services. The cost of healthcare is expensive hence out of reach of the poor blacks. Thus, they succumb more to diseases than the whites who can afford healthcare cover (Gilligan, 2010).
Disparities between whites and African Americans
Moreover, racial inequality contributes to poor health among African Americans. Even wealthy African Americans have poor health outcomes compared to wealthy whites. Other factors such as stress play a major role too in the health outcomes of African Americans.
They live in neighborhoods with high levels of violence unlike whites thus more stress. African Americans have less hope than the whites do when it comes to fighting diseases due to different conditions brought about by class disparities that disadvantage African Americans (Gilligan, 2010).
Hoarding
In the article titled Drowning in junk: Hoarding called a public health issue carried on the CNN website on August 5, 2010, Madison Park talks about hoarding. Some people hoard stuff in their homes and this habit has become a public health problem. Hoarding can endanger the lives of the people living in a house and their neighbors too.
The clutter scattered all over the house may harbor vermin or rodents that may infect human beings with diseases. Some people have died after junk fell on them or trapped them inside the house in case of a fire. Moreover, cleaning the clutter and junk is costly, and the money would have been used to do other useful things instead.
Reasons for hoarding
Hoarding is an issue that is hard to understand due to its unique nature. Some people do not even know they have a problem with hoarding making to difficult to curb. Some hoarders hide their problem by alienating people from their lives and houses. People hoard stuff due to various reasons, such as filling a void in their lives. Others hoard because they are unable to let go of stuff that they no longer need and others buy excessive stuff they never get to use.
Psychiatrists response
On the contrary, some do not think hoarding is a problem but a trait that some people possess. Some hoarders do not seek help because they do not believe they have a problem. This has led psychiatrists to look into the issue more, and they are considering listing it as a disorder in its own right in the mental health manual. Hoarding is an issue that the public needs to know about to understand it because little is known about this public health problem (Park 2010).
Reference List
Gilligan, H. (2010). Racial inequality: a public health issue. Web.
The ongoing criticism of equal treatment in education and employment opportunities over the past few years has served as the most apparent illustration of differences in the public policy sphere. From the viewpoint of those who live with the effects of persistent discrimination, affirmative action is necessary to preserve opportunities that would be lost in the absence of a commitment to act reasonably. Additionally, the distribution of potential in a society becoming increasingly dependent on information and education is a significant source of concern and stress for African-Americans of all backgrounds.
The family and community settings, as well as school characteristics unrelated to teachers performance, are just a few of the many factors contributing to the achievement gap. However, unavoidable inequalities in how educators and school officials view black students are one aspect that cannot be ignored. According to research, black students face fewer expectations from their teachers and are more likely to be suspended or expelled than white students. They are also less likely to be enrolled in programs. The Minorities Diminished Returns argument holds that at least some racial differences are caused by the less protective than anticipated impacts of socioeconomic status markers, such as academic opportunities.
A growing corpus of research also explores the impact of the classroom setting in the development or intervention of racial disparities in special education, focusing on racial composition as a possible reason for these differences. Most of this research has viewed the racial makeup of schools as a causal impact of race effects, one that could affect all students chances of academic success.
Educational disabilities are typically considered individual-level neurophysiological disorders with distinct borders between disability categories by mainstream practitioners, politicians, and academics. According to research, the racial composition also affects how students are separated from the classroom during exclusionary internal proceedings, likely similar to receiving special education services for emotional distress. However, most existing research on racial disparity in special education that considers the school setting focuses on the global implications of school racial composition (Fish, 2019). White students who have difficulty in school can keep some relative advantages in racial distinctiveness. They are more likely than their classmates to be categorized with higher-status disabilities rather than being perceived as just low performers or uninterested (Assari & Bazargan, 2019). The more severe disabilities frequently come with more resources for teachers, adjustments that make it easier for students to access the general education curriculum, and a de-stigmatizing justification for poor performance. At the same time, black students with academic difficulties are classified as having a lower-status disability, which keeps them out of general education classes, separates them from other students who might not be doing as well, and gives them a stigmatizing label.
Viewpoints of the differences in academic performance between white and minority students as determined by test scores are at the basis of these discussions. The assumption that underlies most of the discussion is that if equal opportunity is now available, minority students ongoing low levels of accomplishment must be caused by their genes, culture, or a lack of motivation. Minority childrens educational outcomes are significantly more influenced by unequal access to essential educational resources, such as qualified instructors and leading programs.
The American practice of permitting a wide range of teacher credentials puts minority students at the most significant risk. According to the National Commission on Teaching and Americas Future, 25 percent of all new teachers hired without meeting certification standards are typically assigned to teaching students in low-income and high-minority schools. In contrast, most prospective teachers are employed primarily by wealthier schools. Teachers completely qualified or possess higher-level degrees are much less likely to teach in predominately minority schools.
The issue is also evident in the higher education system regarding accessibility and adaptability. According to various research, universities are relatively aware of the risks that separation brings to students well-being as well as the consequences of isolation at schools. The experiences of black students generally, specifically black children, can suffer from an inability to recognize the implications of race. Increased amounts of ignorance and racism, whether verbal or covert, may also be caused by the lack of diversity on campus. Because these disparities can quickly go unnoticed by the white majority, black students are less safeguarded.
Additionally, many of the time, the measures taken to address racism on campuses merely cement white supremacy and the white majority rather than addressing the problem. According to statistics, about 70% of African Americans who borrow funding to cover college at a for-profit institution collapse on their loans within ten years (Matentjie, 2019). Data suggest that a third of all African American students defaulted on their loans within six years of beginning college, particularly in comparison to just 13 percent of their white peers, irrespective of the type of higher education institution they attended.
Therefore, scholars have repeatedly demonstrated that the Black communitys mistaken objectives do not cause these gaps. Instead, they are profoundly influenced by discriminatory policies. The effectiveness of the latest curriculum and assessment reforms will largely depend on how well those who create and implement new standards and exams put them to use in enhancing teaching and learning in the context of racial diversity in the educational setting.
Inequality of opportunity in schooling, i.e., the conditioning by factors beyond the control of the student, is one of the key topics in this field of research. However, the main attention is paid to the connection of the students educational achievements with his family background, characteristics of the class and school, as well as with the peculiarities of the national educational system (Stahl, et al., 2018). Meanwhile, the spatial aspect is one of the least studied factors that determine the educational achievements of students. Access to quality schooling is an essential component of basic capabilities that largely determines the ability to move to higher levels of education and the chances of success in almost any field. Accordingly, ensuring equality of opportunity in school education is classified as a high priority.
Discussion
The role of spatial factors in the inequality of educational opportunities and achievements is theoretically substantiated within the framework of a more general discussion in the problem field of poverty and inequality, known as people versus place. The focus of this discussion is a stable correlation between individual and territorial characteristics. Schools serving the lowest-income neighborhoods have the most disadvantaged student bodies, with, on average, 78% FRPL [free/reduced-price lunch], 21% LEP [Limited English Proficiency], and 7% GATE [Gifted and Talented] students, compared with 30% FRPL, 8% LEP, and 10% GATE in schools in the highest-income neighborhoods (Owens & Candipan, 2019, p. 3185). Hence, in territorial entities with worse socioeconomic characteristics, the share of people with a low level of human capital is higher. On the contrary, relatively prosperous territories are inhabited by a population with better characteristics of human capital.
Actually, the discussion in the scholarly dimension revolves around the question, due to which this dependence is mainly ensured. One side gives priority to the role of the human factor. People with a low level of human capital segregate in less comfortable and, therefore, cheaper places of residence, while individuals with a high level of human capital, on the contrary, tend to have more comfortable living spaces. Due to this, spatial disproportions are mainly formed and maintained.
The other side, on the contrary, emphasizes the dominant role of territorial characteristics. Being born and living in a territory with a low level of socioeconomic development worsens the starting conditions for the formation of human capital and reduces the chances of success in life (Boterman et al., 2019). On the contrary, a favorable living space contributes to the development and self-realization of individuals, which provides the best-aggregated characteristics of human capital.
The above arguments about the role of the territorial factor are well-refracted in relation to the inequality of opportunities and achievements in school education. Of great importance is the fact that in the early stages of life, mobility is minimal. A schoolchild is practically doomed to live in a parental family, go to a school located not far from the parental home, and use the services of local medical and educational systems. It is suggested that spatial factors play a significant role in the inequality of educational achievements of American schoolchildren, being a significant component of inequality of opportunity. Both general socioeconomic factors and the peculiarities of regional educational systems contribute to the disparity in the educational results of American pupils.
In addition to the direct influence of the characteristics of the territory on the opportunities for the development of the children themselves (for example, through the level of medical care), territorial factors also act indirectly. This is manifested through the influence of family background factors and school characteristics (Owens & Candipan, 2019). The premium local labor market (as a rule, characteristic of large cities) allows the economically active population to earn decent money and, thus, provide their children with good conditions and resources for study and recreation. On the contrary, many local labor markets, characterized by a small number of quality jobs and low wages, create significant restrictions for parents in terms of the maintenance and development of their children.
The target population within the scope of the research will involve children attending schools in the United States. The pupils will be 4 to 18 years old, which implies the investigation coverage of preliminary, middle, and secondary school. The exclusion criterion is the attendance of institutions at the preschool level. It will be important to include pupils from high-, middle, and low-income families. This will ensure the identification of the correlation between childrens welfare and spatial issues in terms of addressing inequality at schools. Then, it is essential to include children of different races, which is likely to demonstrate the related existing gap in this vein. Such an approach will allow studying the problem at the national level, adding more relevance to the research.
Conclusion
The suggested solution to the existing issue may be formulated as the obligatory implementation of distance learning for schools. This may involve the formation of special groups without any racial or any other discrimination. Specific courses may be developed for such an option with a greater emphasis on homework and self-development. Educational equality will be ensured, given that children will have the opportunity to be enrolled in the institution in, for instance, another state.
References
Boterman, W., Musterd, S., Pacci, C., & Ranci, C. (2019). School segregation in contemporary cities: Socio-spatial dynamics, institutional context and urban outcomes. Urban Studies, 56(15), 30553073.
Owens, A., & Candipan, J. (2019). Social and spatial inequalities of educational opportunity: A portrait of schools serving high- and low-income neighbourhoods in US metropolitan areas. Urban Studies, 56(15), 31783197.
Stahl, J. F., Schober, P. S., & Spiess, C. K. (2018). Parental socio-economic status and childcare quality: Early inequalities in educational opportunity? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 44, 304317.
American workplace has being undergoing transformations that have characterized the nature, relation, power, and performance of key stakeholders who in this sense constitute the employers, employees, government, and the unions. American workplace exhibits great aspects of heterogeneity, and this has been contributed by presence of diverse groups of people who possess varying skills, knowledge, and job know-how.
In this respect, the way power relations have played in the workplace in the American context has affected both employees and employers in varying perspectives. Today, American workplace is characterized by high inequality manifested in gender, class, race, and ethnicity.
Sources of these inequalities are, but the most often cited include forces of globalization; the economic interplay, social and political aspects, which tend to influence workplace policies and social interaction in the workplace.
In addition, American society has been the hot-point of immigrants for a long time, and this has been translated into the workplace where immigrants have influenced Americas workplace in profound measures. As a result, there is need to investigate how Americas workplace has been changing in nature of work and social relations at work, with fundamental emphasis on the significance of work to power and social inequality.
This will constitute evaluating how workplace inequality has developed and which key aspects have influenced it, as well as how workplace inequality has impacted unionization activities in the country.
History of American work
Work is considered an important activity in the lives of human beings. Peoples lives have and continue to revolve around work, where a lot of time is spent doing any work. The nature of work varies in accordance with age, sex, race, ethnicity, and education. Before 1840, the US economy was based on agriculture where majority of people and workforce were based on agricultural farms.
Moreover, organization of work then was primarily based on production prospects and the availability of labor (Wharton 5). It should be remembered that this was also the period when many immigrants started to flow to the USA and their presence subsequently led to competition among the traditional jobs in the country.
Organization of work during this period was mostly informal and this can be evidenced from the process in which workers were recruited (Wharton 6). For instance, foremen were mandated to recruit workers in the small cottage industries. As a result, employees to work in these cottage industries would be recruited based on their friendship, closeness, and all other personal matters with the foreman (Wharton p.7).
Emergence of industrialization and farm mechanization brought about changes in how labor force was organized in the USA. Industrialization was the basis upon which factory production and emergence of wageworker were witnessed. Workforce exhibited profound transformation as emphasis shifted to organized workforce based on skills, specialization, and education (Wharton 7).
Job specialization emerged and categorization of skills and job knowledge became the avenue in which modern worker was obtained and treated in the workplace. At the same time, during this period, there was wide migration from rural areas to urban as agriculture deteriorated and factory employment appeared lucrative.
Both unskilled, semi-skilled, and those with some technical skills all found their way into the city in order to get employment. Worker organization, therefore, obtained some formality, especially the aspect of unions to look into the affairs of workers grew and became common.
Women also became more active participant in seeking factory employment although they were faced with numerous disadvantages as compared to their counterparts men.
Women came into factory employment with low knowledge, inadequate skills, operated in an environment that was highly discriminating and segregating, and further, their family roles appeared to play against them as they became actively involved in factory employment.
Moreover, immigrants presence in factory employment became increasing as more unskilled immigrant workers seeking employment and employers attracted to their low pay demands.
Economic and social trends leading to workplace inequality
Due to increasing trends of industrialization in the USA, many men and women found the lure for salaried job inevitable. Women, just like men actively participated in seeking formal employment, an aspect that strained the workforce nature of USA. However, all along, both social and economic aspects have cooperated to lead to emergence and growth of workplace inequality.
Economic aspects tend to coalesce around productivity, economic growth, tight labor markets, and dynamics of the markets in creating and sustaining how workforce appears and function (Wharton 81). In this perspective, workplace inequality becomes evident through setting of particular standards with regard to qualification, skill possession, and knowledge and experience.
This, in turn, has led to subdivision of workforce in unskilled, semi-skilled, and professionals. Characteristics of these different categories of workforce vary and exhibit enormous differences with regard to job content, job structure, wage and salary structure, and general relationship established between the employee and the employer (Wharton 87).
Gender aspects and their subsequent translation into workforce inequality tend to originate from both economic and social orientation of the larger American society. Viewed in broad sense, but within perspectives provided by Amy S. Wharton in the book titled, working in America: Continuity, conflict and change, women are perceived to be victims of economic bias due to dominance of men (Wharton 101).
Unlike men, women tend to have a weak economic base upon which to build and sustain their education for better jobs. In addition, women tend to lack negotiating power in the workplace, their skills are inferior as compared to men, and this tends to boggle their efforts of ascending the career ladder.
At the same time, women do occupy below-the-line jobs, which make it difficult for them to have better payment terms as compared to men. As a result, income, wage, and salary disparity tend to exist between women and men in the workplace. Moreover, job growth, which later leads to better pay and promotion opportunities, tends to disfavor women as compared to men.
On overall, economic and social aspects in the modern world are largely characterized by continued restructuring, downsizing, and adoption of lean production techniques in workplace as the significant sources leading to workplace inequality (Wharton 91).
For example, the author observes that America is moving to new economy that is characterized by structural changes, leading to the need for hi-tech economy and knowledge-based economy. As a result of this flexibility and dynamism, there is much volatility taking place in the American economy, thus affecting the workplace nature (Wharton 91).
There is evidence that high-tech sector is motivating and generating inequality by widening the gap between winners and losers, while at the same time closing off opportunities to those experienced in older system and who find the transition more unattainable (Wharton p.91).
As a result, entry points to unskilled labor force are narrowed. At the same time, new economy is resulting into emergence of a small clique of millionaires, while the bulk of organizations remain poor and de-motivated by static wages. All these aspects are contributing to workplace inequality being experienced in the USA today.
Globalization and workplace inequality
It has been observed that since the emergence of globalization and subsequent globalization forces in terms of competition, many people among them workers have been negatively affected (Wharton 85). This phenomenon is seen to have affected majority of workers in industrialized world, whereas a result of globalization, workers have become unsure of their jobs, and financial uncertainty has become the norm.
Globalization is responsible for free flow of capital around the world, and this has opened the country markets and productions units to competitive outside forces. In this way, it is perceived that foreign competition has robbed the countrys citizen their jobs as companies locate and operate modern industries based on the logic of global market (Wharton 85).
There is growing global economic and financial interdependence, and this aspect has trickled down to the policy-making decisions of the country whereby, local institutions no longer operate and act in independence.
What therefore is emerging is the tendency of foreign and local corporation to adopt the most efficient and cost-effective global policies and strategies, which in turn have led to job loses, wage decline, and numerous changes in the way work is organized and executed (Wharton 86).
Globalization again is seen to be the most evident avenue where economic and financial integration at the global front is taking place. As this happens, there is heightened increased information flow and sharing among corporations around the world with regard to workplace organization and restructuring.
As a result, job content, job design, and subsequent specialization tend to take place within reduced wage structures with slower upward movement or increase of wages (Wharton 86).
Coupling this aspect is the growing tendency for multinational and State Corporations to embrace the idea of outsourcing for skills and overall workforce needs. This, in turn, has affected the way workforce is organized and executed, and evidence indicates this has led to profound workplace inequality.
Gender and workplace inequality
Detailing and accounting the history of the USA workforce, one cannot ignore or underrate the power that gender, race, and ethnicity have played to the characterization of USA workforce inequality. Women have been the victims of workforce inequality, without forgetting that other minority groups in the society have been underrepresented equitably in the American workforce.
The experience women, racial disadvantaged groups, and ethnic minority groups tend to have in the workplace is inherently determined by multiple and varying factors. Nevertheless, analysts and majority of researchers in this area postulate that all these factors fulcrums on the critical issues of economy, education, social, psychological, and sometimes cultural aspects, which tend to result into workplace inequality.
Job design, content, and specification for a long time tend to set the bar high for majority of women who are disadvantaged by numerous social, economic, and domestic aspects. As a result, women tend to be segregated upon and generally isolated from key employment opportunities due to their education, experience, and job orientation.
Minority racial groups and ethnics, on the other hand, are limited from ascending to top jobs in the corporation due to their education and job experience status.
They lack adequate training, have low motivation for career growth due to job workplace discouragement, and are affected by the perception that has refused to die in many organizations that minority groups possess power and willingness to propel the corporate world. What minority groups experience is a vicious cycle of poverty and economic disadvantage, which in turn affect their job acquisition, training, and orientation (Wharton 146).
More so, they end up occupying low-level jobs that have little prospects of advancement. Gender workplace segregation has been associated with earnings gaps, where women compounded with numerous limiting factors tend to earn less as compared to men.
In the same measure, women show little prospects of advancement in career and ambitions of career growth and all these explain the workplace inequality experienced in the USA, which is manifested in wage structuring, earning gaps, and occupation ascendancy and growth.
William Julius Wilson and jobless poverty
William Julius observes that the consequences of changing income inequalities in the American workplace is leading to massive unemployment among many people, specifically those from minority ethnic groups and resides in Ghettos (Wharton 85). The author talks of emergence of a new form of social dislocation in the neighborhoods most occupied by minority ethnic groups.
According to the author, economic transformation, which has been partly influenced by globalization and changing financial opportunities of most people, has resulted into massive growth of unemployment, and this aspect has led to many minority ethnic groups to loose in the job market (Wharton 101).
The author locates and postulates that many minority groups have been victims of discrimination in key social opportunities like education, economy, and many more. Moreover, the author cites racial segregation to play a lot in the emergence of joblessness poverty situations, as more corporations reduce their demand of low-skill labors.
Given that majority of minority are concentrated in these jobs, they end up being rendered unemployed and their subsequent lives become horrible and discouraging.
Given that the world is being influenced by globalization, many of these minority groups have been found on the negative receiving end as employment opportunities shrink, workplace undergoes restructuring, leading to loose of jobs, and increasing computerization (Wharton p.95) in the workplace, which is replacing human input.
On overall, the author describes a growing situation of joblessness in America, which at the same time is being witnessed in the increasing pauperization of work in the American society.
Racial and ethnic diversity in workforce and how it affects unionization and labor solidarity?
Unions have been at the center of American workplace organization and activities, where the influence has been shifting with time. It has to be remembered that the American economy and workplace has undergone profound transformation as heterogeneity of workforce becomes more pronounced.
Initially, unions in the American context tended to agitate for workplace improvement and betterment of working conditions of employees. Nevertheless, the emergence of capitalism has defined and, to great extent, modified activities of unions as shifts and changes in membership become an issue (Wharton p.106).
As evidenced earlier about how gender, race, and ethnicity have been represented in the workforce, unions have also been influenced by minority workers, but the extent and intensity of influence vary. As seen earlier, presence of minority groups in workforce tend to concentrate in lower cadre jobs and the unions for a long time have to associate with workers in these job levels.
Therefore, composition of most unions tends to reflect the majority of members in low ranked cadre jobs, where one is likely to find a high concentration of workers from minority groups and disadvantaged gender.
Conclusion
Workforce in the American context has been undergoing changes with regard to social relation and power distribution. Overall, employment of women and minority groups tends to remain an issue that, when evaluated, has accelerated workforce inequality.
Nevertheless, analysis of Americas workforce inequality takes into consideration various aspects transcending economic, social, cultural, and political aspects, which have combined to define and shape American workforce.
At the same time, globalization has been found to also contribute to this increasing workforce inequality through its different economic and political forces. In summary, workplace inequality in America is still alive, and attempt to address the issue should incorporate varied but interdependent factors at interplay.
Works Cited
Wharton, Amy S. Working in America: Continuity, conflict and change. NY: McGraw Hill, 2005.
The global issues that are discussed today at the international level and that are significant problems for mankind tend to intersect due to similar reasons and premises. The evaluation of the topics that cause a great public resonance can be multilateral because of not only different approaches to interpretation but also a large number of issues that affect the world community. As a result, large-scale work is to be done and to narrow the spectrum of analysis, two significant problems will be considered. As the most important and pressing global issues that seem especially relevant to me, poverty, including inequality, and mass migration should be mentioned. These problems are crucial in an international context since they involve a large number of people and pose a threat to inalienable human rights, at the same time intersecting and exacerbating the current situation.
Poverty and Inequality
This problem is relevant today in many world regions where undeveloped economies are the reasons for peoples low social status. Professor McCarty mentions this issue and marks it as one of the first in his list ( Why Global Studies? 00:01:28-00:01:40). Both poverty and inequality are mentioned together because one phenomenon inevitably leads to the other one. Forced labor for low salaries leads to the fact that a large social stratum has to work in conditions that do not correspond with any norms. The accessibility of the necessities of life remains problematic for many world regions, and today, there is an obvious border between prosperous and impoverished states. Therefore, inequality and poverty are unacceptable where society lives on democratic grounds and promotes humanism as one of the principles of relationships.
Mass Migration
The assessment of global problems may be interpreted through different approaches. In the considered lecture on this subject, the speaker suggests paying attention to global contexts and highlights and that marginalized people, including immigrants, are part of this discussion ( Eve Darian-Smith 2017, 00:22:48-00:24:02). When analyzing mass migration as a global problem, it is crucial to focus on the reasons that encourage people to leave for other countries. A social context is not taken into account when the choice is made in favor of a country with better living conditions. Escapes from the territory of states where hostilities are fought or a harsh political regime is promoted are the phenomena that lead to the refugee problem. As a result, thousands of families are left without homes and are unable to contact relatives, which is also unacceptable in modern democratic society.
Intersection of Issues
The discussed issues intersect, and this proves that to solve them, several specific actions are to be taken. According to Darian-Smith and McCarty, on a geopolitical scale, several criteria should be considered, including the hierarchical structures of states, economic development, and other aspects (2017, 22). In other words, when solving the problem of poverty and inequality, the nuances of migration policy and asylum-seeking will also be affected inevitably. Therefore, the intersection of the issues under consideration is direct and requires immediate intervention.
Conclusion
Such global issues as poverty and inequality and mass migration are significant today since many people are involved in them. The problems intersect, which proves the need for fundamental changes aimed at creating more sustainable political, economic, social, and other backgrounds. The resolution of these issues should be immediate since life in modern democratic society cannot be associated with the humiliation of human dignity and violation of inalienable rights.
Works Cited
Darian-Smith, Eve, and Philip C. McCarty. The Global Turn: Theories, Research Designs, and Methods for Global Studies. University of California Press, 2017.
In each society, there have always been people who differentiated from others. The characteristics that lead to the differences include sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, and other important issues. In some periods, those who did not belong to so-called standard groups were treated badly; at times though, they received respect from others (Lawson, 2016). Nowadays, in spite of the fact that significant effort has been made to improve the situation with social inequality, society is still far from accepting non-standard men and women (Randall et al., 2017). The purpose of this paper is to represent and analyze the experience, beliefs, ideas, and the attitude to inequality of two people who are not seen as normal by conservative society members.
Black Lesbian
Lisa George is a person who has been often treated unfairly due to who she is. When Lisa was 7, the girl and her family moved from a friendly community where there were many black families to a conservative port-city. New neighbors treated them icily; nevertheless, the family tried to behave as usual. Although the parents have noticed that two other black families of the city had a reclusive life and never let their children play in the street, they did not follow the example.
Lisa walked alone without fear; soon, she found new friends and joined them in their games. However, when adults learned about that children were forbidden to communicate with the black girl. Furthermore, they started calling her names and wrote insulting phrases on the fence. Lisa still remembers an episode when her former friends offended her most. That day, she made an attempt to put up with kids and came to the shore where boys and girls were playing in boats. Lisa wanted to join them but children did not let her do so. They sent her out calling the girl names and demonstrating that she is not good enough to be their friend. On the way home, Lisa cried all the time; after this episode, she did not make any attempts to acquire pals in the city.
During the formative years, Miss George started thinking about self-identification and gender issues. In her opinion, being a girl gave an opportunity to wear dresses and thus, was good. At the same time, boys could date girls and this was an advantage for the person because she started experiencing love towards people of the same sex at early age. When Lisa was 11, she fell in love with a girl for the first time although boys have always been unattractive to her. Nevertheless, Lisas mind seemed to let this pass; besides, this fact did not influence her life. Either I did not take it seriously, or my brain refused to think about it, the woman confessed. Later, Lisa faced the difficulty of rejecting herself and the fact that she would need to talk about it. This was a problem to the woman, because she grew up in a religious family and regarded herself as a sinner. Moreover, she could not talk to anyone about the difficulties because due to the race, Lisa did not have any friends. Later, the woman discussed her orientation with parents and they surprisingly supported her.
In fact, Miss George went through a considerable amount of internal homophobia; it manifested itself in Lisas lack of desire to leave her room and meet new people. She locked herself in a room and got up only to get drunk and fall asleep. Lisa didnt want to live at all; there were suicidal thoughts. Lisa was saved by two friends who came to visit her and brought food (Slater et al., 2017). Thanks to them, the woman realized she needed professional help and turned to a psychologist. It took her 4 years to cope with the problem and return to a normal life. Now, Lisa George accepts her sexual orientation and believes that every person has the right to be whatever they want. Because of being a lesbian, she has become an atheist for it was difficult for the woman to understand why the God creates homosexual people who are then regarded as sinners by religion. As for race problems, Miss George has moved to a more progressive and friendly community where no one bullies her. In Lisas view-point, those who treated her badly during the school years were just foolish.
Disabled Man with Low Incomes
John Morris suffers from cerebral spastic infantile paralysis; he does not walk and hardly can speak. Besides, the man cannot use his hands; at the same time, John works on a computer, watches movies, listens to audio books, and writes correctly. I am very grateful to humanity for the creation of the Internet, John confessed. Computer technologies make it much easier for the disabled person to communicate with the world. Although, to be honest, I have repeatedly thought that either I was not for this world, or this world was not for me, the man stated. According to him, many people consider disabled people selfish but it is not true. The point is that such individuals are simply not able to take care of themselves. All in all, Mr. Morris has got used to his status and believes that there was a good reason why the God gave him with the disease named.
The greatest difficulties John has to struggle with are his socioeconomic status and peoples attitude toward him. Now, his mother, an elderly woman, takes care of her son; Mr. Morris is afraid even to guess what is going to happen to him after her death. In fact, the man does not want to be treated in special institutions because he has heard stories of negligent and even mocking attitude towards disabled people. At the same time, John has no other relatives; that is why he lives for the day. When Mr. Morris and his mother spend their time outside, for example, in a park, sometimes, impolite people ask the woman if her son is mentally ill. Some might insult both the old lady and the man; others try to give alms although John has no cap or sign asking for money (Temple et al., 2019). Such episodes insult the man most; he cannot understand why people are so cruel and cannot just pass by him.
Speaking about financial problems, two pensions are all sources of income John and his mother have. Sometimes, charity organizations help the family but both the man and woman are proud and prefer to cope with money issues on their own. The worst thing about the situation, according to John, is that he cannot change anything: the socioeconomic status will always remain the same due to his health problems.
Compare-and-Contrast Analysis
Both John and Lisa are people who differentiate from the so-called standard group of the population. Although the reasons for this are different, the man and the woman have both been treated badly by others; however, it is important that their parents support them. As for the differences between the cases, Lisa has suffered much because she could not accept who she is while John was harmed most by other peoples reactions. In conclusion, thanks to the task and the interviews, I have learned that it is important to be tolerant and respect every member of society.
References
Lawson, A. (2016). European Union non-discrimination law and intersectionality: Investigating the triangle of racial, gender and disability discrimination. Routledge.
Randall, A. K., Tao, C., Totenhagen, C. J., Walsh, K. J., & Cooper, A. N. (2017). Associations between sexual orientation discrimination and depression among same-sex couples: Moderating effects of dyadic coping. Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 16(4), 325-345.
Slater, M. E., Godette, D., Huang, B., Ruan, W. J., & Kerridge, B. T. (2017). Sexual orientation-based discrimination, excessive alcohol use, and substance use disorders among sexual minority adults. LGBT Health, 4(5), 337-344.
Temple, J. B., Kelaher, M., & Williams, R. (2019). Disability discrimination and avoidance in later life: prevalence, disability differentials and association with mental health. International Psychogeriatrics, 31(9), 1319-1329.
Starting with the 19th century, American education had to deal with the conflict of interest between poor and wealthy children. As representatives of both social classes were taught together, the tension was inevitable. William McGuffey offered a solution to this dilemma by teaching appropriate behavior through stories with moral lessons. McGuffeys references to morality imply that ideology is needed to assure the peaceful coexistence of unequal groups.
American society always had a positive attitude to the accumulation of wealth. Spring (2018) points to Calvinism as the source of the equation between riches and inner salvation. Subsequently, the rich have Gods blessing for their economic state, while poverty is a stimulus for hard work. The implication is that higher classes should use their wealth for charity and helping the poor. As a result, the rich were incentivized to engage in charity to remedy the distrust of the poor.
The modern economic system is based on the unequal distribution of resources and wealth. Capitalism presupposes the discrepancies in income, but it also puts personal responsibility as the primary factor for an individual financial state. Jost et al. (2015) argue that a strong majority of Americans consistently accept the economic system as basically fair and legitimate, even in times of social and economic strife (p. 318). Consequently, the societal consensus is that poverty is a choice, and it can be overcome.
Human nature determines the feelings of inequality and unfair treatment, thus creating the need for an ideological explanation of the status quo. According to Jost (2018), religious people and those who justify the socio-economic system generally report feeling more positive effect and less negative affect and profess more satisfaction with their own life situations (p.11). The implication is that the objective economic conditions are irrelevant as long as the mind views difficulties as justified and acceptable.
Altogether, the world is socially and economically unfair at its core. Representatives of different social classes coexist, thus setting the stage for tension. If no justification is provided, feelings of misery will prevail, causing strife. It can be prevented with religion and ideology, which explain the subtleties in a motivating manner. Therefore, current education teaches that inequality is part of the capitalist system, and individuals are responsible for their wealth themselves.
Jost, J. T., Gaucher, D., & Stern, C. (2015). The world isnt fair : A system justification perspective on social stratification and inequality. In M. Mikulincer, P. R. Shaver, J. F. Dovidio, & J. A. Simpson (Eds.), APA handbook of personality and social psychology, Vol. 2: Group processes (pp. 317340). American Psychological Association.
Spring, J. (2018). The American school: From the puritans to the Trump era. Taylor & Francis.
Generally, merit refers to the state of deserving well or even ill. It is a reward which is commensurate to the preceding actions of the person receiving it. It can also be explained as the fruit of ones actions. Various opinions have come up to affirm as well as disapprove the strict use of merit as the only yardstick to measuring the nature as well as measure of reward to be received by a person.
Pojman greatly contributes to the debate on the use of merit. He argues that we should strive to form a world in which the virtuous are awarded and the vicious punished in proportion to their relative desert. This statement implies that the world should strive to achieve a perfectly leveled ground where people earn their rewards purely based on the effort they put in their action and nothing else.
I agree with this argument, unfortunately, the world is and has never been a level playing ground for all. Many undeserving people have been rewarded either positively or negatively. This results from the inefficiencies inherent in the world systems.
Merit in the world is highly valued and applied in many areas of our society. Hiring of employees both in the public and the private sector is expected to be on merit in terms of the qualifications achieved; People who commit crime are taken to court in an attempt to make them pay for their actions; hardworking and dedicated employees are promoted and awarded bonuses whereas the lazy ones are demoted.
In this regard, the hardworking dedicated and talented trainee at the workplace deserves the job and not the bosses son. Indeed, I agree with Pojmans assertion that Every action in the world has an equal response and that wrong actions must be followed by bad results while good actions must be followed by good results. This is the only fair mode of interaction for humanity.
This paper seeks to point out certain areas that may be well intended but do not serve justice fairly among all humanity. To this end, the focus will be on the unfairness and inequalities present in the world and how they affect the victims.
Leun practically warned Mongolian leadership that for people to live in peace, freedom and prosperity, equality and fairness are cardinal requirements. People will always feel cheated and disenfranchised when the leadership is seen to employ favors in the management of national affairs. Many revolutions around the world have been triggered by perceived employment of other criteria such as race, tribe or political affiliation in the distribution of resources (Louis, 1997, p. 549). To date, great strides have been made in ensuring merit is the key driver of political appointments especially in the U.S. This has been achieved through strengthening of institutions as well as employing elaborate recruitment processes in hiring public servants. Questions though still emerge on the recruitment process as well as tendering processes by the government. Well connected individuals continue to be appointed to high offices at the expense of more able and qualified people.
Pojman argues that affirmative action is an unfair system. He points out that offering a job to a woman just because she is female while leaving out a man who may even be better qualified amounts discrimination. In line with this, certain U.S laws have been crafted to favor black people in the tendering processes as well as in hiring. When a black person wins a tender or secures a job leaving out a white person who is equally qualified, the implication is that the system is not based on merit but race.
In view of these examples it is clear that merit should be the one and only consideration in rewarding people in whichever areas of engagement. The world should therefore strive to get rid of the vices which encroach into the systems leading to undeserved rewards such as cronyism, corruption, tribalism and racism.
I however wish to state that much as I agree wish to point out that the merit system is very idealist. Certain circumstances are unique and demand that the rules of merit are bent in order to ensure a certain critical goal is met. Classical examples are in matters dealing with security and privacy. The president cannot appoint an untrustworthy but very qualified person as the security chief. This is a recipe for disaster despite the high qualification. Still in, those entrusted with confidential matters are not necessarily the ones who worked hard and got the highest grades but those who can be trusted. In other cases though, focus should constantly be on merit and not any other characteristic in order to build a more cohesive society.
Reference List
Leun, S. (2009). Fairness and equality the way to peace. Web.
Louis, P. (1999). Equality and Desert. Journal of Philosophy. Vol. 72, issue, 2, pp. 549-570. Web.