Example Of Homework 2 Essay

There are several agencies combating the specter of global economic inequality. One of these is the Program on Inequality and the Common Good, based in Boston. This enterprise focuses on the perils that the growth of inequality will bring to American democracy, civic life and the economy. The purpose of this agency is primarily informative, as it operates the website Inequality.org, which provides updates on wealth and income gaps in the United States and around the world. The online periodical Too Much focuses on inequality and excess in the United States and internationally. Typical news items include the latest massive pay outrage for an outgoing executive and the ways that divisions in wealth impact overall health and satisfaction. The enterprise also organizes Resilience Circles, who come together to plan social action and community support. Other grass-roots networks that this group promotes are The Other 98%, Wealth for Common Good, and several local educational initiatives in the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain.
Share the World’s Resources is based in London and mounts campaigns to increase the sharing economy all over the world. Their purpose is to advocate for a worldwide program of relief in cases of emergency to bring deaths from poverty and deprivation down. They also advocate thorough reforms to the international economy to establish a more equitable distribution of power, wealth and resources among and within nations. STWR is a non-governmental organization that has been granted consultative status at the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). The group uses this status to attempt to influence policy by creating research-based publications, and their website features a wide range of analysis of various global justice issues, with a focus on economic equality.
There are several ideas from our class readings that are addressed by both of these organizations. One of these has to do with the benefits of decreasing inequality for families. Currently, one of the major sources of inequality in the United States is the lack of universal health care; even with the passage of the Obamacare legislation, there are still gaps keeping the country from having universal coverage. Bringing such items as paid maternity leave and health insurance into line with what the other major developed nations provide would help families tremendously. One of the main thrusts in the editorials that Inequality.org is placing in the media has to do with closing these gaps of inequality.
Another idea has to do with decreasing general poverty in order to help families. Changing the tax structure to make it more progressive and altering the content and delivery method of our social services would greatly increase the opportunities for people at the bottom rungs of the socioeconomic ladder to improve their lives, thereby helping their families escape the treadmill of generational poverty. Both Inequality.org and STWR work to bring these initiatives to the legislative attention of countries around the world.
It is not just physical health that affects the issue of global inequality. The idea of emotional and mental health is also an important one for social planners to consider. By removing the social barriers that keep groups apart from one another and that keep individuals from prospering, these two organizations can keep such drastic measures as suicide from becoming a viable option for the downtrodden.
The health gap is not just between rich and poor, though. It also exists between men and women. Because there are so many patriarchal societies at work today – even in the First World – attitudes towards women’s health issues still lag behind the progressive in too many situations. Both of these organizations publicize news stories about these stagnant attitudes and the effects they have on women worldwide.