They Say / I Blog

At the top, heading down: Robert Samuelson on economic mobility

Parents all over the world want good lives for their children. That’s not a controversial statement, nothing to write home about. But what does it mean to have a “good life”? Is it only about economic prosperity? And is prosperity only measured across generations? Washington Post economics columnist Robert J. Samuelson observes what may be a new trend in this August 2018 column.

Samuelson, "The rise of downward mobility”

 

Opportunity and healing: Mellow & Pollard on community colleges

Just how important are community colleges in the landscape of higher education in the United States? Well, nearly half of US undergraduates attend a community college; that makes them pretty important. Two community college presidents—Gail Mellow of LaGuardia Community College in New York and DeRionne Pollard of Montgomery College in Maryland—argue in this February 2017 Baltimore Sun article that community colleges are the key to healing the nation and its people.

Read it here: Mellow & Pollard, “Community colleges can heal a divided America”

 

“Special snowflakes”: Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. on campus free speech debates

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about free speech, and we know that it’s a core value—so important that it is protected by the US Constitution. But do we all agree about what free speech really means? Ahh. Not so simple. Princeton professor Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. addresses some of the free speech issues currently being debated in this September 2017 Time Magazine essay.

Read it here: Glaude, Jr. "“The real ‘special snowflakes’ in campus free-speech debates”

 

Enough to live on: Will Perkins on the minimum wage

It’s a pretty simple proposition—a full-time worker ought to be able to live on the pay received for that job. Still, there is plenty of debate about the issue, with words flying around in every direction. Reporter Will Perkins states his position in this September 2017 essay in the Richmond Register of Kentucky.

Read it here: Perkins, “Millennial thoughts: Minimum wage and my take”

(Alt-) right and wrong: Brendan Novak on Charlottesville

The terrible events that occurred on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville and their ripple effects have been well-documented in media across the US and the world. What about the local media? Brendan Novak, an opinion editor for the Cavalier Daily, the University’s student newspaper, wrote this editorial a few days after the marches.

Read it here: Novak, “I was wrong about the ‘alt-right’”

 

Dreams in overtime: Newsweek on labor laws for salaried workers

Retail jobs are famously low-paying, with erratic schedules and sometimes shift changes without prior notice. Little wonder, then, that an hourly-paid retail worker would aspire to be promoted—to a salaried low-level management position with its promise of an ascent up the corporate ladder. But it doesn’t always work out so nicely, as writer Virginia Sole-Smith explains in this November 2015 Newsweek report.

Read it here: Sole-Smith, “It’s Walgreens vs. the American Dream in the battle for overtime”

 

“Self-interest properly understood”: Joseph Stiglitz on economic inequality

The 1% have the best of everything that money can buy, but they’re still missing something really important. Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz lays it all out in this May 2011 article in Vanity Fair.

Read it here: Stiglitz, "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%”

 

Dead and good riddance: Keli Goff on the American Dream

Recently, many writers and social critics have declared the American Dream dead, but journalist Keli Goff goes a step further and says “good riddance.” She explains her position in a July 2014 article in political journal The Daily Beast.

Read it here: Goff, "The American Dream is dead, and good riddance”

 

The responsibility of dreaming: Cameron Smith on the American Dream

As busy adults, we all have long lists of responsibilities that leave little time for idle dreaming. Yet dreaming is exactly what public policy expert Cameron Smith is suggesting in this July 2014 column from Alabama.com. He isn’t talking about just any dream though; it’s the American Dream.

Read it here: Smith, "Keeping the American Dream alive is your responsibility and mine”

 

Not your father’s American Dream: Dan Kadlec on the aspirations of Millennials

Everything must change, so why should the American Dream be any different? Still, Time Magazine financial writer Dan Kadlec suggests some cause for alarm in the aspirations of young adults today, as he describes in this February 2014 article from the magazine.

Read it here: Kadlec, "Millennials put their surprising stamp on the American Dream”