They Say / I Blog

A safety net with many holes: Nora Kenworthy and Ken Igra on the limitations of crowdfunding

Organizations like GoFundMe claim to tap into the power of social networks: those in need of financial assistance post on their social media sites and gather donations from people far beyond their immediate circle of family and friends. Yet according to researchers Nora Kenworthy and Ken Igra, crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe “have been largely unsuccessful in solving financial problems for most of the people who use them.” Kenworthy and Igra detail the reasons why and argue that the uptick in crowdfunding campaigns points toward growing inequities in our society.

Nora Kenworthy and Ken Igra, "Crowdfunding Isn't Enough in a Crisis," Scientific American, 4 February 2022

 

Dispatch from the war zone: Kyle Chayka on the effects of using social media to document war

Social media platforms are another front in 21st century warfare, and people have increasingly turned to them to narrate and share their personal war experiences. From Syria to Ukraine, images and videos circulated on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok have chronicled the human impact of conflict in real time. In this essay, Kyle Chayka analyzes how these glimpses affect both those in the war and those watching it online.

Kyle Chayka, "Watching the World's 'First TikTok War,'" The New Yorker, 3 March 2022

 

Class in the metaverse: Nir Eisikovits on the challenges of building virtual reality universities

Virtual reality, widely used in gaming, is now being adapted for a range of purposes, including medicine, therapy, and sports. But could virtual reality work for higher education? In this essay, Nir Eisikovits, an associate professor of ethics at University of Massachusetts-Boston, explores the ethical and social challenges of virtual reality. He explains what is at stake for students and universities if campuses move to the metaverse.

Nir Eisikovits, "College Could Take Place in the Metaverse, but These Problems Must Be Overcome First,"The Conversation, 1 March 2022

 

It’s not the economy: Peter Coy on how our biases and assumptions affect debates about immigration

Debates about immigration often focus on its economic costs and benefits. Yet that focus misses the bigger picture, Peter Coy argues. Coy, a writer for The New York Times, suggests that the real resistance to immigration lies much deeper than data about jobs and economic impact. Coy explains that opposition to immigration often stems from the stories we tell ourselves about immigrants and immigration, stories that are often colored by unchecked biases and assumptions.

Peter Coy, "What Economists Think About Immigration Doesn’t Really Matter," The New York Times, 17 December 2021.

 

The air we breathe: Jan Victor Andasan on how polluted air from ports harms people in surrounding neighborhoods

The environmental and human impact of our global economy is visible in ports, where chemicals, oil, natural gas, and massive containers of goods are moved, shipped, and stored. In this video op-ed, activist Jan Victor Andasan describes how the pollution spewing from these ports, pipelines, refineries, and rail yards contaminates the air of nearby communities, causing long-term health problems for their family and neighbors. Andasan explains how organizations like the East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice advocate for clean air, such as requiring ports to move to zero-waste operations.

Jan Victor Andasan, "Port Pollution Sickens My Family. That's Violence," Los Angeles Times, 21 October 2021.

 

Billionaires in space: Lucianne Walkowicz on making space exploration more accessible

In the summer of 2021, three billionaires – Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and Jared Isaacson – made history as they blasted off into space on their own privately funded spaceflights. In her essay, astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz analyzes the implications of this new chapter in space exploration. Walkowicz suggests these billionaire-funded launches reflect current inequities here on earth, including rising income inequality exacerbated by the pandemic.

Lucianne Walkowicz, "Don’t Count on Billionaires to Get Humanity into Space," Scientific American, 23 September 2021.

 

The struggling class: Celine-Marie Pascale on determining if people can meet their basic living needs

Over 44% of Americans work low-wage jobs, which can trap people in a precarious cycle marked by limited job security, stagnant wages, unreliable hours, and few opportunities for promotion. Those who are working multiple low-wage jobs struggle to cover their basic living expenses. Celine-Marie Pascale, a professor of sociology at American University, illustrates this complex problem in her November 2021 essay. She contends that the federal poverty line is “an outdated measure of poverty,” and argues that policymakers should use other measures to design safety-net programs based on the real cost of living, which varies across the country.

Celine-Marie Pascale, "The Federal Poverty Line Struggles to Capture the Economic Hardship That Half of Americans Face," The Conversation, 10 November 2021.

 

“Growing trees for the long haul”: Benji Jones on the problems with mass tree-planting campaigns around the world

In November 2021, world leaders gathered at COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and pledged to end deforestation by 2030. One strategy governments and organizations rely on to restore forests is mass tree-planting campaigns, such as the World Economic Forum’s “One Trillion Trees” initiative. Yet these campaigns, found across the globe, are not as effective as they may seem, which environmental reporter Benji Jones argues in this essay. Jones points out that addressing the underlying issues that contribute to forest loss and climate change are “never as straightforward as planting lots of trees.”

Benji Jones, "The Surprising Downsides to Planting Trillions of Trees," Vox, 22 September 2021.

 

Beyond doom and gloom: Dagomar Degroot on the taking action to curb emissions and solve the climate crisis

Sometimes, if a problem feels too complex or insurmountable, it’s easy to just give up. Dagomar Degroot, an associate professor of environmental history at Georgetown University, warns against falling victim to this “doomism” when it comes to climate change. In this essay, Degroot contends that the news media often presents a false binary in how it covers the climate crisis: either we are powerless to stop the collapse of ecosystems, or the crisis is overblown. Degroot argues there’s a third way beyond doomism or dismissal: decisive, deliberate action to reduce carbon emissions, a key factor driving the warming of the planet.

Dagomar Degroot, "Our Planet Is Not Doomed. That Means We Can, and Must, Act." The Washington Post, 7 October 2021.

 

Autism advocates: Eric Garcia on funding research and providing services that improve life for people with autism

For years, a primary focus of autism research has been finding a cure for this neurodivergent condition. Eric Garcia, a writer and autism advocate, asserts that this goal does not reflect the actual, pressing issues that people with autism encounter in their daily lives. In this essay, Garcia draws on his own experiences as an autistic person to call for research and policies that improve health, educational, and employment outcomes for people with autism.

Eric Garcia, "We Don't Need a Cure for Autism. We Need to Make Living with It Easier." TIME, 27 August 2021.