1.I found an article that highlights the potential causes of economic inequality, and offers potential solutions. The article is from a conservative perspective, and can be found at http://thebelltowers.com/2014/12/04/a-conservative-response-to-income-inequality/. This article differs from the perspective we learned about in class in a number of ways. In this article, the author suggests that the cause of the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor is the result of bad government policies and lack of upward mobility. The author suggests a “bottom up” approach, where economic opportunities are maximized for the poor through job creation, education, and empowerment. The author also suggests some tax reforms that might free the middle class.
2.This article from the Week suggests a very radical solution to poverty in America. The author suggests that the government set up bank accounts for each poverty-stricken family in the US, and give them a monthly stipend. The author says, “If the problem with these areas is a lack of capital so desperate that any savings are immediately dissolved and dispersed, like a drop of water hitting a totally dry sponge, then the most obvious answer — however radical — is to simply soak the sponge.” This article can be found at http://theweek.com/articles/534655/want-end-poverty-americaits-pretty-simple.
This website suggests a very different strategy for combating global poverty than the above resource suggests for combating poverty in the US. This is probably because in many parts of the world, the poor in the US would be considered well-off. This website, the Borgen Project, suggests that we install wells, teach farmers, provide shelter, provide schools and vaccines, and build medical clinics for the poor. These solutions can be found at http://borgenproject.org/methods-for-ending-poverty-new/.
3.In 2011, during the Arab Spring protests, the Syrian Civil War began. The goal of the revolutionaries was to overthrow longtime dictator Bashar Al-Assad, though this has been unsuccessful. Seven and a half million Syrians have been displaced within the country, and another four million have fled the country. Ninety-five percent of these refugees have gone to the surrounding nations, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt. Others have risked their lives to go to Europe. By international law these refugees must be accepted, because it is unsafe for them to be sent back to Syria. The US has now promised to take 10,000 refugees.
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