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Documente Cultură
The Lunettes
3. Stiglitz depicts how the inequality and opportunity gap is widening. The
top 1% in the U.S. are getting wealthier without creating new wealth for
others. He argues that without political and economic reform to reduce
rent seeking, the hardships for the middle and lower working classes
will continue to increase. In this, he criticizes the free flow of capital
as a negative component of globalization, which in turn impacts global
inequality.
What role and how much influence do individuals and individual organizations
have in this evolution?
Overall, it is clear that depending on the lens one takes, or the level of
the system one is operating within, individuals and organizations can have
different roles and influence. Access to wealth and power make it easier for
any player - whether an organization or an individual - to have more influence
and ability to carve out their role. Civic engagement is an essential part of
keeping organizations in check and giving voice to the broader population in
an inequitable society. At the same time, organizations must have a moral
position, ensuring that their operating practices continue to - at a minimum -
fall in line with what society is willing to tolerate.
All of these books highlight the network issue of the changing nature of
accountability, on an individual level, a corporate level, and a national level.
How do we make decisions effectively and ethically when the global network
is so complex and we do not have perfect information as consumers or
actors in the network? Networks are “both more vulnerable and more robust
than populations of isolated entities” (Watts, 2003, pp 302), so the impact of
an individual can be profound. As such, we think back to the discussion of
the role of the individual in global changes, we must also consider the ways
in which that role has been transformed through the development of a global
network. For instance, micro-bloggers express frustration around policy and
public safety in China and the government is responding in a timely manner
(Lan, 2011). Previously, individual action at the micro level had little chance
of making an impact quickly at the macro level, but today, thanks to the
increasing connectedness of the world, individual agency looks very different
than it did in the past. As a result the questions of accountability across
actors in the network, have become more complex, and contribute to the
challenges we face in responding to the impacts of globalization.
Through our readings and discussions, we’ve found that China plays a
central role in this generation’s global transformation. China is emerging as a
formidable global power. due to their 1.4 billion inhabitants, unprecedented
economic growth (which is outpacing that of western economies), and move
to replace US and European international financial institutions (such as the
IMF) as a leading source of investment in other emerging economies (such as
Africa and South America). Meanwhile while wages, salaries, and vital public
services are declining in the US economy, the exact opposite has been
happening in China.
• What does wealth and opportunity look like in China with a one party
system? How does China’s value of full employment impact society? Are
there areas of opportunity we see that cannot be implemented because
the Chinese government regulations are different from the U.S.?
• As China opens up to the global economy, how are their traditional ways
of working being challenged by new perspectives? What are the big
shifts that have happened recently? Are there areas of tension regarding
outside views that we should be aware of?
• How is the current political relationship between the U.S. and China
viewed? What is the popular opinion on the actions of the current U.S.
administration? In what ways are these dynamics impacting business,
trade and country relations?
• The Voicethread stated that China intentionally maintains full
employment; is this true and does unemployment play into society?
Group Participation
Our group consisted of Tori, Roxey, Lauren, Sammi, Lindsay Y., Isabelle,
Hannah and Caroline. We each participated in our respective book clubs and
then came together to discuss all the books as a group. We did pre-work by
sharing summaries of our books via Google Docs. We came to the meeting
having read the summaries, and then spent our time together discussing the
questions. We each
individually wrote quick
thoughts on the questions for
this assignment on a shared
spreadsheet, and used that to
guide our conversation as a
whole group. At the end of
the call we split up the
questions and partners took
each of the questions and
finalized the responses based
on the group conversation.
Included is a screenshot of
our whole group meeting.
References
Chang, L.T. (2012, June). Leslie T. Chang: The voice of China’s workers [Video
http://www.ted.com/talks/leslie_t_chang_the_voices_of_china_s_workers
https://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la?
language=en
Lan, Y. (2011, July). Yang Lan: The Generation that’s remaking China [Video
Li, E.X.: (2013, July). Eric X. Li: A Tale of two political systems [Video file].
480p.mp4
Rifkin, J. (2014). The Zero Marginal Cost Society. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.