Given the fact that so much of American culture revolves around sexual foreplay and orgiastic intensity, for many people the good life might mean being hooked up to an orgasm machine and being perennially titillated
I think this can correlate with the media that a lot of people consume that causes their brain to function this type of way.
It is rare in human history, of course, that the notion of individuality and the civic are coupled so that a democratic project is generated.
I agree with this because it seems that individuality sometimes creates too much of a disagreement to involve democracy with it.
One of the fundamental questions of our day is whether the tradition of struggle can be preserved and expanded
With the direction society is headed I think it will become even more difficult to preserve many traditions, but rather expanding them is more of a possibility.
“I think when it comes to the student loan crisis, we all share a little bit of the blame. When I say we, I mean the government and the colleges themselves.”
The blame is mutual because it's a choice that is made to perhaps better the lives of people, but it's mainly hurting a lot of people.
he coronavirus pandemic has now forced colleges to close their campuses and forced millions of students to take classes online.
The cost of attendance is still relatively the same even though classes are online.
“I’ll have to join the military or marry rich. So chances are I’ll probably join the military.”
Some people even do things they don't want to do in order to avoid or pay off debt.
But student debt also has a significant impact on the everyday lives of current college students including the decisions they make about where and what to study, as well as their mental health.
Student Loans has caused many mental issues in people's life that effects them every single day.
mith also points out that student debt holds some borrowers back from building intergenerational wealth — thus exacerbating the existing racial wealth gap.
It's hard to obtain wealth, when you have debt holding you back.
“People who went to school in the ’70s and the ’60s, they actually paid for college while working. They would take a summer job and they would pay their tuition,” she says. “And by the time they graduated, they would be debt-free or just, a couple hundred dollars, a couple thousand dollars to get by, they pay that off in a couple of years and move on with their lives.”
It's harder to do the same thing today because of the increase in the cost, not many are able to pay off school right away.
As the labor market weakened, more and more workers looked to higher education as a lifeline.
Since the jobs that didn't require degree require degree became less prominent, many were kinda forced to attend college.
“Many states made massive cuts to funding at public universities. This caused many of these schools to raise tuition in order to recoup the lost revenue.
Schools had to increase the cost in order to generate revenue.
Today, college graduates earn 80% more than those with just a high school diploma, on average.
Also when obtaining a degree, there's a higher chance of earning more money then without one.
During the 2008 recession, many opted to go back to school and gain new skills
The recession was a big factor in the increase of student loans.
The College Board estimates that during the 1980-1981 school year, on average, it cost students the modern equivalent of $17,410 to attend a private college and $7,900 to attend a public college — including tuition, fees, room and board. By 1990, those costs increased to $26,050 and $9,800, respectively.
Since the funding for education was less the cost of school was impacted a a substantial way.
the G.I. Bill was signed, giving millions of veterans, mostly white men, the chance to go to college for free.
The Gi Bill is something that is still used heavily in present day.
At the same time, advancements in technology, especially automation, are making it harder to earn a living wage without some type of advanced degree.
Most of the jobs now a days require some sort of degree.
And that dichotomy puts students in a difficult situation: do they risk going into debt they can’t pay back or miss out on the benefits of a college degree?
Although college is as expensive and important today, the risk of attending is far greater than before.
Some 44 million Americans collectively hold over $1.6 trillion in student debt
Since College is so expensive. many people have to take out loans in order to pay off the cost to attend.
Procedures can also be organized in a way that dissuades or prevents people from acting on biased thoughts.
This is cool to me that there are ways to prevent people from using bias in thinking situations.
At least with the optical illusion, our slow-thinking, analytic mind—what Kahneman calls System 2—will recognize a Müller-Lyer situation and convince itself not to trust the fast-twitch System 1’s perception. But that’s not so easy in the real world, when we’re dealing with people and situations rather than lines.
Mueller-Lyer realized that even though he didn't want to trust this system, he knew that would be harder because people are different from lines.
Kahneman and others draw an analogy based on an understanding of the Müller-Lyer illusion, two parallel lines with arrows at each end. One line’s arrows point in; the other line’s arrows point out.
They were able to develop an analogy on the so that they could interpret the understanding better.
European countries hesitated to close borders within the Schengen Area in the early stages of the pandemic, leading Marine Le Pen of the National Rally (RN) in France to refer to a “religion of borderlessness” endangering the French people.
If they had closed the borders, I wonder if more countries would have followed after them?
5With lockdown measures limiting avenues for political participation, anti-establishment sentiment could grow deeper out of disconnection from politics. Without a shared approach enhancing citizens’ participation in the development of recovery efforts, democracies will be vulnerable to a renewed, likely even more pernicious wave of populism and nationalism, particularly susceptible to foreign interference. COUNTERING HOMEGROWN AND FOREIGN DISINFORMATION From the very beginning, the COVID-19 pandemic led to an “infodemic.” Overwhelmed by uncertainty and confined in their homes, people obsessively searched for information. At the same time, malign actors multiplied the production of fake news, conspiracy theories, and manipulated information on an ad hoc basis.45 Among them, Russia and China exploited the chaos induced by COVID-19 to promote their geopolitical interests and continue to destabilize Western democracies.46In line with operations conducted since the 2014 Ukraine crisis, Russian disinformation has highlighted the fractures in and incapability of Western democracies to efficiently manage the global pandemic. Aside from publicizing Russian humanitarian support to Serbia, Belarus, and Italy, Russia has amplified Chinese efforts in spreading conspiracy theories and fake news on the origin of the virus, based on anti-establishment, anti-European, and anti-immigration messages.47 China has manipulated information on the shipment of face masks and medical equipment to promote its role as a global leader in the fight against COVID-19. Simultaneously, it has suppressed narratives about its responsibility in failing to contain the outbreak in Wuhan. Inspired by the Russian playbook, China’s disinformation relied on diplomatic channels echoing state-owned media to depict China as a humanitarian superpower and defend Beijing from international accusations.48The hyper-politicization of COVID-19, combined with the devastating consequences of lockdown measures, has created a fertile breeding ground for domestic disinformation activities.The hyper-politicization of COVID-19, combined with the devastating consequences of lockdown measures, has also created a fertile breeding ground for domestic disinformation activities. The “Plandemic” video in the United States,49 French moutons enragés,50 and Italian Orange Vests51(along with neo-fascist CasaPound) all maintain that the virus was a scam — some blame political elites, others blame 5G technology — and all complain about the lockdown measures imposed by the government. At the same time, false information also came from top-level officials who downplayed the danger of COVID-19, or by mainstream media like the U.S. conservative media outlet Fox News, which minimized the disease’s mortality rate.52In the months ahead, amid not only a global pandemic but also a global recession, disinformation operations will only grow. Tech companies have already begun to take significant steps to block accounts and trolls spreading disinformation about the coronavirus. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, for instance, removed posts by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro praising hydroxychloroquine as a remedy against COVID-19 and encouraging the end of social distancing.53 Twitter added a fact-checking link to a Trump tweet denouncing mail-in voting.54Moving forward, the big question will be how to cope with and ensure resilience against disinformation operations.DEFENDING THE DEMOCRATIC MODEL In a moment of high uncertainty, where decisions must be made quickly and often at the expense of political debate, one might be tempted to argue that authoritarian regimes would be better equipped to provide immediate and operational response.
An authoritarian style regime could probably carry out faster decisions regarding immediate action.
Direct democracy initiatives such as citizen-led councils, citizen-led referendums or online consultations would help mitigate feelings of powerlessness and isolation.
This can correlate to civic participation because it allows the people to come together and make decisions on certain things. Also it gives them a voice to be heard.