Saturday, February 19, 2011
Is this class making us less empathetic?
I read this blog posting (see here). We have talked continually about social welfare functions and democratic choice. If U.S. citizens choose politicians who gut social programs and international aid, do we say that it is ok? If we see ourselves as potentially high income earners, do we stay out of the political fray?
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I totally agree with the idea that studying pure economics makes us think more independently, selfishly, and consider others to be the same. However, classes like these do help us think outside of that perspective. Welfare Economics, I think, while still assuming that people are self interested does make us less empathetic cause it constantly reminds us of the equity problem that exists in society.
ReplyDeleteMy fb feed today is full of people who are trying to muster support against these cuts in social programs. While I don't know their economic background, there is a lot of venom against the politicians of today who are making such proposals (I'm being told Republican representatives are evil repeatedly!). We also have those individuals like Bill Gates who are giving away half of their wealth for charity. At this point I definitely think that if I had more money (was a high earner) then the amount of money I give for welfare equity etc will increase - but I could be lying to myself.
I agree with J.J. as well. The two articles we read for Question #1 of the midterm dealt with a similar issue; the morality, or lack there of, in economics. The last line of the blog really stood out to me:
ReplyDelete"It seems quite plausible that this is also changing the way that Americans behave and making the ideology of individual autonomy even stronger than it already was. Which I don’t think is such a good thing."
Not a good thing at all in my opinion.
I do believe thinking, studying and talking about money (like most economics majors do) can bring out increased self sufficiency and greed. Whenever we talk about public retirement plans, income distribution equalities, it does bring up severe worries about what this economy holds for our future.
ReplyDeleteI think that the emphasis placed on the value of money by society holds as much blame as any class we take. Not everyone takes econ classes, but everyone knows that money=power. I dont see too many commercials for low end cars, but I do see plenty for Lexus, Audi, Mercedes, etc. We are made to have an insatiable desire for money everyday. Why are we in college? Increased earning potential. We are told that we need to save well over a million dollars to be able to retire comfortably. Advertisements for luxurious vacations, destination weddings, and kick ass homes all underscore the premise that, to get any of this, you have to have money. We all complain about Wall street greed and hubrous, but I think the only reason that most of us get mad is because we arent the ones making all that money.
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