All Entries Tagged With: "Inequality"
Technology-Enhanced Learning in Developing Nations: A review
Of interest to Sociologists and students is the possibility of technology to break down class barriers. Here’s an interesting paper from the journal IRRODL that discusses the revolutionary potential of “technology enhanced learning” in developing nations. Food for thought, especially considering the revolutionary potential of Moodles, Moocs, and so on. Check it out.
Capital and Computers – Observations on IT Innovation and Inequality
Here is an assignment/essay by a student in my Sociology 460 Technology course. I’m including it here because of the great way this student highlights the ambivalent impact of technology on our lives. As he clearly identifies, it is not all wine and roses. Many people are impacted negatively. In fact, when you consider it carefully, the overall impact may be decidedly negative. As evidenced by the growing gap between rich and poor, and as Warren Buffet has recently admitted, technology has allowed the rich and powerful to win the class war.
Ayn Rand: The Blinkered Visionary
Ah ideology. Whether it is left or right, pink or blue, it is ideology non the less. Ayn Rand was clearly an ideologue and people liked her because she provided justification for all sorts of greedy, selfish, and inconsiderate behaviors under the banner of some sort of naturally sanctioned individualism. But swing the pendulum the other way and we trod on our fellow peeps in the name of the collective good. My question? Are left and right really that different when the result (oppression, suppression, and concentrated wealth) are the same?
The Corporate Welfare State & Growing Inequality in American Society
Unlike a lot of people out there, I am one to say I TOLD YA SO. The current growth in inequality, the current “mess” in the global financial system, the weird political machinations that seem to directly contradict the principles upon which modern democracies were founded, these were all predicted decades ago by Sociologists. So what are you going to do? Well, read this article, but slowly. There’s a lot of enlightening Sociology in this article. If it gets a little thick, pop on over to the forums and ask Owen a question.
One World in 60 Seconds
The world in 60 seconds? A sociologist looks at daily life differently. Walking through a market with melon in hand, we see interrelationships, economic realities, injustices, and a world that “could be” or “might be” if we stopped buying into the “that’s just the way it is” mentality of “normal” life. Revolutionary? No. In a way it is deeply ironic. Engineers, chemists, even physicists work hard to improve the things that matter to them and nobody questions that. Is it so strange then that sociologists might aspire to ask questions, point out contradictions, and contribute towards a better future? It’s only strange, I feel, that more people don’t listen.
The Game of Survival – Inequality Equations and Miss-Calculations
Iisms and Schisms and postmodern standpoints. We live in spineless world were we all “go along” just to get along and where “playing the game” (i.e. complying with social conventions, avoiding confrontation, and letting the status quo exist unchallenged) is seen as a sign of virtue rather than a character weakness. We bend over for The System, but is the plum we get for being the good boy or girl really worth it. In a world characterized by the destructive excesses of our consumer capitalist society, perhaps its time to re-evaluate our perspectives and begin living according to principles, values, and core Truths once again.
Why it is Impossible to be “A Good Person”
Morality – Has it ever occurred to you how difficult it is to be a good person? In fact it seems that even the best people amongst us, cannot be good all the time – how many times have we not heard of priests, ministers, politicians or soccer moms, whom everyone around them, saw as [...]
Academic Education – A Waste of Space, Mind, Money and Time?
Academic communities and higher learning facilities like universities are the places where great knowledge is born and passed on with the purpose of ‘enlightening’ our societies for the better. Or is it? Aren’t academies and universities about socialization into The System and indoctrination into ideas that support hierarchy, exclusion, etc. According to Anna Brix Thomsen, its both. Universities are useful and do make a [technological] improvement in things, but usually only for the primary benefit of the elite. Trickle down benefits there may be, but its ultimately about maintaining the status quo and further enriching those who are already with privilege.
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Sociology for the revolutionary in you. 