October 21, 2012
Chapter 5- Family Problems
I enjoyed this chapter because it covered many aspects of marriage, including marriages that are out of "our norms", like polygamy and couples who chose to be together but never get married. I thought it was very surprising that the amount of unmarried couples are on the rise at quite a substantial rate. I also found it sad and somewhat surprising that the in the United States you are more likely to be abused, assaulted, or killed by a family member then any where else. I was also very surprised to see that one in three women are subjected to some kind of violence in a relationship. To me, that seems absurd. Overall it is very disconcerting to read over the section covering abuse to children, elders, parents, siblings and pets. I did however enjoy reading about ways to prevent divorce and strengthen marriages and also reading over what would decrease the risk of divorce, like income, education, religious affiliation, etc.
Chapter 6- Poverty and Economic Inequality around the World
Starting off, this chapter was very interesting in seeing the differences between workers and CEO's, especially the 263:1 ratio for pay. I also thought it was interesting how this ratio keeps getting bigger year after year. I also thought it was interesting that the poverty rate was higher for those under 18 and in that age group. I previously thought it would lean more to those in the 35-44 age range. It also didn't surprise me to learn that female-headed households tended to be impoverished more then any other type of household. I also thought it was interesting that regardless of location, the symptoms of poverty tend to all be about the same, like housing problems, health issues and inability to acquire enough food. It was refreshing to read of all the different types of help people who are in need can receive, though there needs to be even more help.
Chapter 7- Work and Unemployment
This chapter seemed to be the most relevant chapter to what is happening in our every day life. The chapter discussed differences of socialism and capitalism and talked about the free trade agreements. It also discusses the employment concerns of new college graduates and how nearly one in four are in debt and many graduates have to return home to live with their parents instead of living on their own. This chapter also covers forced labor and slavery, it was surprising to learn that there are more slaves now then there were at any other time, something like 27 million worldwide. It also goes over sweatshop labor, chattel labor and child labor, all of which are illegal, though some prisons implement forced labor as punishment. Which to me was slightly confusing since slavery itself is illegal in most places. I also thought it was interesting that the United States is the only advanced nation that does not require a minimum number of vacation days.
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