The Gap between Rich and Poor

Recently, in Western Civilization II, I lectured on some of the deleterious effects of the early Industrial Revolution, one of which was to create miserable conditions for the working poor. The lecture quickly turned into a fruitful discussion on the seemingly ever-expanging gap between rich and poor in today’s America; the middle class finds it increasingly difficult to make ends meet, one student contended. The questions I have for my students are these: Do you believe that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getitng poorer? If so, what anecdotal and statistical evidence might you cite to support your claims?

Global Warming

I am putting together a panel discussion to be held on Thursday, April 26th  from 1:00 to 3:00 pm in room 201 on the issue of global warming, which has commanded the attention of my American Government students of late. A consensus has emerged that global warming is taking place, humans are causing it, and that a state of urgency exists to do something about it. However, in the spirit of this weblog’s concept, I want respondents to approach the topic with an open mind. Just because there is in fact a consensus, it does not follow that we ought to blindly adhere to it. There was once something called the cold war consensus in which unanimity existed between liberals and conservatives to contain communism. That consensus led America into an ill-fated war in Vietnam because no real deliberation or discussion occurred in the 1950s and early 1960s. A consensus based on “scientific” analysis existed in the southern states in the 1850s that the brains of African Americans are smaller than their white counterparts. In the early 20th century a consensus emerged within the eugenics movement that immigrants and the poor were genetically inferior to others. My main point: a consensus is not always necessarily accurate and should be constantly revised and reassessed. After all, claiming the end of debate would never have given us Newton or Einstein. My questions are these: are humans in fact causing global warming, is this warming trend long lasting, what if anything ought to be done about it? Remember, we want to avoid the assertion that some scientists have made that “there is no more debate” on global warming. And those who disagree are merely politicizing the issue.

I have posted a few links for your convenience so that you can become more informed on the issue:  

http://www.realclimate.org/

http://epa.gov/climatechange/index.html

http://www.globalwarming.org/

http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/page.cfm?tagID=274

I have also posted on the “Video Presentations and Clips” page a rebuttal of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth put together by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. Please view the film first before watching the rebuttal. I would also encourage you to look at other critiques of Gore’s film, both supportive and critical.

Western Cultural Superiority

One of the key themes of my Western Civilization II course is the idea of Western cultural superiority. The idea is sometimes explored through an in-class discussion on the traditional Indian practice of sati, which consisted of the burning to death of women once they lost their husbands. In the nineteenth century, the British, who colonized India, outlawed the practice. Were the British correct in eliminating sutee? Did India have a right to preserve this cultural practice without an external force abolishing it?