Shadow Idol: This, too.
May. 16th, 2014 01:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptThe class you are born into will affect your entire life, either for the better, or for the worser.
Because it starts right at the beginning: babies in poorer households suffer more stress, even in utero.
Yes, and then the children of richer parents have more opportunities for enriching activities.
Yes, and then after the first year of life, richer kids have better cognitive development and abilities.
Yes, and then those who fall behind due to their poverty tend to drop out of required schooling.
Yes, and then those kids that are poor do worse on standardized testing, assuming they're even allowed or able to take the test at all, for fear of dragging the school down and cutting their funding.
Yes, and then the rich kids go to the choicest colleges, leaving everyone else to struggle with community college or no college at all.
Yes, and then of those who do get into college, the richer you are, these more likely you are to finish. And possibly get more degrees.
Yes, and then, unsurprisingly, those kids who had poor parents end up working at jobs where they will be poor as well, because they were denied entry to higher socioeconomic classes by not being able to afford and attend college.
Yes, and those who are poor and minorities can expect to serve lengthy prison sentences for minor offenses or be seriously injured or killed for the crime of being visibly a minority, or visibly poor.
Yes, and then even those who manage to beat the odds and finish college end up lower on the pay scale, coming in behind even those rich kids who didn't go to college, because once you have a certain amount of wealth, it can be configured to replicate itself, regardless of the skill of the person who has it.
Yes, and then the richest get even more as their parents and relatives pass away and leave them to inherit the wealth, while the poorest get no inheritance and still have to strive with their wages and work.
Yes, and the United States doesn't do a whole lot to try and prevent this inequality from expanding. Because the rich have captured the legislators and make it impossible to run campaigns for high office without them.
Yes, and then the poor die early from their stresses, their poverty, and the fact that they're being forced to strive for an ever-shrinking part of the national wealth, which brings out the worst in everyone.
Yes, and there's nothing short of a very strong rebalancing that will fix this.
Yes, and there seems to be almost nobody who has the power to do something about this that wants to.
Yes, and...now what?
Because it starts right at the beginning: babies in poorer households suffer more stress, even in utero.
Yes, and then the children of richer parents have more opportunities for enriching activities.
Yes, and then after the first year of life, richer kids have better cognitive development and abilities.
Yes, and then those who fall behind due to their poverty tend to drop out of required schooling.
Yes, and then those kids that are poor do worse on standardized testing, assuming they're even allowed or able to take the test at all, for fear of dragging the school down and cutting their funding.
Yes, and then the rich kids go to the choicest colleges, leaving everyone else to struggle with community college or no college at all.
Yes, and then of those who do get into college, the richer you are, these more likely you are to finish. And possibly get more degrees.
Yes, and then, unsurprisingly, those kids who had poor parents end up working at jobs where they will be poor as well, because they were denied entry to higher socioeconomic classes by not being able to afford and attend college.
Yes, and those who are poor and minorities can expect to serve lengthy prison sentences for minor offenses or be seriously injured or killed for the crime of being visibly a minority, or visibly poor.
Yes, and then even those who manage to beat the odds and finish college end up lower on the pay scale, coming in behind even those rich kids who didn't go to college, because once you have a certain amount of wealth, it can be configured to replicate itself, regardless of the skill of the person who has it.
Yes, and then the richest get even more as their parents and relatives pass away and leave them to inherit the wealth, while the poorest get no inheritance and still have to strive with their wages and work.
Yes, and the United States doesn't do a whole lot to try and prevent this inequality from expanding. Because the rich have captured the legislators and make it impossible to run campaigns for high office without them.
Yes, and then the poor die early from their stresses, their poverty, and the fact that they're being forced to strive for an ever-shrinking part of the national wealth, which brings out the worst in everyone.
Yes, and there's nothing short of a very strong rebalancing that will fix this.
Yes, and there seems to be almost nobody who has the power to do something about this that wants to.
Yes, and...now what?
no subject
Date: 2014-05-17 08:29 am (UTC)I would like to know how growing up poor affects lifetime pay-earning ability...good fodder for another post, perhaps (or even an addendum to this one).
no subject
Date: 2014-05-17 03:17 pm (UTC)Then, there's articles like this Washington Post article about the hidden costs of poverty, in time, in not being able to go to the Big Box store to fill up a car and a fridge, and so on that also affect job prospects - if your commute is limited to where the bus goes, that limits job prospects, too.
So people growing up poor may have their ability to earn limited simply because their parents can't provide enough of a boost for someone to get the things that will help create a middle class life.
And that's without the issues of gang life, crime, and unsafe living conditions that take a lot of people out of their earning potential, too.