Posts by Dane Fearon
Public Health Problems + Solution
Many people believe that, with the large numbers of homes left uninhabited in New York, homelessness should be an easy problem to solve. However, aside from the obvious economic issues, this does not take into account the effects of mental health. According to a 2009 report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 20%-25% of the homeless population in the U.S. suffers from some form of severe mental illness. However, only 6% of Americans are severely mentally ill. This implies that, aside from economic issues, mental health plays a key role in a person’s ability to avoid being homeless. Thus, improving mental health assistance is needed both to decrease rates of homelessness and improve the general quality of life of those with severe mental health issues.
According to the New York State Department of Health website, chronic diseases account for 23% of hospitalizations, and 60% of deaths in New York state. The website also states that “heart disease and cancer account for over half of all deaths in New York State.” The site continues on to say that many of these chronic diseases are preventable and one’s risk of developing them can be reduced by a healthy diet, exercise, and avoiding smoking. However, in a city such as New York, where some jobs require employees to be sitting for long periods of time, where stress levels can be high due to the fast pace of the city, and where not everyone always has the time or patience to cook or seek out a healthy meal, achieving this is easier said than done.
Antibiotic resistance is an issue that could potentially put many new Yorkers at risk. As people continue to create drugs to fight different bacteria, improper treatment of those infected means bacteria will continue to gain resistances and impose a greater threat on human health. In a crowded area such as New York where a train ride can expose one to a plethora of pathogens from all over the state and possibly elsewhere, this has the potential to be a severe problem. New or at least improved methods of tackling antibiotic resistant bacteria need to be implemented.
To tackle the problem of increased antibiotic resistance, one must first look at the cause. According to the CDC, Antibiotic resistance is mainly caused by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. This overuse and misuse comes in the form of using antibiotics to treat viral infections (which antibiotics have no effect on), saving leftover antibiotics for the next time one gets sick, not following the directions given by ones doctor about the use of the antibiotics, and using antibiotics on bacterial infections other than that which the antibiotic was prescribed to treat. My solution to this problem would involve an apparatus similar to an insulin pump. It would essentially have the same function, but instead of automatically pumping insulin into the bloodstream at a rate designed for the person using it, it would do so using antibiotics. Instead of having to remember to take the antibiotic several times during the day, a one would only have to remember to put it on each morning. Due to the potential cost and aversion toward such an apparatus, its recommended use would be for microbial infections that either pose a severe risk of loss of life to the person infected, or for bacteria that are currently highly resistant to most antibiotics and at high risk of becoming resistant to the most current antibiotics if not properly dealt with. The amount of antibiotic given to the machine prescribed should be exactly as much as is prescribed by the doctor to decrease risk of saving or misusing the antibiotic. The amount of antibiotic left in the apparatus can be monitored by a doctor to see if the infected individual has been using the apparatus appropriately.
Sources:
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/Mental_Illness.pdf
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/02/opinion/gupta-health-challenges-2015/
http://www.cdc.gov/getsmart/community/about/antibiotic-resistance-faqs.html
http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/diabetes-resources/definitions/insulin-pump/
Solutions to Cultural Gender Roles Inhibiting Economic Growth
In my previous post, I discussed how cultural gender roles created barriers toward women trying to become and stay successful in professional fields. I brought up how this was shown through people’s opinions on abuse, women in stem fields, and women in the workforce.
Culture and gender roles are ingrained into us starting from birth. Boys tend to be put in blue hospital clothing while girls tend to be put in pink. Boys tend to get action figures while girls tend to get dolls. As we get older, the differences may become more distinct, and possibly more damaging. Girls tend to be taught that it’s ok to tell others how they are feeling while girls are not. Boys tend to be taught that it’s impressive to have many girlfriends, and may be shamed for not doings so, while girls tend to be taught that they should be more modest and may be shamed for not doing so. While society is trying to push for equal pay and equal gender representation in government and professional fields, there may not be enough attention being paid to actually raising children in an equal fashion. This may be an important factor in why certain gender disparities exist. For example, it is noted in multiple studies and publications that women tend to spend more time and resources taking care of family than men. The main cause of this is most likely because of how children are raised. Men tend to be raised thinking they must provide financial support by getting a job, while women tend to be raised thinking they must provide support by literally caring for others. Cases such as this aren’t caused by workplace biases that need to be corrected. They are caused by raising children to be different based on gender. As a result, it isn’t just biases that create gender disparities; it is also how people have been raised to respond to situations differently based on their gender.
Therefore, my solution is to educate parents on how to raise their children without gender bias. This means emphasizing the importance of taking care of family, as well as the importance of being successful without emphasizing one or the other based on gender. It means instilling the same amount of confidence in children regardless of gender so that neither males nor females feel that they aren’t smart enough to pursue a career or that a certain activity is too “girl” or “boyish” for them. In this way, children can make decisions based solely on what they enjoy and not one pressures that they might feel to fit into certain gender roles. Not only would this decrease the gender disparities in various fields, it would also most likely remove certain pre-existing biases among both genders and make people more likely to see each other as equals. This is because for the first time, people, regardless of gender, would feel like they were raised and treated equally by their families and others. This form of training could be given in pre-natal classes as well as through pamphlets available at health facilities.
Sources:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/14/on-equal-pay-day-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-gender-pay-gap/
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/educators/resources/pamphlets
Cultural Gender Roles and Economic Growth
Having a fair number of women in professional fields tends to increase success and productivity in those fields. However, there are still factors that block women from entering and staying in certain fields. Most stem from a belief that females are inferior or should only hold certain roles, and both men and women propagate that belief. I will list three problems and how they relate to this incorrect belief.
The first problem is the culture of domestic violence. Many people live in cultures that support the idea of women being submissive to their husbands and that a man beating his wife in some instances is acceptable. This belief is held not only by men, but by women as well. An NPR article reporting data from a world values survey states that, “in 29 countries around the world, one-third or more of men say it can be acceptable for a husband to ‘beat his wife.’ Perhaps more surprising: In 19 countries, one-third or more of women agree that a husband who beats his wife may be justified, at least some of the time”. It is difficult for a woman to develop self-confidence and self-respect, and garner respect from others if she lives in a society where beating women for disobedience is viewed as acceptable. As the next paragraph will show, a lack of confidence negatively affects women’s success and choices in school as well as in the wok force.
There is currently a drive to attract more women to participate in STEM fields. While gains have been made toward this goal, there are cultural views that slow progress. There is an idea among some cultures that women should not participate in the sciences for multiple reasons, including a lack of ability. However, it appears that it is actually due to a lack of confidence in women and women’s lack of confidence in themselves. One NY Times article discusses how many women decide to avoid the STEM fields not because they are doing poorly, but because they fear they are not good enough, and often times this view is propagated by teachers and fellow students. The article mentioned cases where a female had difficulty understanding something in a STEM class, but avoided asking questions for fear of being ridiculed. This is a detrimental outcome. By not asking questions, a lack of confidence will eventually become a lack of education, even though the potential is still there.
There are women who break through these barriers and move on to fields traditionally occupied by men. However, it is difficult for these women to be successful. An article in the economist points out how, while it appears that a majority of Americans see women in the business and politics as equally as capable as men, it is not reflected in the workforce. The article mentions that while men are viewed in a more positive light for speaking up, women are viewed in a more negative one. It also mentions how men actually benefit at work from becoming fathers while the opposite effect exists for women becoming mothers. Once again, this problem seems to stem from cultures and traditional roles surrounding men and women as opposed to a lack of ability.
Sources:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2015/03/18/392860281/alarming-number-of-women-think-spousal-abuse-is-sometimes-ok
http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSOnline.jsp
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science.html
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2015/01/women-and-work
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/01/14/women-and-leadership/
Work Solutions
The problems I brought up in my last post were essentially loss of jobs due to technology, and the conflict between an employer’s expectations and the employee’s. In some ways these were problems even before the fears that technology would take our jobs away started to become more serious.
My solution to the problem of lack of jobs due to technology is widespread access to education and inspiration. While technology is quickly becoming able to complete tasks that we once thought were reserved for humans, humans are still very capable of creation, innovation, and discovery. As current jobs decrease in number as they are replaced by artificial intelligence, people will need the drive and inspiration to create new ones, and the intelligence to actually be able to accomplish those jobs. If the in the future all jobs really will be taken by machines, then we need people that can look boldly in the face of such a realization and be prepared to create a society in which work for humans is no longer necessary; one in which discovery and leisure are what we spend all our time doing instead of only a fraction of our free time. This makes the inspiration and drive component even more important than education. The level of creation and re-imagination required for such a task cannot be met if people of the future are too busy despairing over the fact that the job pool has been saturated with machines and are unable and too close-minded to think of new solutions to new problems.
Making education widely accessible isn’t as simple as making college free for everyone. That approach can actually have negative effects. Instead, focus should be placed on improving already existing education systems at all levels, and teaching students to implement actual problem solving long before they get to college instead of making them learn facts without much question and not really showing how they can be applied in real life. Parents and teachers will need to help foster inspiration and drive in students by making children see at an earlier age what a good education can make them capable of. As technology improves education, education should become cheaper, and thus the amount of people who have access to quality education should increase.
Most of the solutions I found for the conflict between employer’s expectations and employee’s quality of life ultimately still involve flexible work hours. The solution to the problem seems to really just be changing people’s mindset about work. Essentially, replace the current “9 to 5” mindset with one that is more similar to college classes, where you have the option of picking class hours to better fit your schedule.
Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ccap/2014/10/03/there-is-not-such-thing-as-a-free-college-education/2/
http://mercatus.org/expert_commentary/subsidized-loans-drive-college-tuition-student-debt-record-levels
https://hbr.org/2014/12/flex-time-doesnt-need-to-be-an-hr-policy
http://www.wmmsurveys.com/How_Men_Flex_Report_WMRI.pdf
http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/flex-work.htm
Future of Work Problems
The general view on how technology will affect jobs in the future usually splits into two opinions. The optimists believe that it will lead to world in which there are no more tedious tasks and everyone can focus on more meaningful jobs and careers. The pessimists believe that, with more jobs being automated and populations projected to increase, it will lead to a world where the vast majority will have to struggle to find jobs after the jobs they would have formerly been able to obtain have been taken by machines. I’m not sure which end of the spectrum the future will actually lean toward, but I think that if we’re going to try to lean as far as possible toward the more optimistic outcome, then education needs to be seriously improved, and made more available to others.
While I do believe that technology will take away many of the jobs we currently have, I also believe that many new jobs will be created as a result and that, within reason, there will be enough to sustain our population. However I also believe that those jobs will require much more skill than the ones that are currently disappearing and that just because there will be enough jobs does not mean everyone will be qualified for those jobs. The solution obviously is improved and more available higher education. Attempts at this are already being made, such as President Obama’s plan to make community college free for students that maintain a 2.5 GPA and meet other requirements. However, if the education students are receiving isn’t of sufficient quality, none of that will matter as it will quickly become obvious whether or not someone can handle the more technical jobs of the future.
Another problem I see within the future of work is the balance between workers’ quality of life and employers’ demands. There is a lot of talk about the benefits of a flexible work schedule, both for the employee, and the employer. However, those that are willing to put in more overtime and show extra effort with their jobs are more likely to stay hired and move up the ranks. In a world where less complicated jobs are mostly gone, even if flexible work hours become more common, it is whichever employee is capable of fitting their employer’s preferred schedule that will most likely end up being more successful. If a more rigid schedule is found to be more effective for certain positions (I highly doubt it will be the case for all positions), then employees hoping to move up within those fields will ultimately still be forced into rigid time slots. Unless policies are implemented to make sure jobs don’t infringe too much on an employee’s quality of life, we may end up having workers who must complete even more complicated tasks than those that currently exist and do so on rigid, sleep-depriving, wellness-limiting schedules similar to those of today.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/upshot/will-you-lose-your-job-to-a-robot-silicon-valley-is-split.html?abt=0002&abg=1
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/upshot/the-roots-of-obamas-ambitious-college-plan.html?abt=0002&abg=1
http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/does-your-work-fit-your-life/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/upshot/how-technology-aided-by-recession-is-transforming-the-work-world.html?abt=0002&abg=1
Questions for Debera Johnson
1: What do you think is the best way to inspire people to want to be innovators?
2: What is the most stressful part of your job?
Questions Center for Social Innovation
1: What motivates you to keep going when facing difficulty?
2: Do you procrastinate? How?
Policing Solutions
The three problems I proposed were the validity of drug-use-related crime, the blurred line between revenge and justice, and lack of reform opportunities.
My solution to the problem of drug-use related crime is the decriminalization of use of all drugs. The idea is that the funds formerly being used toward arrests, trials, and incarceration for drug crimes could then be used for mandatory and/or voluntary drug treatment programs instead. The programs can be run or monitored by former prison security guards, and if there are success stories, it may allow those same guards to see prisoners in a different light, making abuse of prisoners less likely. Along with decriminalization, there should be a public campaign attempting to publicize the benefits of drug treatment programs, and take away any fears people might have of seeking help. The production and sale of drugs would still be criminalized. The main risk this idea poses is that more people would end up trying drugs because they know they wouldn’t be arrested for doing so. However, trying drugs isn’t the problem. The problem is becoming addicted or hurting one’s self or others while on drugs and drug treatment programs would be available to prevent that. Also, this idea was implemented in Portugal in 2001 and has so far been successful.
The drug treatment programs mentioned above would also tie in with the third problem I mentioned, which was a lack of reform programs. My idea for combatting this problem is similar. Shorten sentences for certain crimes, and instead use the money that would’ve gone toward further housing inmates to implement mandatory re-entry programs. In addition, one of the biggest problems former inmates face is lack of job opportunities. I think that this is in part because employers don’t think former inmates will be trustworthy. Therefore, I think that inmates should be allowed the option to have their progress throughout their time in prison documented to show former employers. This would allow employers to see the potential employee’s behavior, and how it may have improved over time while incarcerated. Employers would be more willing to hire former inmates if their records showed that they were actually reformed while in prison. This would increase how many formerly incarcerated people would be hired, decreasing the likelihood that they would return to crime for survival. In addition, it would be prison guards and/or psychiatrists that monitor this progress and make reports. In actively trying to view an inmate’s progress over the course of incarceration, prison guards would be less likely to see them as a nuisance and more likely to see them as people trying to improve themselves. This could therefore improve interactions between prison guards and inmates.
I have not yet come up with an ideal solution to separating revenge from justice. There were many factors to be considered and ultimately I didn’t see a solution that was actually viable. Revenge seems like something so hardwired into our minds that most legislation or social programs I thought of seemed like they would face fierce opposition, or, be written in law, but not really enacted
Sources:
http://www.alternet.org/story/151635/ten_years_ago_portugal_legalized_all_drugs_–_what_happened_next
Questions for Milk Not Jails Speaker
1: What was the most difficult part of starting and/or maintaining this campaign?
2: Do you think that closing prisons and reducing the number of prisoners is enough? Do you think that there should be programs that help those who’ve been incarcerated for long periods of time adjust back to society?
Questions for Precinct Visit
1) Do you think that the tendency to suspect certain races of committing more crimes is created prior to joining the police force, or during one’s time there?
2) Do you think that there’s any truth to that suspicion?
Comments by Dane Fearon
"Hello Skye. The solutions you present for the problem of food deserts seem like a good idea. People definitely should have greater access to healthy foods. However, I think to maximize the effectiveness of that idea, it needs a work-life balance aspect. Many people probably choose to eat healthy food not just because it's more available, but also because they can obtain it faster. When you combine long hours with a long commute, potentially raising children, and all the other things in daily life, sometimes one will just want to sit back with some pizza and watch television during the little free time he or she has as opposed to spending it cooking. Alternately one could be busy doing something important at home and prefer quickly ordering takeout to going through the process of making something healthier. Therefore, as an addition to the cooking classes, there should be a time management component that teaches people how to prepare food and still have time for other things. This could include lessons on seasoning all the meat and whatever else one plans to make on the night of a weekend so that it’s easier to prepare later. It could also include lessons on healthy meals that can be made even faster than it takes the average delivery person to get to one’s house."
--( posted on May 6, 2015, commenting on the post
Public Health Problems and Solution )
"Hi Yeji. I like your post for the most part. I had one question though. You mentioned that "It is crucial for patients to be aware of their rights as a patient and should feel at ease in visiting doctors." Is that actually a problem though? Meaning, I believe that there are people who avoid going to the doctor due to the cost. However, that particular sentence seems to imply that some patients don't understand what care they should be receiving, or for some reason feel uncomfortable around doctors. Other than people who fear needles and so on, is this actually a problem you've noticed? It just seems strange to me to think a person fears visiting the doctor due to lack of information as opposed to fearing some form of expense or malpractice, but it would be interesting to see if lack of information had an effect as well. As to the increasing price of insurance, do you think that the number of different insurance plans, as opposed to increased life expectancy and risk of health issues people face, causes the high prices?"
--( posted on May 6, 2015, commenting on the post
Health Problems and Solutions )
"I like your idea except for the part where you say it has to empower women (wait, it's not as bad as it sounds). Instead, it should just be a program that empowers children, meaning bring in an equal number of people of both genders with various job types, and watch programs where there can be a male and female protagonist, or alternate shows so the gender of the protagonist is equally represented. While the goal is to help decrease the stereotypes that hurt women, focusing on only them at such a young age could be detrimental. It could cause girls improve, but boys to decline because they aren't focused on as much and don't have classes devoted to just them in a similar fashion. It could also have a reverse effect, where the children start thinking that if girls need an entire extra class to show them that they are capable, then they must start out lacking something boys have. Showing children that they are all capable of becoming leaders and successful people regardless of their gender would eliminate these risks."
--( posted on Apr 23, 2015, commenting on the post
Gender and Economic Growth Solution )
"I like the ideas that you bring up in your post, but, I have to agree with Aychen's comment. I highly doubt New York or many other places would implement the idea of paying people to be stay at home parents due to the costs of funding as well as the idea being able to be portrayed in a socialist light. In addition, unlike other investments, where there is usually a return in the near future, paying parents to be stay at home parents has none. They would have more money to spend, but wouldn't be generating a useful product. Obviously a well-raised child is a great investment, but a parent is going to raise their child to the best of their ability regardless of if they're paid for it or not, meaning not much is gained by paying parents. Mandating companies to provide equal time and pay amounts of maternal and paternal leave seems like a more feasible idea. It would promote a society that supports the idea of any parent raising their child regardless of gender and without any biases toward or against one gender. Unfortunately, this may not balance out the number of mothers and fathers that choose to be stay at home parents."
--( posted on Apr 23, 2015, commenting on the post
Gender Gap & Economic Growth Solutions )
"paid*"
--( posted on Apr 1, 2015, commenting on the post
Gender and Economic Growth Problems )
"Hey Yeji. I like the points you bring up in the post. I think the wage gap interesting because many people try to dismiss it as a myth. The argument is usually that when you account for education and other factors, the wage gap "all but disappears". However, it doesn't disappear. At best it diminishes greatly to 5-6%. While this does make the issue seem a bit less urgent, it doesn't stop it from being an issue. If only 5% of children were being kidnapped while walking home from school, we wouldn't say, "well it's only 5%, so it's almost like it's no children at all." We would still be alarmed. In the same way, whether the wage gap is 19% or 5%, it should still be taken seriously, as there is no reason why people shouldn't be payed the same amount for the same amount of work. However, I don't think the solution will be as simple as telling companies to pay their employees equally, as an Equal Pay Act has already existed since 1963 and yet still some people have fallen through the cracks. Women will need to believe in themselves and their abilities more and fight to be payed equally if they discover that they are not."
--( posted on Apr 1, 2015, commenting on the post
Gender and Economic Growth Problems )
"Hello Sharon. I like the points you bring up in your posts. I think that another reason there are still few women in certain male-dominated fields even today is because of the view that women will make work "fun." Essentially, I think that many of the companies that are male dominated develop cultures where male interests are primarily favored, similar to how a conversation between a group of only males will be different from one between only females or a mix of genders because there are things that people feel more comfortable talking about with their own sex. In the same sense, there may be certain activities that a male dominated workforce enjoys that they wouldn't feel comfortable participating in if female coworkers were present as well. I believe that as a result, male-dominated companies may see women as equally capable but still not hire them due to fear of no longer being able to freely participate in certain activities. Essentially, work may be just as productive, but not as "fun." I think this is also a part of how women are sometimes pressured into becoming "one of the guys" even if that's not their usual personality. I think it is important to quantify how often this happens because the solutions to this problem won't be the same as the solutions to breaking free of traditional gender role bias. I have actually been told something like this when speaking with people about how to be successful in job interviews. I was told that employers aren't just looking for someone who is capable, but also someone that they would enjoy working with. Tackling this problem would most likely involve drawing a line between not hiring someone because one thinks that person would not work well with other employees, and not hiring someone because one thinks that person would be a "buzzkill". Such a task seems difficult, but achievable."
--( posted on Apr 1, 2015, commenting on the post
Gender Gap & Economic Growth Problem Set )
"I like your idea, and I think it makes sense. Cooperative education doesn't just give students a chance to gain experience, it gives them a chance to survey the different options they have for their profession and see which they prefer, or if they want to stay in that profession at all. Companies also benefit from the opportunity to screen potential employees for a prolonged period of time without having to pay them as much as they might a real employee. I actually applied and got into Drexel, as well as Case Western Reserve, another school that offers a similar co-op system (alas, they were both far too expensive). While it may not be possible to provide an internship opportunity for every single student that is looking for one, I think that we can definitely expand the number of internship opportunities that currently exist, and also offer alternatives such as research experience opportunities, competitions that mimic work situations and offer monetary or other rewards to finalists, incubators, and so on."
--( posted on Mar 18, 2015, commenting on the post
Work Solution )
"I like your idea from the standpoint of the semi-near future where middle-income jobs are decreasing and people need to find alternate ways of making money while in a machine age. My only issue with it is the possibility of corruption in the more distant future. Essentially, what's to stop companies from faking having employees buy these stocks. This could happen in two ways. A company can literally fabricate employees that are buying this stock, and then just hide the excess money through whatever methods exist at the time. Alternately, a small group of already successful business owners could make a company where they are the only employees, allowing themselves in effect to be buying their own robots, or, at the least, saving more money by having to sell stock to fewer people. I don't really see this as a problem anywhere in the near future. Instead I see it more as a potential risk that might occur if there comes a time when actual jobs really are scarce and buying stocks to purchase robots becomes some people's sole form of income. At that point, if companies are still inclined to make as much money as possible regardless of the consequences, then they will look for ways to cut corners. Obviously laws can limit this from occurring, but I question whether they couldn't eliminate it from occurring altogether."
--( posted on Mar 18, 2015, commenting on the post
Economic Solution to Robots in the Service Industry )
"I like both problems that you present. When it comes to corporations trashing the environment, you said that people will naturally want to buy from companies that don't trash the environment as opposed to those that do. I agree with this, but I think that advertising will be a real problem here. Often times companies can get away with looking environmentally friendly through advertising. They may say that their products are made using recycled goods, but it may only be a small percentage of the product, which doesn't help much, and there may be other aspects of manufacture that are far more harmful to the environment, but are simply not mentioned. The other issue is that companies that save money by not being environmentally responsible can use that money to make their products appear more effective and more appealing than more environmentally responsible competitors. The simple solution might be to have the government keep watch of companies and set strict regulations, but corruption can occur within the government as well. Therefore, it seems tackling this problem will involve not just trying to get companies to be environmentally responsible, but also making sure that corruption and advertising don't allow companies to slip through the cracks."
--( posted on Mar 12, 2015, commenting on the post
Problems 2 Future of Work )
"The problem you present is pretty crazy. I never seriously thought about how important transportation jobs were, or how difficult it would be for these people to find new jobs. I actually don't think the loss of transportation jobs will be as abrupt as you think it will mainly because of how long it will take for all transportation companies to fully implement driverless transportation. I'm thinking primarily of the cost and the fact that not all companies will be able to afford such a shift right away. However, I also think that fear of driverless vehicles as well as opposition from those same transportation workers will also slow that process. Therefore, I see the transition that you might see as abrupt as gradual enough to allow for a decent (but obviously not perfectly smooth) transition. Essentially, as driverless transportation is slowly implemented, current truck drivers could transition to jobs related to that field that are still available. Then, as the fact that that job is slowly disappearing becomes more obvious, younger people will avoid choosing transportation as a career path, instead aiming toward jobs that survived greater implementation of technology, or that were created because of it. The questions that I think should therefore be asked to address how big or small of a threat this will be are, 1: Does or will related jobs exist that current transportation workers can transition to? and 2: Will our future education systems be sufficient in preparing such a large number of students, no longer able to fall back on transportation as a career, for the jobs that remain or are created during this transition?"
--( posted on Mar 12, 2015, commenting on the post
Automated Driving and Transportation Industry Unemployment )
"This sounds like a good idea. Lack of jobs, especially jobs that can actually sustain a person, is a problem many people face. I really only see one potential issue with this plan. Essentially groups that have more money tend to be better able to meet their goals, which is pretty obvious. The part of your plan that says that more funds will be given to charities that do their job well means it will be even easier for them to continue doing that good job. Meanwhile, charities that don't do as well have to try to improve on limited funds. Therefore, a problem might arise where charities that aren't doing well have a much harder time catching up to because of lack of funding. You mentioned that there would be counseling beforehand, so it doesn't seem like it will be a huge problem. I think that, just to make sure each charity has sufficient opportunity to improve and grow, and to lower the risk of corruption, a close eye should be kept on what the funding received is being used for, even within charities that appear to be effective."
--( posted on Mar 1, 2015, commenting on the post
Evidence Based, Poverty Centric Legislation: My Solution to Crime )
"I like the solutions you recommend. They seem not only good, but actually implementable. More trials occurring in a shorter amount of time means less time prisoners must spend in jail and thus less money spent on holding them. With respect to training officers on body language, I agree with what you mentioned in class about having to have training be continuous as people forget things and there is always more to learn. I also think that to ensure that the training is take seriously, officers should be evaluated periodically on their retention and use of such training. If an officer is not taking the training seriously, or using it when necessary, the they should face some form of repercussion. I think that one reason police officers become so corrupt is because unlike with other jobs, they can get away with many forms of misconduct without facing many consequences. Showing police officers that, like with any other job, misconduct or lack of use of proper training may result in repercussions or even loss of ones job will lessen the likelihood of officers abusing their power."
--( posted on Mar 1, 2015, commenting on the post
Policing Solutions )
"You bring up very good points. The problem seems to be that people want police to stop discriminating and using too much force, but at the same time don't want to regulate them in a way that prevents them from doing their jobs. What do you think the best way to pull this off would be? I was thinking that strict regulations wouldn't be very helpful or supported, but tat instead the mindset of police officers might need to change. As in, the police need to learn to view people more equally and not assume that certain people are more likely to commit crime or less deserving of fair treatment because of their race. Do you agree? If so, what methods do you think could be implemented to create such changes? As history has shown, when a certain mindset becomes common among a group of people, it's very difficult to get them to change it, even if things would be for the better if they did. I have a feeling it's going to involve efforts from both sides, meaning the public being more accepting of police and the police being more accepting of the public. However, I'm not sure what could be implemented to achieve this yet."
--( posted on Feb 20, 2015, commenting on the post
Problems in our Police force: A Need for Reform )
"You bring up good points. What do you think would be a good way of dealing with the problem? On one hand, punishing the police more for excessive force won't make them any less biased towards certain races; it will only make them more cautious. In addition, people that actually are committing crimes may try to use racial profiling as an excuse to avoid getting arrested. Another option might be to create a better relationship between police and the community, but considering how much damage has already been done, it seems like a very difficult task. A third problem is that sometimes using a bit less force or suspicion can be the difference between life and death for an officer. I’m guessing a combination of using less force and cooperating with the community would be a good solution, but the question is how to balance both. Do you think that stationing officers in communities that consist primarily of their own race might decrease bias, or just increase the discrimination against the few people of other races living in those communities? Do you think it might be better to diversify groups of officers as much as possible?"
--( posted on Feb 19, 2015, commenting on the post
Policing Problems )
