The ultra-wealthy present themselves as the solution for inequality, pledging millions and sometimes billions of dollars to philanthropic projects. Take Jeff Bezos, who gave $100 million to food banks during the pandemic, but did not provide adequate leave for Amazon workers who were sick during initial COVID outbreaks. Most billionaires’ charitable acts are more self-serving […]
Tag: income inequality
A Tale of Two Cities and Their Homelessness Crises During COVID-19
New York and San Francisco have quite the reputations for their homeless populations, but there is one key difference between these two cities. Although New York City has a similar rate of homelessness to San Francisco, only 5% of homeless New Yorkers were unsheltered in 2020. On the other hand, nearly 75% of San Francisco’s […]
What’s Behind the Racial Wealth Gap?
Standing in front of the steps of the Washington Monument in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared, “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’” King used this metaphor in his famed “I Have a Dream” speech. Perhaps more revealing than Dr. King’s quote, […]
Behind the Scenes of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’
Within its first 9 days of release, Crazy Rich Asians made $50 million dollars. Tickets sales were surging due to its diverse cast and plot. Critics, actors, movie buffs, and movie watchers all across the world were praising this movie for achieving not only success in the box office but also in representation. However, while […]
Is Justice Bought?
CRIMINAL You’re a drug dealer who’s just been busted for possession with intent to distribute. You started dealing in college to help pay for tuition and promised you would stop after graduation. Beads of sweat shoot down your face as you realize the evidence is stacked against you and could do up to ten years. […]
China’s 1%: The Rich Chinese Kids of Instagram
Coco the Alaskan malamute poses with her eight new iPhone 7s. For the past two decades, China’s growth has shot upwards at a dizzying speed. Under the revolutionary leader Deng Xiaoping, the traditionally Communist and centrally-planned country executed successful economic reforms in record time. The successive regimes of Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and now Xi […]
California Equal Pay Bill: Groundbreaking, or Hollow Hope?
Women in California have achieved a momentous victory in the workplace. This summer, the state senate passed Senate Bill 358, a landmark equal pay bill that carries strong measures aimed at closing the long-standing wage gap in employment and increasing wage transparency. The bill supports and upholds pre-existing provisions of the California Labor Code that […]