Readings for Sociology 43402
Population Dynamics
Fall 2011 [Course is Finished]
NOTE: Readings will be posted at least a week or two in advance. If you want to get a feel for what is coming, you can check out the Spring 2011 Reading List. Readings this year will be similar, with a few additions and deletions.
Part I of Course:
Historical Overview
Are more people alive now than have even been dead? Carl Haub gives the answer in How many people have ever lived on Earth?
What happens to the age structure of a population when mortality first starts to go down? Ansley Coale's answer may surprise you in How a population ages or grows younger.
The US population hit 300 million in 2006. The Census Bureau helps place that in perspective by comparing the US when it hit 300 million, 200 million and 100 million.
In More than Just Numbers, the Population Reference Bureau provided an overview of world population issues at the beginning of the 21st century.
The Census Bureau speculates on What the world will look like in 2050.
Population, Resources, Environment and Food
A 2009 study warns that even if carbon emissions were drastically reduced, droughts and other severe climate changes tied to the emissions would persist for 1,000 years --but doing nothing would make things even worse. If global warming continues, the consequences will be catastrophic, says climatecrisis.net. Experts at the Pentagon say that climate change is a threat to US Security and could lead to military interventions.
Time and ABC News explain why blizzards and global warming go together. Fox News reviews other perspectives.
Robert Samuelson says there is a dirty secret about global warming - Any realistic response would be costly, uncertain and no doubt unpopular. That's one truth too inconvenient for almost anyone to admit.
Bjorn Lomborg has been one of the leading skeptics on climate change. In 2009, he surprised people when he said the evidence on global warming was unequivocal -- but he says current proposals are misguided and we have to find cheaper and more effective ways to deal with the problem.
Ross Douthat and David Leonhart debate the conservative case against climate legislation.
"Adding more people causes problems, but people are also the means to solve these problems." So argued Julian Simon in his famous 1981 essay on World Population Growth: An Anti-Doomsday view. Twenty-five years after Simon, Business Week writer Michael Mandel makes similar arguments in What it means to hit 300 million. Charles Kenny does a quick update on the status of Malthusian and Demographic Transition theory today and argues that the bulge in youth worldwide makes a case for optimism.
Your text discusses Marx's perspective on population issues. Frances Moore Lappe's Food First perspective seems to agree with much of what Marx said and presents these 12 Myths about Hunger.
China adopted the one-child rule to deal with overpopulation - but government advisors now warn that because of it China faces a grim mismatch between population and social needs.
[Optional] Your text summarizes the Malthusian perspective - but if you want to read the original, here is what Malthus himself had to say in An essay on the principle of population.
[Optional] A science panel says global warming is "unequivocal" and claims that human activity is likely what is responsible. One of the most comprehensive studies ever agrees that global warming is undeniable. The US geological Survey further claims that the world's glaciers are melting at a rapid and alarming rate.
[Optional] George Will takes issue with the doomsayers, and raises these Inconvenient Kyoto Truths. Ross Douthat responds to the critics of his conservative case against against cap and trade legislation. But liberal economist Paul Krugman scathingly rejects the conservative arguments and claims that greed and cowardice killed the climate change bill.
[Optional] The Wall Street Journal argues that recently-discovered emails show that scientists were trying to hide the truth about global warming -- but the Associated Press says the emails reveal pettiness, not fraud. Sarah Palin and Marc Ambinder offer radically different views on "Climategate." Joe Conason says Climategate has been debunked and more people should know it.
Fertility Concepts and Trends
So, you know exactly how many kids you want, and when, right? It may be a lot harder than you think, explains John Bongaarts in Building a Family: Unplanned Events.
Even societies that make no effort to limit their fertility have far fewer births than is biologically possible. John Bongaarts helps us out again by explaining Why high birth rates are so low.
[Optional] How many babies can fit inside a pregnant woman? Slate gives the answer in Womb for More.
Birth Cohorts
Every year, Beloit College distributes to its faculty and staff the Beloit College Mindset List, which identifies some facts of life that distinguish this generation from those that preceded it. One of its primary purposes has been an attempt to slow the onset of "hardening of the references" experienced by some faculty. Here is what it had to say a few years ago about the classes of 2012 and 2013.
They were born in the 1930s during the heart of the depression and they grew up during WWII - and they are called the "Good Times Cohort???" Carl Harter explains why. And in this excerpt from the best-selling book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell talks about how Demographic Luck benefited the 1930s generation.
Even back in 1948, Newsweek realized that the unexpected Boom in Births had a lot of implications for the country.
If you thought the Baby Boomers were hated now, just wait a few decades, warns Bob Greene.
A Pew Research Center Report says that Millennials are confident, connected and open to change. But MSNBC says they face no jobs, lots of loans and a grim future.
Anna Quindlen says that young workers have learned from their parents' mistakes - they work hard, but they also realize that a Cubicle is not a Home. But others don't have such kind feelings for younger workers. Daniel Gross offers his thoughts about the It-Sucks-To-Be-Me Generation.
Are today's kids overindulged? Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, criticizes Western parenting practices and explains Why Chinese Mothers are Superior. But former Harvard President Larry Summers points out that Mary Gates and Karen Zuckerberg weren't tiger moms.
[Optional] Thanks to NPR, you can relive the greatest cultural moment in Boomer history - as The Beatles Come to America. (View this somewhere where you can turn the volume up!)
[Optional] Here are some Shocking events that let you know you are old. If interested, you can check out Beloit mindsets for other years here or watch the NBC Webcast on the Class of 2013.
[Optional] Psychologists recommend that parents learn The Power of No. Nancy Gibbs wonders if today's kids are too spoiled and asks Who's in Charge Here? Time looks at the firestorm touched off by Amy Chau's book and asks Is tough parenting really the answer? As far as David Brooks is concerned, Amy Chua is a wimp.
[Optional] Robin Marantz Henig asks Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up?
[Optional] The Good Times Cohort may have benefited from being small - but In Japan, the Young Face Generational Roadblocks.
Fertility Issues: Teenage Sex and Unwed Pregnancy
Almost 40 percent of all babies in the US are now born out of wedlock -- almost double the rate from 1980 and eight times as high as 1960. Further, the US lags behind the rest of the world in cutting teen births.
Child Trends summarizes the consequences of unplanned and unwanted pregnancy. Conversely, career-oriented women who delay having children may be pleased to know that waiting to have kids literally pays off.
There is a lot of concern about teenage sex today - but according to this study, Even Grannie had Sex.
Texas teaches abstinence, but the grades are mixed, says the Washington Post. Anna Quindlen and Tracy Clark-Flory offer their thoughts on the matter.
Some legislators want federal programs to encourage marriage. Conservative scholar Michael Tanner disagrees.
In 1992, Republican Vice Presidential nominee Dan Quayle blasted TV character Murphy Brown for having a child out of wedlock. But in 2008, when the pregnancy of Sarah Palin's unwed teenage daughter received a very different reaction, Hannah Rosen asked Why no Scarlet Letter?
[Optional] Sociologists Elizabeth Armstrong, Laura Hamilton and Paula England review the evidence and conclude that hooking up isn't the rampant, hedonistic free for all portrayed by the media. CNN discusses the downside of friends with benefits.
[Optional] Emily Yoffe reviews the evidence and says Forget Juno. Out-of-wedlock births are a national catastrophe.
[Optional] A January 2010 study finds that after more than a decade of decline, teenage pregnancy and abortion rates are up -- and debate rages as to why.
[Optional] CNN offers some thoughts on the causes and consequences of the rise in unwed pregnancy. The piece also has a good list of web places to go to if you want more information.
[Optional] According to this famous and highly detailed 1993 article from the Atlantic Monthly, Dan Quayle was right - about the problems of single parenthood.
[Optional] A 2004 Heritage Foundation study claims that Teens Who Make Virginity Pledges Have Substantially Improved Life Outcomes (a little long but the first few pages summarize the highlights.) But a 2008 study from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health says that past studies are flawed and virginity pledges don't work.
Fertility Issues: Reproductive Technology
It was the first medicine ever designed to be taken regularly by people who were not sick. Its main inventor was a conservative Catholic who was looking for a treatment for infertility and instead found a guarantee of it. Its supporters hoped it would strengthen marriage by easing the strain of unwanted children but its critics charge that it gave rise to promiscuity, adultery and the breakdown of the family. On the anniversary of its approval by the FDA, Nancy Gibbs reflected on The Pill at 50: Sex, Freedom and Paradox.
On its 40th anniversary, National Catholic Reporter John Allen says Humanae Vitae has shown surprising resilience and that the arguments in its favor are even stronger today than in 1968. But former Catholic priest Robert McClory and dissident Catholic groups say Church policy has had "catastrophic effects" and needs to be changed..
David Plotz tells you How to find the Right Sperm Donor.
Some college women are finding that donating one little egg can make them a lot of money - as much as $50,000.
Williams Saletan says the era of designer babies may finally be here.
The Octomom may seem like a bizarre case -- but it raises larger concerns about the practices of fertility clinics.
John Haas explains the Catholic Church's Opposition to Most (but not all) Forms of Reproductive Technology.
No girls, please. Parts of Asia have low-tech ways of avoiding unwanted girls - and the methods include murder.
[Optional] Pope Paul VI's 1968 Encyclical Humanae Vitae banned the use of artificial contraceptives as sinful. In 1981's Catholic Perspectives on Population Issues II, Father Francis X. Murphy described the fierce battle within the Church over that decision. (I'll probably do a quick summary of this in class, but it is fascinating reading if you have the time and are interested.) In 2008 Catholics for Choice reviewed much of that same history and offered a scathing assessment of what it saw as the consequences
[Optional] Who needs high tech? Learn how to get the child you want via the Ancient Art of Making Babies.
[Optional] Laura Fording gives a Crash Course on Contraception.
[Optional] Williams Saletan explains the business logic behind The Embryo Factory. The NY Times discusses the growing concern over having one sperm donor and 150 children. Newsweek reports on The Curious Lives of Surrogates.
[Optional] The Center for Disease Control tells you everything you want to know about the Use of Contraception and Family Planning Services in the US, 1982-2002. Pretty long, but the first few pages summarize the highlights.
[Optional] Are you thinking about using high tech methods to have your baby? Christine Gorman warns about the dangers in The Limits of Science. In Fertile or Futile, Salynn Boyles cautions that older women especially need to be aware of the limitations and risks.
[Optional] Some church leaders feel that Condoms for Catholics are ok - in AIDS-stricken Africa. A man who was considered for the Papacy agrees that condoms are the "lesser evil" versus AIDS and questions other fertility-related church positions as well. Even Pope Benedict XVI has indicated that it may sometimes be all right.
Fertility Issues: The Battle Over Reproductive Rights
How did Susan B. Anthony and other early feminists feel about abortion?
There are ongoing battles over whether or not abortion should be legal - but according to one study, across the world, abortion rates are the same whether it is legal or not.
It is called "screening" but George Will says it is really a search and destroy mission in the attack on kids with Down Syndrome.
Georgia Right to Life touched off a firestorm of controversy when it launched a campaign claiming abortion is the primary tool in a decades-old conspiracy to kill off blacks. But Linda Greenhouse says Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman in Congress, would strongly disagree.
Douglas Kmiec is a conservative legal scholar, a former law professor at Notre Dame, and a past advisor to Ronald Reagan and Mitt Romney. But in 2008, he said Sorry McCain. Barack Obama is a natural for the Catholic vote. But George Weigel made it clear that he has major disagreements with the Pro-Life Catholics for Obama.
In the views of alumnus Paul Witkowski, On abortion, Notre Dame gets only marginal grades.
Sister Margaret McBride was excommunicated for agreeing to an abortion that probably saved a woman's life. Pro-life Catholic Julianna Baggott and columnist Nicholas Kristof defended her.
View Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow's seemingly innocuous Super Bowl ad that ignited a national controversy. Pam and Bob Tebow expand on their pro-life beliefs and their decision not to abort Tim despite the great risks. But William Saletan countered with what he called the grisly truth about the ad.
Bill O'Reilly called murdered abortion doctor George Tiller Tiller the Baby Killer, but Barbara Shelley claims he helped thousands. William Saletan asks troubling and provocative questions in Is it Wrong to Murder an Abortionist?
Parkinson's victim Michael Kinsley explains what pro-lifers are missing in the stem cell debate.
[Video-Optional] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argues that, for the women of the world, abortion should be legal, safe, and rare.
[Optional] Misoprostol is another pill that could cause a revolution.
[Optional] Studies from the Guttmacher Institute offer facts on induced abortion in the United States and Worldwide, and also examine the reasons US women have abortions.
[Optional] Some said "The poster child jumped off the poster" when Norma McCorvey (Roe of Roe V. Wade) decided to become a volunteer for Operation Rescue.
[Optional] In 2004, it was Notre Dame intramural warfare as scholars Mark Roche, Robert George and Gerard Bradley, and Charles Rice battled over whether or not Catholics could vote in good conscience for John Kerry. Joe Feuerherd is against liberal abortion laws and is a former correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter. But in 2008 he asked I voted for Obama. Will I go straight to ...?
[Optional] Professor Ralph McInerny claimed that Notre Dame forfeited its right to call itself a Catholic university when it invited Barack Obama to speak at commencement. But E. J. Dionne argued that other Catholics, including even the Vatican, felt differently.
[Optional] Even before George Tiller's death, the pro-life movement had at times turned militant and even deadly.
[Optional] Columnist Margaret Carlson is pro-choice - but even she isn't comfortable with Partial-Truth Abortion.
[Optional] Gail Collins isn't impressed with The New Anti-Abortion Math in Texas.
[Optional] Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz of Lincoln said he was "utterly appalled" by Omaha native and ND President John Jenkins' "absolute indifference to the murderous abortion program and beliefs of this President of the United States." Professor Richard Williams had kinder words for his fellow Nebraskan.
[Optional] In one of his first acts as president, Barack Obama reversed the Mexico City (aka "global gag rule") policy on abortion. Pro-life groups, Members of Congress, and the Vatican weren't happy.
The Status and Roles of Men and Women
March is Women's History Month.
Nancy Gibbs reviews 40 years of US history and examines what women want now.
Employed women are working a Second Shift when they get home, says Arlie Hothschild. Demographer and ND graduate Suzanne Bianchi, on the other hand, finds remarkable gender equality in total workloads.
Many feel that schools shortchange girls. Not Christina Hoff Sommers. Indeed, she thinks there is a War Against Boys [excerpts]. Judith Warner, on the other hand, says the Boy Crisis is little more than a myth.
Why are boys so unruly? It is in their nature, says Christina Hoff Sommer, and efforts to make them more docile and emotional are misguided.
Jennifer Britz apologizes to all the girls she has rejected - for admission to college. But apologies are not enough, says Richard Whitmire. He says women are discriminated against in college admissions and they ought to sue.
In 2010, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are now women too. And for every two men who get a college degree, three women will do the same. For years, women -s progress has been cast as a struggle for equality. But what if equality isn -t the end point? What if modern, postindustrial society is simply better suited to women? In The End of Men, Hanna Rosin reports on the unprecedented role reversal now under way-- and its vast cultural consequences. [Pages 7, 8 and 13 are required; the rest of the article is highly recommended.]
Lori Ashford takes stock of women's progress worldwide.
[Optional] On September 20, 2011, Hanna Rosin, Christina Hoff Sommer, and others participated in a debate entitled True or False: Men are Finished. And the winner was... The video (One hour and 49 minutes) is great if you have time to watch it.
[Optional] The week of Jan 14, 2008, NBC Nightly News ran a series of stories and videos entitled The Truth about Boys and Girls, covering many of the same topics covered here. See especially the videos on college admissions. (NOTE: I sometimes have trouble viewing these videos with Firefox but MS Internet Explorer works fine.)
[Optional] Men make more than women. Part of the reason is likely discrimination. But, it may also be because women don't ask and men haggle better. Tara Siegel Bernard offers A Toolkit for Women Seeking a Raise.
[Optional] US News elaborates on the problems colleges are having in recruiting enough males.
[Optional] Here is all of Sommers' article about The War Against Boys.
Demographics
John Weeks provides a brief overview of the field of Demographics.
Fareed Zakaria and Paula Throckmorton-Zakaria explain why advertisers historically haven't liked old people. The New York Times explains why media executives are starting to realize older people aren't so bad after all.
Newsweek talks about the biggest and potentially most powerful emerging market in the world -- Women. Advertising Age agrees, and offers seven tips on how to successfully market to them. Gloria Steinem probably wishes those pieces had come out sooner -- in 1990's Sex, Lies and Advertising, she outlines the problems Ms Magazine had in overcoming stereotypes and attracting advertisers.
American Demographics Magazine explains 10 major marketing blunders of the 1980s.
Avis says we came out in our own time - and other companies are too as they adopt gay-friendly policies.
Ron Brownstein claims that Demography and Destiny favor the Democrats. GOP consultant Mike Murphy warns that For Republicans, the Ice Age Cometh if the party doesn't make changes. But in 2010 there was a Rightward March with Turnout being a key factor as millions of past Democratic supporters (including youth) stayed home.
[Optional] Philip Harper asks, Men or women: Who's the better entrepreneur? Joanna Krotz explains why women make better managers and offers her suggestions for how you can market to women. In The Million Women March, Jennifer Barrett describes what female entrepreneurs are doing to help themselves--and their sisters.
[Optional] Marketers are catching on to the fact that a fourth of the world is Buying Muslim. In the US, the Hispanic and Minority markets offer a lot of opportunities and benefits to marketers.
[Optional] Republican Bill Greener laments that his party may be too old and too white to win, John Judis asks Is the Republican Comeback Just a Flash in the Pan?
[Optional] DiversityInc says that if you want loyal customers, you should learn how to reach gay consumers.The NY Times reports that When the Bride takes a Bride, Businesses Respond. Companies that emphasize their gay-friendly policies include Southwest Airlines, JP Morgan, Dell, and Wal-Mart. South Bend's Gavin Ferlic argues that cities benefit economically when they are gay-friendly.
[Optional-Video] Apple's 1984 is one of the most famous ads of all time. A Barack Obama supporter put a new spin on it in 2007. Lyndon Johnson used an adorable little kid to warn what might happen if you voted for his opponent. Hillary Clinton got back in the 2008 race because at 3 a.m. she's ready to take that call. Meanwhile will.i.am put Barack Obama's words to music. Dove stressed soft skin in 1986 while in 2006 it showed its true colors.
Marriage, Divorce, Families & Households
Is a single woman over age 40 more likely to get killed by a terrorist than she is to get married? We used to think so, but in Marriage by the Numbers Newsweek admits that the states of unions aren't what we predicted they'd be.
Married with Kids has reached a record low in the U.S.
Richard Banks explains why so many black women are unmarried. Nika C. Beamon notes that many single successful black women are rising above the wedding ring.
Historian Stephanie Coontz upends conventional wisdom and discusses Three Marriage Rules that Don't Apply. Coontz further explains why Romance Wrecked Family Stability.
In I don't, Jessica Bennett and Jesse Ellison make the case against marriage. In I do, Andrew Romano explains why he's getting married anyway.
A lot of people think that cohabitation before marriage helps you make sure you have the right partner - but Cohabitors' Divorce Rates May Suggest Otherwise. Nonetheless, the Alternatives to Marriage Project argues that it isn't such a bad idea.
Parenting may be fulfilling, but it is expensive too - leading Business Week to ask Is Raising Kids a Fool's Game?
Anneli Rufus outlines 15 ways to predict divorce, while the National Center for Health Statistics outlines the factors related to the likelihood of remarriage.
Should you Stay Together for the Kids? Judith Wallerstein says yes - but Katha Pollitt says Divorce is getting a Bum Rap.
Oh no! It's a girl! Steven Landsburg asks Do Daughters cause Divorce?
He is one of the most famous Republican lawyers in the country. He represented George Bush in Bush vs Gore 2000 and then served as Bush's Solicitor General. His wife died in 9/11. And today, Theodore Olson makes the conservative case for gay marriage.
Barbara Bush (George's daughter) joins the ranks of Republican offspring who support gay marriage (here is her 22 second video). Iowa college student Zach Wahls (3 minute video) makes an impassioned appeal on behalf of his lesbian parents. Polls show that, for the first time ever, a plurality of Americans now support same-sex marriage, including almost 2/3 of those under the age of 30.
[Optional] A study by Harvard and McGill University researchers says the U.S. Workplace is Not Family Oriented.
[Optional] Ethicist Margaret Somerville makes The Case against Gay Marriage. If marriage is in trouble, Barbara Kantrowitz says don't blame gays - It is Straights who Changed the Rules. (This reading also includes some good material about the benefits of marriage in general.) Gay activist Dan Savage finds a silver lining in recent court rulings and says that Same Sex Marriage Wins by Losing. Gay activist Katherine Franke warns that same-sex marriage is a mixed blessing.
[Optional] Should the children of gays be allowed in Catholic Schools? The Archdiocese of Denver doesn't think so. Bill O'Reilly and Father Jonathan Morris debate the issue.
[Optional] Low fertility is a big concern in many industrialized countries - causing some to engage in a Motherhood Experiment to see whether large families and women's careers can go hand in hand.
Health, Disease, Mortality & Aids
The US is one of the richest countries in the world and spends more than any other nation on health care - so why does it only rank 42nd in life expectancy?
Sanja Gupta discusses why men die young.
We are used to hearing about malnutrition as a problem - but recent studies warn that increasing numbers of obese people worldwide could lead to a "global tsunami of cardiovascular disease." Meanwhile, here in the United States, the Washington Post warns that Obesity is threatening a generation.
An economist offers his theory as to why we are fat while Sam Ali argues that the food industry profits while society pays.
Nearly 47 million Americans lack health insurance, including many members of the middle class. In 2007 Robert Pear discussed how, for many of them, Without Health Benefits, a Good Life Turns Fragile.
The Center for Disease Control provides an overview of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the US. The United Nations warns that the AIDS crisis is growing worldwide. Another study shows that 53% of African Americans believe that medical and political authorities are withholding an AIDS cure from the poor - and those conspiracy beliefs may be hindering HIV prevention.
He may not have been the most popular president in the United States - but in Africa, George Bush is praised for helping to save millions. Nicholas Kristof adds that America can be proud of Bush's efforts to battle sex trafficking and HIV.
Vaccines have been a subject of hot debate in recent years. Karen Springen asks why are HPV vaccine rates so low? Maybe it is because some feel the HPV vaccine isn't safe even though health officials claim it is.
Breast cancer is one of the leading killers of women worldwide, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure is among the groups that have been battling it. But cancer survivors Barbara Ehrenreich and Peggy Orenstein are among those who criticize the way the battle is being waged.
[Optional] CNN provides a timeline for the new health care provisions and discusses how reform might affect real people.
[Optional] Paul Krugman attacks Health Reform Myths. The conservative Hoover Institution offers a less favorable opinion on Obama's health care package. A real-world experiment in Oregon suggests that expanded health care coverage is an economical way of making Americans better off.
[Optional-Video] CBS News reports in March 2008 that the life expectancy gap between the haves and have-nots is growing .
[Optional] Charlene Gaino has some good news for men - the gender gap in longevity is narrowing.
[Optional] Sheila King outlines the hazards of smoking for women.
[Optional] Sarah Mahoney weighs the evidence on whether you can be healthy and heavy too.
[Optional] In the Culture of Corpulence, Claudia Kalb argues that American innovations in food, transportation, and technology are threatening to supersize us all. David Zinczenko says don't blame the eater - blame the fast food companies that are marketing a product with proven health hazards and no warning labels. Sam Ali charges that the food industry is following big tobacco's playbook. Michelle Obama explains how we can empower parents, schools, and the community to battle childhood obesity.
[Optional] Increases in both autism and asthma baffle and concern scientists.
[Optional] Sharon Begley discusses how vaccines (unfairly) became villains in the autism debate. A pediatrician claims to debunk the most common misconceptions about childhood immunizations. A British investigation says the Wakefield Autism Study was an elaborate fraud that continues to damage public health.
[Optional] Sarah Richards outlines how colleges are struggling with ways to treat suicidal students.
[Optional] Food, shelter and clean water are what aid agencies emphasize. But if we really want to battle some of the biggest killers of children worldwide, Rose George says we have to get over our squeamishness and send in the latrines.
[Optional] Newsweek discusses how AIDS changed America. Melinda Gates explains how AIDS is devastating women worldwide - and what the Gates Foundation is trying to do about it.
[Optional] The New York Times elaborates on how Susan G. Komen for the Cure became a fundraising superpower and on the criticisms and praise it has received.
Aging: The Elderly & their Caregivers
The Census Bureau offers lots of statistics pertaining to the elderly in honor of Older Americans Month. The Federal Interagency Forum on Aging provides a demographic profile of the elderly.
More and more women are on the daughter track, raising their own kids and helping their aging parents. But the Today Show asks who is taking care of the caregivers? Melissa Segrest further explores the plight of the caregivers in the sandwich generation.
[Optional] Here is the (highly recommended) complete February 2011 report from the Population Reference Bureau on Aging in America. Here is the complete report from The Federal Interagency Forum on Aging on Older Americans 2010.
Aging: Generational warfare? Clashes between the young and the old
In this classic 1984 paper, Samuel Preston explains how and why American society has shifted support away from children and toward the elderly.
Preston's arguments get updated in Generation Excluded and meet the greedy grandparents.
[Optional] In 2011, the wealth gap between the young and the poor was the widest ever.
Aging: Social Security
The Associated Press says Baby Boomers are approaching age 65 with their retirements in jeopardy.
Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin says the elderly are going to put phenomenal pressure on the budget. Moveon.Org counters by attacking what it calls the Top 5 Myths about Social Security. A report from the Population Reference Bureau warns that the the health and financial security of the elderly worldwide is being threatened.
President Bush claimed that Social Security was unfair to African Americans - but Paul Krugman accused him of telling little black lies.
When he visited Notre Dame, in 2005, President George Bush made an unsuccessful plea for the privatization of Social Security. George Will said that Social Security reform represents an opportunity, not a crisis. Paul Krugman argued privatization is a fake solution to a fake crisis.
[Optional] The Wall Street Journal explains why Boomer Retirement Plans are coming up short, while the New York Times offers ideas on How to Make the Most Out of Less.
[Optional] After the financial meltdown, what is the new retirement plan? Keep working, John Schoen says. Robert Samuelson adds that older workers are needed.
[Optional] Barry Schwartz opposes the privatization of Social Security in Choose and Lose. George Will extends his arguments for Social Security reform in tell that to your children. Elliot Spitzer, on the other hand, wants to know if we can finally kill the terrible idea of privatization?
[Optional] A Census Bureau study offers hope that the economic and social impact of this baby boomer sunset may be gentler than had been feared.
Aging: The Future of Aging
[Optional] The Population Reference Bureaus reviews the research highlights on the future of life expectancy and asks Have We Reached the Ceiling or is the Sky the Limit? But even if we can live longer, Time Magazine warns that we should be careful what we wish for.
[Optional] Time says we can live to be 100. Jeffrey Kluger offers hopeful evidence that we can stay young. But Robert Bazell warns we may live better, but not much longer. Charlene Laino elaborates on the pessimistic case and notes that life span forecasts are often exaggerated.
Migration
Michael Powell provides historical perspective in U.S. Immigration Debate Is a Road Well Traveled.
The high cost of cheap labor is debated in these articles.
In undocumented, indispensable, Anna Quindlen argues that we are all immigrants. Some of us just got here sooner than others.
Many people contend that we need greater border security. But Doug Massey argues against The Wall That Keeps Illegal Workers In. Notre Dame's Allert Brown-Gort also thinks that US border policy is misguided.
If passed, the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act) would create a pathway to citizenship for thousands of young students who were brought to the United States years ago as children.
[Optional] Daren Fonda and Lisa Cullen discuss what immigration means for your wallet.
[Optional] Philip Martin and Elizabeth Midgley provide a detailed analysis of how Immigration is shaping and reshaping America.
[Optional] There is an ongoing debate about whether or not English should be declared the official language of the United States.
[Optional] Experts offer their thoughts on immigration policy in the battle for America's Identity. Philip Martin discusses the various legislative proposals for dealing with unauthorized immigration to the United States.
[Optional] Immigration concerns are not unique to the United States. Philip Martin and Jonas Widgren examine the situation worldwide in International Migration: Facing the Challenge.
[Optional] MSNBC reports on how Ireland is being transformed by migrants. Here is a video on the topic.
[Optional] For more on the DREAM Act, see here and here.
Race: The Relevance of Race
For the first time ever, minority babies will be in the majority in 2010.
In three is not enough, scientists debate whether or not race is a useful concept.
In one drop of bloody history, Ellis Cose notes that Americans have always defined themselves in terms of race.
The NY Times offers the latest statistics on interracial marriage. In love and race, Nicholas Kristof reports that instead of preying on people of different races, young Americans are falling in love with
them.An African American mother tells her biracial children Don't be black on my account.
[Optional] In I'm just who I am, Jack White argues that the way Americans think and talk about race will have to catch up with the new reality.
[Optional] Nicholas Kristof further explores the question Is race real?
[Optional] The New York Times details the path by which the descendant of a white slavemaster became First Lady of the United States.
[Optional] Some claim that Barack Obama isn't the first black President - either because there were other black Presidents before him or because he isn't really black.
[Optional] Slate examines when and how the word Negro became taboo.
[Optional] MSNBC reports that multiracial Americans are surging in number and voice. The NY Times says that when it comes to choosing white, black or Asian, more young Americans are choosing all of the above. But Lauren Williams explains why she thinks biracial means black.
[Optional] The Census Bureau offers several facts and figures that are relevant for African American History Month. For information on other minority groups, see the Census Bureau Facts for Features web page.
Race: Housing & Segregation
Joe Feagin explores the causes and consequences of excluding blacks and others from housing.
In a fascinating case study, Kevin Fox Gotham shows how segregation was developed and reinforced in Kansas City in Building the Troost Wall.
America Magazine raises concerns for the future of minority home ownership in Housecleaning.
[Optional] Doug Massey says that racial discrimination in housing is a moving target. In One Stroke of the Pen Richard Williams briefly outlines the 47 year struggle to end racial discrimination in housing.
[Optional] It used to be that minorities were denied mortgage loans. Now they get them, but often with unfavorable or even predatory terms. Richard Williams and colleagues discuss these shifts in The Changing Face of Inequality in Home Mortgage Lending. Bond and Williams further discuss the implications of these changes in Residential Segregation and the Transformation of Home Mortgage Lending. If you don't want to bother reading those rather lengthy articles but still want some idea what your instructor does in his spare time, the Washington Post summarizes a few of the highlights in Subprime Mortgages and Race: A Bit of Good News May Be Illusory.
Race: Diversity & Affirmative Action
[Optional] Several major firms support affirmative action. Ruth Zeilberger discusses why in How the Future of Affirmative Action Affects Corporate America.
[Optional] Adam Clymer explains why the service academies defend the use of race in their admissions policies.
[Optional] Michael Kinsley discusses how affirmative action helped George W.
Poverty & Wealth
In 2006, Forbes Magazine explained why Americans are earning more but think previous generations had it better.
Barbara Ehrenreich decided to see what it would be like to be a low wage worker in America. She describes her experiences in Nickel and Dimed.
Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz claims we have a government Of the 1%, by the 1%, and for the 1% - and he thinks even the wealthy will come to regret that.
In this hour-long YouTube video, Harvard's Elizabeth Warren discusses The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class. A little slow the first 5 minutes but very interesting and informative once it gets moving. I will show it in class, time permitting, but if I don't it is well worth viewing on your own.
Former Cabinet Secretary Robert Reich offers some similar points as Warren in The Truth about the American Economy and says that those at the top would be better off with a smaller share of a rapidly growing economy than a large share of one that -s almost dead in the water.
[Optional] The 2010 health care bill may be the biggest attack on economic inequality in three decades.
[Optional] Elizabeth Warren discusses how ordinary middle-class families wind up bankrupt in going for broke.
[Optional] Georgetown University law professor Peter Edelman discusses US Poverty: Past, Present and Future.
[Optional] The 2010 Census finds that Poverty is often a temporary state. Still, nearly one in six Americans were living in poverty in 2011.
[Optional] In investing in our children, Robert Samuelson argues that government programs can only do so much to combat poverty.
[Optional] Boston College Sociologists investigate The Secret Fears of the Super Rich.
Urbanization
[Optional] Martin Brockerhoff outlines the challenges faced by An Urbanizing World.
[Optional] Laura Mansnerus says some places are great havens for families - but they don't want you to bring children.
[Optional] Kingsley Davis provides a historical view on The Urbanization of the Human Population.
[Optional] Martin Brockerhoff describes the problems of megacities in The Urban Demographic Revolution.
[Optional] For decades, Americans have consumed more energy, built bigger houses, and driven more miles with each passing year. But not anymore. says the Atlantic Monthly, which argues that it is The Beginning of the End for Suburban America.
The Future
Doug Massey offers a bleak vision of the future in The Age of Extremes. Reynolds Farley counters with a revisionist perspective that maybe things won't be so bad after all.
Columnist David Brooks takes a look at America's future and says Relax, We'll be Fine. Former presidential advisor David Gergen says Cheer Up, America -- we've already climbed several mountains and we have strength for the tough journey ahead.