fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists in 2020
By: Renegade Inc.
Tags: Landlordism, Inequality, Private Rent, Inherited Wealth, Capitalism

As Sophie remarks:

“I think there is shame in being poor because of the capitalist ideology that suggests you’re just not trying hard enough if you’re not making enough money. Whereas this book points out that the reason you are kept poor is that it suits the capitalist class. The whole system depends on you being kept poor. The feeling of shame is definitely illustrated in the book.”

Norman Tebbit’s famous ‘on your bike’ speech, the pawning by the poor of their possessions and the high proportion of wages that goes towards paying private rents, illustrate how very little has fundamentally changed in over a century since Tressell’s time.

A powerful example in the book that’s apt for today is when Owen uses the allegory of an air baron to describe a future in which every resource, including those essential for human survival, have become monopolized by the capitalist ruling class:

“Poverty is not caused by marriage or machinery or overproduction. It’s not caused by drink or laziness or overpopulation. It’s caused by the private monopoly, the present system. They’ve monopolized everything possible. They’ve got the whole earth, the minerals in it, and the streams that water it. The only reason they’ve not monopolized the daylight and air is that it isn’t yet possible. And if it was possible, you’d see people dying for want of air as thousands now are dying for want of the other necessities of life.”

Sophie suggests that society isn’t any closer to addressing vast inequalities and ending the system of private rent today than it was a century ago. However, the writing and artistic collaborative skills of the two siblings will almost certainly contribute towards small behaviour changes in the months and years to come. In order to help achieve this, Scarlett utilized elements of the Bayeux Tapestry from which the illustrator was able to highlight, to great effect, the novels economic themes of inherited wealth and landlordism.

An additional striking aspect of the illustrated book is the way in which Scarlett emphasizes the contrasting lifestyles of the rich and poor. The artist depicts the proletariat in an abstract way in the form of stickmen as they are forced from one place to another.

The creative process

Sophie describes how the creative process works between the two siblings:

“I make a script which is not unlike a film or TV script. I don’t tell Scarlett exactly what to do or in what panel. That’s her job. I tell the story and create the dialogue and the pace, the tension and the words. And then I would hand over the script to Scarlett and she would make a rough storyboard.”

The siblings appear to have an instinctive mutual understanding, and respect for, each others decision-making capabilities.
We need to talk about how Covid-19 is affecting human rights
By: Undp Eurasia
Tags: Pandemic, Human Rights, Covid 19, Inequality

The severe impact of the pandemic across the globe has exposed flaws of social, economic and political models, challenged our societies, tested our collective humanity, and aggravated inequalities. As the lack of social protection measures persisted, pre-existing inequalities, injustices and gaps in human rights protection have become more pronounced.

As the pandemic rages on, here are four areas of growing concern for human rights.

1. Weakening democratic practices

The often strong measures imposed to control the spread of COVID-19, such as movement restrictions and states of emergency, raised serious challenges regarding the functioning of good government, its relationship with its citizenry, as well as the protection of fundamental freedoms.

Powers of executive branches were extended, also disrupting the holding of free and fair elections, as seen in the Kyrgyz Republic and Belarus, and the day to day work of parliaments and the judiciary. The states of emergency have been used as a pre-text for postponing elections and reducing opportunities for competitive campaigning and politics. As an example, in Serbia protests were sparked by alleged underreporting of COVID-19 cases by the government in order to protest alleged misreporting of data.
Sunday Story HW 15–1: Lesson Plan
By: Mateo Colon
Tags: Race, Inequality, Jobs, Technology, Injustice

Technology Isn't Destroying Jobs But Is Increasing Inequality

In a world in which concern about robots taking our jobs is incredibly high, new research explores the real impact of…
The old American dream is a lie; it’s time for a new one.
By: Nicolas Carteron
Tags: Inequality, Billionaires, Wealth, Justice, Society

The old American dream is a lie; it’s time for a new one. The idea that any American could be a billionaire one day has been carved so deep in the country’s collective mind that people will forego short-term, real-life benefits in the hope that, when they eventually make it, they’ll pay a few tax dollars less (see image below).

A society that allows for billionaires to exist isn’t full of opportunities. It is dysfunctional in nature. Such wealth disparity shouldn’t be praised, it should be avoided.

Billionaires are not a desirable feature; they’re a symptom.
Social Injustice: Let’s Fight the Darkness Together
By: Campbell Joff
Tags: Inequality, Anonymous, Harrassment, Hate, Injustice

Social Injustice means unequal rights, unequal opportunity, and/or unequal treatment.

“Injustice Anywhere Is A Threat To Justice Everywhere.”

Everyone should have equal rights, equal opportunities and equal treatment that can meet their physiological needs. In short, all human beings must have the right to a decent and safe life, but unfortunately that’s not the case. We live in a world full of inequalities.

In most of the cases people who experienced injustice never sought help, and they did not even mention the incident(s) to anyone.

Few reasons why the victims tend to hide the incidence

1. Shame of the experience

2. Fear of losing status

3. Fear of repercussions

The Idea behind Vigyaa Anonymous

We believe that social justice is a fundamental principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence, within and between nations. Everyone is equally responsible for defending the principles of social justice by promoting gender equality, the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants. We must promote social justice by eliminating the barriers that people face due to gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability. The motto is to close the gap of inequalities to achieve social justice.

Vigyaa Anonymous is the best platform that gives voice to victims and survivors of social injustice. It’s a safe platform to freely raise voice against social injustice like racial discrimination, LGBTQ Oppression, gender-based violence and so on. Vigyaa Anonymous is a network for survivors to

1. Connect

2. Speak out

3. Listen without judgment

4. Advocate against abuse

Never forget that there is always someone who will be able to relate and someone you’ll be able to help. Write your heart out as your story can give strength and courage to others to take a stand. You can also read inspiring and empowering stories that you can relate to.

Raising a voice is the first step towards change. We understand that sharing the unpleasant experience of injustice can be extremely difficult. Hence we decided to create a platform where you can be completely anonymous. No need to register/ login, even we do not track the IP address.
As Technology Rises, it’s Easy to Ignore the Destruction it Causes for Many Students Worldwide
By: Maya Degnemark
Tags: Inequality, Students, Schools, Technology, Education

This is a pre-class assignment due Sunday December 6th @11:59pm in preparation for Ethan & myself to lead class Tuesday.

Especially in the age of a global pandemic when nearly everything has moved online without much of a choice, it seems that while some are thriving with these changes, others have never struggled more. Now, we not only rely on the internet for essentials such as virtual doctors appointments and social connectivity, but for students, our entire education has transitioned online. Whether it be classes, completing/submitting homework and classwork, communicating with teachers/students or viewing grades — lacking an access to technology would inevitably halt success.

And while the people in power are definitely working towards fixing this problem, we are still failing. Even in late October 2020 when remote learning had occurred for over 6 months, 77,000 NYC students were without internet or tablets. If this fact does not prove that inequality is fueled by the rise in technology, then I don’t know what will.

Now, if I were to plan a mini lesson with the mindset of technology/education/inequality, this is what it would look like. First, students would read the two articles listed below (the first one discusses the broader issues of remote learning and gives statistics about virtual schooling, and the second one is more specific to this crisis in our own city):

#1: https://www.theedadvocate.org/the-absence-of-internet-at-home-is-a-problem-for-some-students/

#2: https://www.pix11.com/news/back-to-school/77-000-nyc-students-struggle-without-tablets-internet-for-remote-learning

After reading these two articles, I would have students first react to it (by writing a critical response), then find 1 graph/image they think relates to the topic (potentially aids understanding), and third, they would answer the two questions below in class discussion:

#1: What did inequality in education look like before we began relying on the internet for the entirety of our schooling?

#2: After recognizing the inequality sparked by the pandemic, what are some changes we can make that would allow education to be more accessible to everyone (if there is anything)?
Who are the real victims of this crash?
By: Darrell Miller
Tags: Freedom, Inequality, Money, Satire, Humor

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash (altered by author)

To the Editor:

I read your article about the new regulations for the financial sector and I have to say, I’m outraged. How dare they try to protect my investments? If I want to lose my life savings to a conman, that’s my business.

What about the real victims of this crisis, the bankers? Haven’t they suffered enough? Their bonuses have been slashed to mere millions. Five-car garages don’t pay for themselves, you know. And what’s the point of having one if you don’t have an extra Ferrari parked out front just to impress the neighbors?

Same thing with yachts. And private planes. Think of all the underpaid craftsmen who will lose their jobs. The super rich may be less than one percent of our population but they make all the important decisions so naturally they deserve the bulk of our wealth. This is America, not Cuba. Our forefathers worked hard to create a system that cheated the poor at every turn. Let’s not let them down by turning it into one that benefits us all.

Signed,

A Patriot
«Of course, owners of interest rate sensitive assets will always tend the be made better off than…
Tags: Policy, Wealth Inequality, Inequality, Wealth Tax, Economics

«Of course, owners of interest rate sensitive assets will always tend the be made better off than non-owners when interest rates fall, which may justify intervention.»

When prices of assets rise, but the assets remain the same, the answer to "where did all the wealth come from?" can only be "from less wealthy people", because such increases in "wealth" are 100% redistributive. A commenter on "The Guardian" wrote:

“I inherited two properties in 1995 [ ... ] and the value has gone from £95,000 to £1,100,000”

The million pound (gross) capital gain in his "wealth" came entirely from someone else, the next buyers of the two properties, as the two properties are still the same as those in 1995. The same largely goes for shares: the businesses they represent have not have grown much less than their price.

The title itself of the piece seems well meaning obfuscation, because actual UK wealth has not increased much if at all in the period examined (also since 1980 the rate of growth of GDP per person has halved compared to previous decades, so wealth accumulation is unlikely to have done well), so when asset prices boom what increases is *purchasing power* rather than wealth, and only that of incumbent asset owners.

Since the purchasing power of incumbent asset owners has increased, but not that of others, that is not an increase in wealth, but just redistribution from poorer to richer, and from other regions to regions with rapidly rising property prices (the Home Counties and London); largely from those who vote for Labour to those who vote for the Conservatives, New Labour, LibDems.
Our Autumn
By: Rafael, Tito
Tags: Despair, Humanism, Poetry, Inequality

We feel the warmth leave our bodies as the cold from the North overwhelms us.

We gaze into our gardens at the beautiful, haunting colors of decay as they overtake what was once grown and nurtured.

We try to mulch fallen leaves for the creation of a new, striking spring, but are kept from our tools, as the cold has frozen the locks to our sheds.

We fly kites in the frigid wind, knowing that the last things that we can enjoy ride quickly and quietly over the currents outside of our control.

We feel our bodies tire, our skin crack, and our blood growing cold.

We know all we can do is smile.

The cold doesn’t care.
Life of every YOU-TH in a Nutshell!
By: Wandering Soul
Tags: Ambition, Society, Inequality

Life of every YOU-TH in a Nutshell!

So this is my first time writing, why have I decided to write?

Let me tell you upfront I am not a writer or a reader just one of The YOU-TH confused with life and looking for purpose and wanting to put forward thoughts in my head outloud.

So every child starting from his tender age is always told study hard finish school and your all set to get into a good college and then a good job and finally it’s all fun.

but the fun fact is there is no fun and there is no end to this journey, every man has ambitions and passion per say but I dont see people with any. They seem just like a societal defined strategy to keep people in check to me.

Some people are happy earning money, some travelling and some struggle to earn bread why the disparity? Why is rice precious for some and plenty for few?

Well I suppose these thoughts have crossed many people but wait only for a few and only in times when they are sad or may be when they feel betrayed and some socially driven who feel the inequality and respond to people while other’s just live their life like it be.

Well I suppose some people respond to such feelings try to make a change. Yey!! sounds fun? But let me tell you it’s like a game which looks cool but hard to win without some cheat codes. You might succeed or may be not, just because your intentions are right you don’t always get the result.

So you think to yourself why bother? And live a lie ignoring what seems unfair and illogical whilst pursuing material satisfaction and societal norms.

Did all the above just seems like what you have faced at some point? Let me tell you! Everyone has thought of it, your not alone.

So will you try to be the change or will you live a lie only YOU and your THought can decide.
A Moment of Change — podcast Episode Four
By: On Purpose London - Podcast
Tags: Covid 19 Crisis, Health, Inequality, Health Inequity, Community

Episode Four — Social Determinants of Health: Health inequality in the time of COVID-19

Since the Marmot review in 2010, it has been widely accepted that variance in social factors (education, housing, employment and discrimination) lead to variance in health outcomes. A recent review has shown that improvements in life expectancy have been flatlining in the UK during a period of austerity — for the first time since 1900. In this episode we discuss with the leader of a community health organisation his journey in supporting the Caribbean and African community in Manchester and how his work has been impacted by COVID-19.

Guest speaker: Rev Charles Kwaku-Odoi

Alongside his role as Chief Officer for CAHN, Charles co-leads Command Prayer Centre Ministries International and co-chairs Faith Network for Manchester. He specialises in engaging with the Black community in the Diaspora, and also works closely with Terrence Higgins Trust in their delivery of HIV Prevention England.

“What gives me hope is that up and down the country there are healthcare organisations that are beginning to make reasonable adjustments, that are beginning to consult their workforce a bit more…and that there are targeted investments that we are seeing to address some of the disproportionate impacts from COVID.”
Colours of a slum- painted darkness
Tags: Poem, Poverty, Inequality, Slums, Poetry

Across the road they live,

light years away.

Weeds in the concrete garden.

At the feet of towering mansions,

and beyond the meanders of snaky rails,

in shelters of sheet, tin and noisy metal foil,

made with a lifetime of toil.

They lighten the doom

of their wretched ‘homes’

with yellow, blue, futchsia

and nasty explosions of fluorescence

which together, give no near incandescence

as the blacks and grays of my world.

Lives yonder my washer men

who make my fabric shine

and for themselves, keep the stain

to augment the grey

that cloud their world.

Lady of the dark,

a hated traitor of honour

adorned by fair flowers

and glittering jewels of cheap imitation

to tart up her despised body;

bride of a blotted fate

every cursed night.

These walking pieces of vacuum

carved into human shapes.

Painted by a tasteless mix

of enthralling shades.

The hues that brighten my world

fade away in theirs.

Darkness diffuses into them

and cloak their eyes.

They paint and paint and paint their dark

But never… see the light.

(picture courtesy : the scroll)
Nepotism and Capitalism
Tags: Inequality, Tax Reform, Politics, Economics, Capitalism

Overview

The system of capitalism works in a way in which if an individual works hard, they will be rewarded. It is a system of free choice and consequence. It is not perfect, but it is the best system we, as human beings, have come up with so far. The downside to capitalism is its tendency to accelerate inequality. The top 1% begin accumulating capital, while the bottom 90% struggle. This is an unfortunate side effect of capitalism, the rich keep getting richer, and the poor stay poor.

The reason for this inequality is capital accumulation. Families can build massive amounts of wealth based on previous generations. This system is unfavorable for ethnic minorities that, historically, faced heavy discrimination that hampered their ability to accumulate capital. To reduce the inequality presented by capitalism, an inheritance tax should be implemented to ensure a fair and competitive market for all.

The Tax

The system of capitalism does not state that, if you are born into a rich family you will be rewarded. Capitalism is meant to reward hard work, not luck in the ovarian lottery. An inheritance tax would ensure that every child is given an equal playing field when beginning their lives and careers. Taxes from inheritance can be used to improve schooling, provide additional care to at-risk teens, and fund secondary education. Only six states currently have an inheritance tax, and the federal government has no form of an inheritance tax.

The Ramifications

As with all government policies, the effects of the inheritance tax on incentives must be considered. If you are a wealthy, elderly individual with massive amounts of capital that you would like to be passed on to your children, how will the inheritance tax affect your decisions? Most people want to make sure that their children and future generations of their family will be taken care of. Implementing a tax on the wealth transfer will not affect incentives if it is a flat tax rate. Charging a different inheritance tax on varying levels of wealth will inevitably lead to the destruction of incentives, tax evasion, and potential fraud.

Please respond with your thoughts and ideas. I enjoy having a civil discussion.
Why Fighting Inequality Is at the Heart of Oxfam’s New Global 10-Year Strategy
By: Oxfam International
Tags: Inequality, Feminism, Humanitarian, Activism, Human Rights

By Gabriela Bucher, Executive Director of Oxfam International

Just imagine, looking back to a time when COVID-19 brought us together.

Leaders who united to overcome a health crisis also gained the courage to avert climate catastrophe. The unstoppable global movements of #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, #NiUnaMenos, climate strikers, workers, more, realized their calling. As they inevitably always would. Poverty fell. Ceasefires held. Politics became a process for dialogue not division. Out of the ashes of neoliberalism a new human economy was born.

That’s the hope.

Perhaps, instead, years from now we will recall how post-2020 saw the deepening of already terrifying trends. A time in which nationalist leaders seized the pandemic to further erode multilateralism and human rights. With trillionaires gaining more power than states. Even more climate breakdown, with small islands going underwater. More women and girls excluded from life opportunities, amid raging new pandemics of hunger, violence, sexism and racism.

We do not know what will happen. We definitely know that we face critical and urgent choices. The pandemic is, as Arundhati Roy says, ‘a portal, a gateway between one world and the next’. I wonder what this moment means for girls around the world who, facing every angle of injustice, are silenced and stopped as they fight to be able to fulfil their potential: how will their lives change now?

Today Oxfam launches its new global strategy that will, we hope, influence our world to make the choices necessary for a just and sustainable future. The strategy reimagines what we do in every country we work. It recasts our mission after decades.

The Global Platform El Salvador organization — a youth activism, campaigning, and training organization that uses the arts to mobilize youth to take action on a variety of economic and social campaigns in El Salvador and across the region (Credit: Oscar Leiva / Oxfam America)

The strategic transformation is inspired by feminist approaches, which address deep power imbalances and how power relations and systems intersect. This approach, more personally, led me to the great honor of now leading Oxfam.

We used to talk only about poverty. No more. We must foremost address the systems that perpetuate it. Oxfam has helped shine a torch on an economic system that is entrenching power and wealth into the hands of a tiny few, while entrenching poverty, patriarchy, white supremacy, privilege and impunity. It is driving climate and ecological breakdown, conflict and deepening discrimination and anti-rights agendas.

We’re centering the entirety of Oxfam behind this analysis.

Oxfam’s new mission is that we will fight inequality to end poverty and injustice.
Another 50 Reasons Why England Is Shit
By: S. Parmar
Tags: England, Racism, Shit England, Inequality

Another 50 Reasons Why England Is Shit

Credit: Ray Tang — Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

These are MY personal experiences and from my knowledge of other people’s experiences.
*The USA has entered the chat*
By: April House
Tags: Pandemic, 2020, Mondaythoughts, Inequality

s, in the classical context, “people who are consumed o…The term really means, in the classical context, “people who are consumed only with self-interest.” And to the Greeks, the progenitors of democracy, nobody — nobody was more dangerous than an idiot.
Sia’s New Film is Not Okay.
Tags: Inequality, News, Movies, Music, Disability

I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t fully judge. However, as an 18 year old Disabled Girl who’s seen this happen throughout her entire lifetime, I already am grimacing at what’s to come. I already see the pity and unrealistic interpretation of the character “Music.” No wonder Disabled people don’t see themselves, they only see abled people mocking them in a socially acceptable manner. And, side note, I don’t care if you hired “real” Disabled people as background props to meet some diversity quota, that’s not representation.

We, as the disabled community, deserve a permanent and positive place in the media. Because making us look like useless toddlers on screen makes our lives hell. It objectifies us as charity cases and subconsciously perpetuates the ideology that the only way we can succeed is if abled people do it for us. It makes us feel like aliens.

We aren’t just tidbits of “Chicken Soup For The Soul” — esque anecdotes to show people how “good” they have it, we’re human beings. And showing us in this light is dehumanizing. It glamorizes Disability solely to abled people’s benefit.

When Sia responded to the criticism from the Autistic community on why she didn’t include disabled actors, she said, “Maybe you’re just a bad actor.” (In reference to the Disabled community being hired in her movie). However, the media is prematurely praising the film, and people are still flooding Sia with support saying, “don’t listen to the hate!”

This isn’t hate. This has to do with every disabled person’s livelihood. This has to do with equal rights. This. is. not. hate. This is centuries of anger we’ve all held in just to make everyone else comfortable. I’m sure the film is beautiful and heartwarming, but disabled viewers will not be the ones staring up at the screen starry eyed, because they aren’t seeing themselves.

The amount of people coming out saying that we’re making a big deal out of “nothing” is disgusting. This is the same harmful attitude that leads to racism and sexism. For example, “People of color have rights now, so they shouldn’t be complaining.” Or, “Women have rights now, I don’t need to respect them.” Those phrases relay the same nasty, vile messages, would you accept those?
How the pandemic will change our future.
By: Rodrigo Ferreira
Tags: Inequality, Brazil, Pandemic, Society, Future

Throughout history, we have never had a century with so many changes. The technology and globalization made it possible.

But in this year, 2020, in addition we have the most radical change of the last decades, made by the impact of COVID-19.

In Brazil, we are in the eighth month of the quarantine because of the coronavirus. Today, we are feeling that quarantine will never end, and our lives will be that way forever.

But when this crisis in fact ends, society will be the same?

Photo by Jezael Melgoza on Unsplash

For optimists, the world after the pandemic will be a better place, we will start to valorize the life and the people around us, and let the work and social media as secondary.

For pessimists, the crisis will take a long time, we will not have jobs for everyone and inequalities will be bigger than anytime.

Let’s try to consider both, and predict some possible changes.

I heard many times during the quarantine from my friends and people on social media that “I lost my ability to talk and to socialize with other people in this period, sometimes I don’t speak for days”.

Of course, when everything normalizes we will have a strangeness in our interpessoal relations, but I imagine an organic process about it. I am from the group that strongly believes that humanity will valorize more the face-to-face meetings after quarantine, but anyway the use of virtual devices will be big like today, because we got used to it.

Thinking about the future after the pandemic, we need to talk about unemployment. It is a fact that the market will not offer jobs to everyone and we don’t have predictions that it will turn better.

This problem is causing the growth of informal jobs, mainly in developing countries like Brazil. These jobs exploit the worker for an unfair salary and little security, and this option will be used for many people without a job after quarantine, without counting the current informal workers. The future is uncertain about it, if the government doesn’t work to formalize these jobs the problem will be bigger than today.

After the pandemic we will see better results of how the crisis is falling on poor people. For example, the fact that students from poor families that study in public schools don’t have access to education in this period like other rich students from particular schools and how it will reflect in the entry in public universities and the future university students.

Of course we will have many other changes in the future. The psychological impact by loneliness, the political vision by citizens, the transformation of the way to teach and many others will make part of our society.

After all, we need to remember that transformation is happening now, when pandemic over, we will just see better what really changed.
Structural Inequality, Systemic Racism, and Money
By: Rocco Pendola
Tags: Writing, Race, Inequality, Money, Personal Finance

Bottom line — it’s not lost on me. The notion of privilege as it pertains to personal finance writing and discussion. This said we’re never going to bring more people into the conversation if we stop the conversation.

It’s a challenge. And sometimes I have no fucking idea how to rise to it. Sometimes I make mistakes in my writing and interactions that I don’t even think about. But this is part of the problem. I’m white. I’m privileged. I don’t *have* to spend much time considering systemic racism. As much as I think I care and am passionate about it, it doesn’t have to be on my radar like it does for other people. Sometimes I let it fall off of my radar. I’m not proud of this.

In closing (hey, there is a conclusion!), I’ll relay part of an excellent email interaction I had with a Medium publication editor earlier this week. After I pitched this editor a story where I mentioned a handful of Medium’s top writers (all white, all male), the editor responded with this:

Also, do you notice anything in common about all the writers you mentioned? It’s… not exactly a step towards a more diverse platform. I’d rather give attention to writers who aren’t getting it, and who deserve to!

Part of my response:

Thanks for this feedback. I really appreciate it. In fact, in a good way, it put me in my place. It’s easy to do what i did — rattle off the names of all white men without even thinking about it. I’m embarrassed, but in a good way.

It’s not easy to get called out like that. However, it’s required. I’m happy it happened. It made me uncomfortable and, yes, embarrassed.

I want to be better. I want to take the work I do to the next level. I think it’s possible to do this from various standpoints. I can expand my audience. I can write one set of articles for one or more audiences and another set for one or more different audiences. Some writing can apply across readerships. I don’t know.

At the same time, I don’t think the answer is to simply stop writing for the privileged audience. This would be counter-productive. Money matters. We just need to find ways to cast wider, more thoughtful, and inclusive nets.

I have ideas. I’ll better formulate them and present them in articles in future days and weeks. But I think we’d all benefit from a larger discussion that goes beyond the things running around my head. I appreciate April and the unnamed editor bringing these things to the forefront of my mind this week.

Thanks, in part, to them. I hope this rough sketch of an article leads to more.
CEO bonuses: how they impact us all
By: Robert Thompson
Tags: Compensation, Inequality, Careers, Money, CEO

If CEO compensation was performance-driven, which I believe it was in IBM’s case, nobody would ever argue. If the shareholders didn’t make billions and billions of dollars, I wouldn’t make millions of dollars. My salary was the same for 10 years. It was all performance-based. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.

The major failure of corporate governance and purpose in Britain manifests itself in the often ludicrous levels of CEO compensation. In this post I explore the impact of these on us all.

I found it interesting that Abigail Disney, great-niece of Walt, found time to call out a pay award of $65.6m. The recipient of the award is Disney’s boss, Bob Iger.

On Tuesday, Abigail Disney, granddaughter of Roy Disney, called out the “naked indecency” of the $65 million in compensation that goes to Disney’s chief executive, Bob Iger. That figure, she noted, is “1,424 times the median pay of a Disney worker.” https://t.co/Ofj7ZbXVrL — New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) April 28, 2019

Not that she felt he didn’t merit a bonus for his management skill. Rather, it was the size of his reward she objected to:

To put that gap in context, in 1978, the average CEO made about 30 times a typical worker’s salary. Since 1978, CEO pay has grown by 937 percent, while the pay of an average worker grew just 11.2 percent

Above all, she’s right.

Balancing CEO pay

Chief executive pay, both in the UK and in the US, has become divorced from any balance between risk and reward. For example, take Walt Disney. An artistic and business genius, he built an entertainment empire from scratch. Also, he stood to lose everything if it failed. Now contrast this against Iger. At the most basic level, Iger is an employee whose great rewards were never balanced by personal risk.

When he and other CEOs get obscene windfalls, it makes capitalism stink. It plays into the hands of people such as our shadow chancellor, John McDonnell. McDonnell plans to expropriate ordinary shareholders in big companies.

Firms who fail to exercise proper judgement over bosses’ pay should beware. The resulting outrage and disillusion will cause the public to judge them. And the result likely won’t be to their advantage.

Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash
Tackling the “Degree vs. Experience” Debate in Job Hiring
By: Barbara L. Ciccarelli
Tags: Self Improvement, Inequality, Discrimination, Higher Education, Education

In the meantime, I received dozens of essays from my students at my professional university. The subject is Personal Branding and the assignment is the Personal Statement, detailing their Past/Present/Future. One student is taking the class as part of a credential for his job. His essay struck me because in the Past section he wrote that he didn’t pursue higher education when he was young because his parents thought higher education was just for rich people. I thought this meant perhaps that it was a matter of cultural assumptions created by discrimination. In other words, an atmosphere of who does or does not belong can establish the road map, not for who is excluded, but for who does or does not even try to enter.

Well, I was blown away by this information, and it made me realize that I had not been open to all possible perspectives and experiences regarding my friend. I was hammering on the idea that everyone has a choice and that I made the choices I made for education despite having no money and no place of my own to live at times, but I forgot what I had learned from life and scholarship. That choice can be a reward of privilege.

I had fallen into the old trap that many do, that the poor, for instance, could help their situation if they only tried harder like the rest of us. What I’m saying is that it is hard to say what cultural messages certain groups of people are getting and not getting that contributes to their choices and decisions not to mention their futures.
Visualizing the American Nightmare
By: Joshua Mullenite
Tags: Mapping, Poverty, Visualization, Inequality

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to see the nightmare of living in the United States. From the lack of basic infrastructure, including running water, to the (as of this writing) 247,834 deaths resulting from COVID-19 it’s sitting in plain sight. The nightmare is uneven in who is affected by it, making it easier to overlook, dismiss, and turn into a political talking point rather than address with concrete actions. Recently, Zbigniew Grabowski of the Urban Systems Lab at the New School for Social Research created a simple visualization of rent-burdened households in the United States. The map presents a stark image of American life in which the majority of the country, in terms of both land area and population, have more than 50% of people spending more than 25% of their income on rent.

I couldn’t help but wonder what other basic facts of the American Nightmare look like mapped? What follows are a series of simple visualizations of data from the American Community Survey along with some brief thoughts on the matter. This isn’t meant to be rigorous academic analysis, but rather an articulation of what I see when I see “America”.
No one actually cares
By: Victoria Fernandez
Tags: Self Love, Confidence

No one actually cares

Every moment, every hour, every minute, you are always thinking to yourself “I wonder what that person thinks of me”,”do they think I am pretty/handsome or do they think I am unattractive”.The truth is they don’t care,just like you don’t care weather your bestfriends are attractive or not they are thinking the same way.They tell themselves “I love how this person treats me and makes me feel”They don’t care weather your nose is the perfect small nose that everyone wants they don’t care about your hip dips, your forehead, your weight.They just care about your personality.The way to confidence is to fake it till you make it and you will make it.I hope this helped.
S T R E N G TH P R O V I D E D
By: Upward Call
Tags: Life, Life Lessons, Motivation, Strength, Confidence

ROUND 12–12th month.

You may not have noticed but a wave of discouragement has been tossing you to and fro this week, and is devastating your day.

Perhaps you’re torn between the onslaught of this year and the uncertainty of the next. And being in this place of the in-between has rendered you carrying a weight that is inexplicable. Slowly crushing you on the inside and leaving you pinned down, unable to get back up.

Beloved, please know that there is STRENGTH PROVIDED FOR YOU TODAY. To remind you that you still have a fight left in you. For God the Holy Spirit is within you. And the Lord Jesus Christ is interceding for you so you can live this day defying your flesh, sin, and the fallenness of this world.

You can stand up today, look up and see that the banner raised above you is not your own personal banner with your achievements, accomplishments, or failures.

BUT the banner raised above you is the Banner of Christ- the Banner of Him who came and has overcome the world.

So let us strengthen ourselves once again in the LORD and fight the good fight of faith — for His honor and for His glory.

May the Lord’s blessings be with you and your family.
Be brave, my dear INFJ
By: Clair Subhadra Firebird
Tags: Spirituality, Infj, Confidence

I know some of you feel you are not brave. I want to encourage you to see yourself as so. So many of you tell me it’s scary. You might fall. You don’t want the attention. You fear being alone to deal with the unknown. I want to tell you that it’s all okay, and that you are stronger than you think you are. And that everything is easier than you think it will be.

Your gifts lie in the spaces within you that feel vulnerable to expose. It’s a cruel design, but also helps to ensure that to release those gifts, you do the work necessary to make you strong and brave. And who doesn’t want those qualities?

Take safer options at first. Lead your own way. Each time you hit a bump, figure it out and then keep moving. Ask for the abundance of help that is around you, to hold you together and lift you up. You will get there. And if along the way you get spooked or think that perhaps it isn’t right for you, then gather everything you have become and change to another path. Absolutely nothing is lost. You win, or learn.

I write on Medium comfortably. Increasingly I’m finding people outside of this space who ask me if I write and what about. So I lead them here. My words help them. This gift that I have learned to expose, is becoming part of my service to others.

This has been a road in brave vulnerability. I’ve been writing poetry, songs and stories since I learned to write. I fell into circles where others did the same, so we would share. The more I exposed my true feelings through writing, the easier it became. My vulnerability became strength. I shared articles in publications. I got haters. I got lovers. I began to see it wasn’t the big deal I thought it might be. Even when I got bullied for writing about volunteering to help refugees, I knew that this said more about them than me. It made me stronger. When I discovered Medium, I found a safe way to share. Each time I share, I help someone, somehow. Isn’t that what we INFJ’s dream of?

I still have more bravery to face. My website, I still keep almost secret. My face adorns some of those pages. My paid services page makes me cringe. I dread the day where I have to actually start selling what I do, in order to make what I love, my job. However in hiding, I rob the world of more facets of my gifts. And disable the service that I can give those who need it.

This is the same for all of you. There are people who need you. Specifically you, with your specific circumstances, your specific journey, your specific way of expression and communication. You can say “Nuh uh” all you like. It doesn’t make it any less true. People need to see and hear your expression. Sensitive intuition is so precious.

I beckon you to be brave. To step away from the shadows and join me in the increasing light. I encourage you to face all the emotions that come with it, and do it anyway. Together we can hold each other up. Don’t give the world a drop, when you are the ocean. And also, words from my favourite author;

“Don’t die with your music still in you” — Wayne Dyer

Sending you all so much love ❤
[커리어 노트 33] 나를 만나는 것이 시작이다
Tags: Self-awareness, Self Improvement, Self Esteem, Career, Confidence

Everyday learner, passionate for humans, curious for the world. Working at Google, connecting dots…
DESTINED FOR GREATNESS
By: Mohamed Hedi Fkir
Tags: Success, Self Improvement, Motivation, Change, Confidence

DESTINED FOR GREATNESS

Life can be tough, it’s life ,well we didn’t come by our consent, but here we are . We have no choice other than living it,other than enjoy it. It’s beautiful, full of experiences , full of happiness but also there is a lot of obstacles, dark periods ... It’s just up to you to live the life that you want , to be the person that you want to be, to achieve what you want to achieve. We choose everything in our life,yes not every choice is easy but still we choose , there is nothing called circumstances , at least they are not the descisive factor of what you do , who you are , and what you become. If you fail it’s 95% your fault ,you did something wrong, but it’s totally fine we fail we loose all the time but instead of crying about it, learn from it , it doesn’t matter fail and fail and fail but what matters is that you should never give up and never find excuses to your failure because this is the true failure, since you’re still trying and moving and working you didn’t fail yet .and eventually one day you will achieve , the universe will respond . So just stop crying , stop being quitter because You’re not , you are destined for greatness just believe how great Amazing you are and trust me the universe will respond .
How to Get into a Good Mood
By: Aimee Sparrow
Tags: Bipolar Disorder, Good Mood, Mood Disorder, Confidence, Self

How to Get into a Good Mood

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Getting into a good mood can at times be challenging and at others downright impossible. When you have a mood disorder as I do; bipolar to be precise, a good mood may be far off into the horizon almost unattainable some days. Getting into a good mood is a good skill to learn.

So, I was able to manage this feat today and a few things came into play.

I had an excellent sleep the night before. I went to bed fully happy and resolved all my stressors. I spoke to myself about my life and my goals, feeling secure in where I am right now. I reached out to those I care about and love. I set aside leisure activity and me time. I promised myself I would be kind to myself.

And that’s all it took!

I am now as cheerful as I’ve ever been and perfectly content. I feel as though I have not only all that I want and more, but that I have the agency and capability to reach for whatever I may desire. I don’t see any limits to what I can or cannot do.

Usually, this enthusiasm is fake. It feels so when I’m depressed and stuck in a desperate loop of negativity and frustration, but now I can look back and see that what bothers me is insignificant in comparison to what else there is for me. Nothing is as bad as it can seem when hope is lost. Hope is what keeps us going.

Feeling secure in our relationships also improves overall mood. Just feeling as though the people we are friends with like us back and respect us. That’s enough to ease our worries and calm our anxieties. As we develop ourselves and our sense of self, we can independently become stronger and more confident in who we are, deserving of such treatment.
I agree with you Ayodeji.
By: Arul Velan
Tags: Writing, Confidence

I agree with you Ayodeji. Why must it always be someone else? Why not me? Thanks for reminding me to put in more effort on my writing on Xmas day.
Being a coward without even knowing
By: Bulcha, The Charismatic Nerd
Tags: Self Improvement, Life Lessons, Inspiration, Confidence, Personal Development

One thing I can admit is that I used to be a coward.

Any form of conflict or confrontation, I would avoid like the plague. Even in cases where it would have been better for me to stand up to a bully. I would still choose to cower away and take the bullying willfully.

But these were just external aspects of being a coward.

Even before running away from conflicts in the external world, I was already a coward. And the reason why I say that with such confidence is because I ran away from my own inner conflicts.

When I say inner conflicts, I mean anything that made me uncomfortable. Like self-doubt, anxiety, depression, etc.

Whenever some form of inner conflict came my way, instead of dealing with that uncomfortable emotion, I would try to distract or numb myself.

I did this through obsessing over sports, obsessing over reading books, working too much, etc.

Because I was too afraid to deal with my own shit, I ended up hurting myself in the long run. Because whenever there was an external conflict, I would be too afraid to deal with it.

Photo by Maxwell Nelson on Unsplash

As a result, I was a coward long before the external world knew I was one.

Remember, how you deal with yourself internally is how you deal with the world externally. I say this quite often on this list but it bears repeating.

To switch gears up a little bit.

I want to talk about how when we embrace our inner conflict, we add depth to ourselves.

By understanding ourselves and trying to resolve our inner conflict, we gain a better understanding of human nature and the pains of being human.

Accepting all forms of conflict helps us to expand ourselves.

It’s through conflict where growth occurs.

It’s through conflict where self-trust occurs.

It’s through conflict where courage occurs.

At the end of the day, you have to realize that nobody got stronger ever by running away.

So with the new year approaching, have the courage and self-trust to embrace all that comes in 2021.

Happy Holidays.

(If you enjoyed this short article, then click here to join my email list where you get a daily boost of confidence every morning plus the free Self-Improvement Cheat Sheet for Nerds.)