The United States Actively Promotes Socioeconomic Inequality — Sometimes in Subtle Ways Motivated by Institutionalized Greed — an Eye-Opening Education Report from Pro Publica

© 2013 Peter Free

 

16 September 2013

 

 

Citation — to the Pro Publica report regarding American higher education

 

Marion Wang, Public Universities Ramp Up Aid for the Wealthy, Leaving the Poor Behind, Pro Publica (11 September 2013)

 

 

Most Americans no longer trust government — here is a subtle example of why

 

According to Gallup, only 42 percent of Americans have at least a “fair amount of confidence” in the federal government’s ability to handle domestic problems:

 

Joy Wilke and Frank Newport, Fewer Americans Than Ever Trust Gov't to Handle Problems, Gallup Politics (13 September 2013) (scroll down to section entitled, “Trust in Government's Ability to Handle Domestic Problems Also at New Low”)

 

And, according to a Pro Publica investigation, it appears that the feds can’t even prevent schools from discriminating against the people, whom student aid programs were designed to help:

 

 

Public colleges and universities were generally founded and funded to give students in their states access to an affordable college education.

 

But many public universities, faced with their own financial shortfalls, are increasingly leaving low-income students behind . . . .

 

[F]rom 1996 through 2012, public colleges and universities gave a declining portion of grants — as measured by both the number of grants and the dollar amounts — to students in the lowest quartile of family income. That trend has continued even though the recession hit those in lower income brackets the hardest.

 

[S]chools use their aid to draw wealthier students — especially those from out of state, who will pay more in tuition — or higher-achieving students, whose scores will give the colleges a boost in the rankings.

 

Instead of offering, say, $12,000 to an especially needy student, a school might choose to leverage its aid by giving $3,000 discounts to four students with less need, each of whom scored high on the SAT, who together will bring in more tuition dollars than the needier student.

 

Anthony Carnevale, director of Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce [concluded that:]

 

The whole logic of this industry — and the reform of it as well — excludes low-income and minority students.

 

© 2013 Marion Wang, Public Universities Ramp Up Aid for the Wealthy, Leaving the Poor Behind, Pro Publica (11 September 2013) (extracts, underlines added)

 

 

The moral? — The American system is intentionally rigged against people, who are already screwed by its socioeconomic inequity

 

If there is an arguably correct critique of unfettered capitalism, this is it.  Greed is not a virtue, despite the nonsense its promoters spout.

 

Stamping the innocently downtrodden into the muck violates spiritual and arguably modern social contract principles.

 

Although I might tentatively accept the Elite’s implied argument that some people deserve to be where they are, it is difficult for me to agree with the unspoken corollary that their children deserve to be there, as well.

 

At some point, ethics require us to better harmonize our spiritual beliefs with our political and educational ones.