Common Ground: Individual Rights vs. the Common Good
While they're an essential element in any culture, shared values differ from one society to another. One of the most cherished American values, woven deep within the fabric of U.S. culture, is the importance of individual rights. Still, there is a l...
Ups and Downs: Consequences of Poverty
For those who live in poverty, perhaps because they are chronically unemployed or working for minimum wage, the end results can be grim. A job layoff, a protracted illness or other family emergency can trigger a precipitous downward spiral.
Ups and Downs: Women, Minorities and Social Class
Those who tumble out of America's lower middle class and into poverty generally don't constitute a random cross-section of the U.S. population. More often than not they are women and minorities.
Ups and Downs: Upward Mobility
If there's even the slightest hint of a silver lining in the dark cloud of poverty in the United States, it's that upward mobility, while increasingly limited, is still possible for those living in the U.S., regardless of their cultural or ethnic ba...