Wealth Inequality In America

How did you relate to the readings, videos and forum discussions? I related to the readings about cultural and linguistic competence as a future health care provider. I saw how my knowledge of these topics could affect the care and well being of real people. One hypothetical that struck me was about a nurse practitioner choosing a cheaper and less effective medication for a black patient. The nurse had done this with the well-meaning intention of saving a poor person from the bills that come with a higher level of health care, not realizing that the patient was of a high socioeconomic status (Hall and Fields). In this scenario, the patient was robbed of the best health care he could have received because of a health care provider’s bias and …show more content…
On top of that, my father makes an income that puts him in the top 20%. My mother didn’t start making as much money as she does now until I was in high school, so I’ve always had the idea in my head that I was strictly middle class with both my parents working blue collar jobs. Average. Looking at the “Wealth Inequality in America” video I could see it laid out on paper how much I am financially better off than most people in this country. The revelation that the bottom 80% of the country only has 7% of the wealth struck me (Politizane). My parents’ ability to pay for my college tuition or buy me the car I need to seek out resume boosting opportunities is higher than 90% of the country. And even with that help, doing well and succeeding to the standards around me has felt like an uphill …show more content…
I’ve always seen the war on drugs to be a positive thing. How could it not be with drugs being a major cancer in our society? But I’ve learned through a speech given by Michelle Alexander at the University of Chicago that the war on drugs is severely flawed. Law enforcement has been given the financial incentive for increasing the number of drug arrests. Policy based on numbers almost never translates to a quality solution. If police officers are just trying to meet quotas, then it’s a lot easier to arrest the little guys rather than go after the truely violent offenders. I also learned through this same speech that whites and blacks use and sell drugs at about the same rates (Alexander). This caught me off guard and pointed out a bias that had been engrained in me. I had a picture of a black drug dealer in my head despite knowing of significantly more white drug users than