1.Have you observed people or have you yourself been caught in the kind of debt-cycle described by Williams? Describe the harm done by this debt-cycle and find at least one way out of the debt-cycle.
2. From Smith & Redington, “Class Dismissed: Making the Case for the Study of Classist Micro aggressions”, consider your own experiences in higher education, in workplace settings, and/or in other parts of your life. What classist micro aggressions have you witnessed, whether directed at you or at another person? How did you understand them at the time? How do the ideas from this reading change that understanding? Can you think of any examples when you might have participated in a classist micro aggression against another person, even unintentionally?
3. How does Schmidt’s description of the favoritism that advantages wealthy students in some colleges’ admissions processes seem similar and/or different from the idea of affirmative action for poor students or students of color? (If you can watch , CNBC ” American Greed: College Admission Scandal” episode)
4. What are some of the governmental policies described by Oliver & Shapiro that contributed to and increased the racial disparities in wealth, between Whites and Blacks? What are some of the legacies and consequences of this racial disparity in wealth today?
5. Watch Juno Mac’s TED Talk(video in module) and/or read her chapter -The Laws That Sex Workers Really Want. Juno Mac talks about sex work as a form of work. How are you affected by viewing and hearing her presentation? How is this similar or different from the ways you’ve been accustomed to thinking about sex work? What issues are illuminated differently by looking at sex work through the lens of labor?
6. Consider assumptions that you may have heard, or that you may hold, about why people are incarcerated. How does the history explored in Benns’s article change your understanding of the social and economic causes of incarceration as a phenomenon?
7. Are you in the U.S middle class? To verify your answer use “Are you in the U.S. Middle Class”? calculator to determine and discuss: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/23/are-you-in-the-american-middle-class/