What Monkeys Can Teach Us About Fairness
Columnist Nicholas Kristof, in his op-ed article "What Monkeys Can Teach Us About Fairness" (2017), asserts that inequality in this country is the root of many dysfunctions in America. He brings in a case study that explores the strong sense of fairness among monkeys, builds a logos argument by listing the statistics of economic inequality in America found by professor of psychology Keith Payne, suggests possible reasons why inequality negatively affects humans so much, and concludes with a comparison of views among the political spectrum regarding this issue as well as a personal reflection on America's struggle in this area. Kristof intends to probe into the inequality in America, discuss why it affects us as humans so deeply, and how it is the cause of many issues in our country. He serves as an analyst who is giving over information to his readers, creating an informative relationship with his audience, the people of America.
One of the examples that Kristoff brought in to further his point on how inequality negatively impacts us is that on a plane, if passengers in coach had to walk through the first class section to get to their seats, there was a much higher risk of "air-rage" or in flight disturbances than if they boarded straight to their seats. His point was that seeing the privilege that others had made them aware of the inequality between them and caused anger and frustration. I think that this tends to happen in society a lot and there are many instances where people are disgruntled with the fact that richer, more privileged people get more opportunities than those who aren't. This made me think of the ACT, which I feel is a completely unfair system of testing students, and hurts many students' chances of going to college. Since the test is not really an accurate representation of one's knowledge and education that they have gained from school, the test is testing how well a student could study for and succeed on this specific test. Most students need help learning how to take the test to be successful, as the test makers deliberately make it tricky and difficult to succeed. Wealthier people are able to afford tutors (or better tutors) and are able to have the resources and opportunities to learn and do better on the exam as opposed to lesser privileged students who have to learn on their own. In addition, there are many times when richer students who do not have any learning disabilities or need extra time are able to find ways to pay to get extended time and assistance on the exam, giving them a completely unfair advantage over other students who have to put in real effort. To make matters worse, the colleges cannot even see if a student was given extra time or assistance, so they could assume that this student really is much smarter than the rest of the population. The whole system is easily corruptible and stands in favor of those who are more privileged. This is just a small example of the constant inequality that we deal with on a day-to-day basis, and shows how inequality can really affect a person's entire life/future. From this example, it is easy to see Kristoff's point on how inequality makes people so upset and act irrationally and angrily, causing us stress, "eroding our trust" in society, and leading to greater dysfunctions in our country.
One of the examples that Kristoff brought in to further his point on how inequality negatively impacts us is that on a plane, if passengers in coach had to walk through the first class section to get to their seats, there was a much higher risk of "air-rage" or in flight disturbances than if they boarded straight to their seats. His point was that seeing the privilege that others had made them aware of the inequality between them and caused anger and frustration. I think that this tends to happen in society a lot and there are many instances where people are disgruntled with the fact that richer, more privileged people get more opportunities than those who aren't. This made me think of the ACT, which I feel is a completely unfair system of testing students, and hurts many students' chances of going to college. Since the test is not really an accurate representation of one's knowledge and education that they have gained from school, the test is testing how well a student could study for and succeed on this specific test. Most students need help learning how to take the test to be successful, as the test makers deliberately make it tricky and difficult to succeed. Wealthier people are able to afford tutors (or better tutors) and are able to have the resources and opportunities to learn and do better on the exam as opposed to lesser privileged students who have to learn on their own. In addition, there are many times when richer students who do not have any learning disabilities or need extra time are able to find ways to pay to get extended time and assistance on the exam, giving them a completely unfair advantage over other students who have to put in real effort. To make matters worse, the colleges cannot even see if a student was given extra time or assistance, so they could assume that this student really is much smarter than the rest of the population. The whole system is easily corruptible and stands in favor of those who are more privileged. This is just a small example of the constant inequality that we deal with on a day-to-day basis, and shows how inequality can really affect a person's entire life/future. From this example, it is easy to see Kristoff's point on how inequality makes people so upset and act irrationally and angrily, causing us stress, "eroding our trust" in society, and leading to greater dysfunctions in our country.
That second sentence in the precis was impressively complex! Worthy of the 18th Century!
ReplyDeleteI think the 3rd sentence is lacking what he wants his audience to take away from his column. The purpose is always tied to the audience.
Great response, Chaya!