“Plagues revolutions,
massive wars, collapsed states – these are what reliably reduce economic
disparities”
By: Walter Scheidel
Published: February
21, 2017, The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/02/scheidel-great-leveler-inequality-violence/517164/
Level of Difficulty: ***
BEFORE YOU READ
·
History fun fact: The Great Compression https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjVhO7GNARg
·
How economic Inequality harms society https://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson
QUESTIONS
1. There is a misunderstanding concerning the
good old days of the American economy. Income disparity was not down to……………….it
came about as a consequence of ………………………… (Partly inferred)
2. The
Great Compression, which was a consequence of ……….., came about due to the
government policies of……………….and……………………….
3. The
American Civil War is given as an example of an event which reduced economic
disparity by…………….
4. The
Russian revolution and the Chinese revolution were different from The French
revolution in terms of ……………….As a result they succeeded in ……………….
5. Why
is it surprising that violent turmoil increases equality?
6. The
plague and similar pandemics were considered to be advantageous in terms of
income disparity because they increased the wages of the labour force / they angered the nobility / they reduced
competition for jobs / the value of property dropped sharply.
7. What
depressing conclusion is reached in the paragraph beginning “But what of…”?
8. The
economies of South American countries are presented as examples in order to………………(Your
own words)
9. We
understand from the text income inequality cannot be expected to be reduced
because the existing order can no longer be completely upended / major catastrophes
will no longer occur / the major leveling forces are a thing of the past /
violent leveling of society is still possible / developments in many fields
make catastrophes impossible. Mark the one that doesn’t fit.
10.
We can draw the conclusion that it will keep
getting harder and harder to tackle income disparity because ……………………
11.
This text is an advantages and disadvantages
essay/ an argumentative essay / a problem and solution essay / a cause and
effect essay. How do you know? Explain.
WRITING TASK
Use all you have learnt to write about the effects of income
disparity and how to reduce it. Before you do so, watch the following videos:
·
Income
inequality impairs the American dream of upward mobility http://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/income-inequality-impairs-american-dream-upward-mobility
THE ONLY THING
HISTORICALLY THAT’S CURBED INEQUALITY: CATASTROPHE
This short yet
brilliant text is argumentative in style and fits in nicely with the way
students are encouraged to write such essays. It is a sophisticated text with a
wealth of vocabulary, which will need to be dealt with. It also puts the
dampener on dreams about achieving income equality; a view that students may
want to discuss.
1.
Economic development ; the world wars (Learn to
fine-tune your answers; this is the minimum you need to write
2. The world wars (Or wartime or total war)Aggressive government intervention in the private sector ; disruptions
to capital holdings
3.
Upending the established order
4.
Scale; transforming societies
5.
Because everyone stands to suffer in times of
collapse (Most explicit and direct answer)
6.
They reduced competition for jobs.
7.
Democracy on its own doesn’t consistently lower
inequality
8.
Possible answer: Disprove / Refute the views of
Simon Kuznets
9.
Violent leveling of society is still possible
10.
Rich countries are aging, immigration will put
pressure on social solidarity and technological change might boost inequality
11.
Argumentative: the thesis statement provides the
writers view, which is then supported. The counter arguments are given and
refuted and the concluding statement is a rephrasing of the thesis statement
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