Redistribution Toward Egalitarianism: Positive and Negative Outcome Scenarios

We are in an era of calls for increased egalitarianism, redistribution from society's haves to its have-nots. The terms vary, for example, "reduce income inequality," "social justice," "close the achievement gap,"  but the meaning is the same: redistribute.

Redistribution already has many manifestations in public policy. For example:

• A progressive income tax in which the top 5 percent of earners already pay 59 percent of the tax but the call is to additionally "soak the rich."
• Welfare/food stamps/subsidized housing. There now are 47.4 million people on food stamps, one in six adults.
•  File "sharing." Producers of music, especially record companies have more money than the pool of illegal downloaders. File "sharing" (stealing) redistributes to lower-income people. Congress, last week, held a hearing to explore legalizing file sharing.
• Extending unemployment benefits. The pool of taxpayers (predominantly working people) are 'haves" compared with the unemployed, so extending unemployment checks to 99 weeks redistributes more money to lower-income people.
•  Raising the minimum wage. That redistributes money to the poor not only from the employer but from the customer. Why? When the minimum wage rises, for example, in a fast food restaurant, the employer raises prices. That forces the customers (disproportionately of modest income) to pay for that redistribution to lowest-wage workers. And do remember that the people who end up working in fast-food restaurants didn't end up there at random. Better-paid workers generally, for example, were willing to defer gratification and income by attending college.
• Disparate impact policies.The current federal government wants to prohibit use, for example, of credit checks or being long-term unemployed as a criterion for employment or apartment rental because it has disparate impact on people of color. As a result, we have the Alice-in-Wonderland reality that people who have good credit and been employed are penalized. Now the Dept of Justice is meeting with leaders from the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology to try to replace tests, for example, of reasoning, with tests that won't have disproportionate negative impact on "underrepresented" minorities.
• No Child Left Behind--the dominant federal education policy--mandates carrots and sticks for dealing with low-achieving kids but none for average and high achievers.  As a result, schools have dumbed down their curriculum, disproportionately benefiting low-income kids and hurting everyone else. More broadly, the U.S. has spent literally trillions of dollars over the past 75 years, starting with Lyndon Johnson's anti-poverty/New Society program yet the racial achievement "gap" is as wide as ever.  In our personal lives, we lament wasting even a few dollars yet we've wasted literally trillions and no one seems unduly exercised. Indeed the call is to spend more to try to close the achievement "gap."
• Most colleges admit weaker students if they come from low-income households. Also, colleges employ Robin Hood pricing: Overcharge the middle- and upper income people to subsidize the poor. In addition, government financial aid redistributes from the taxpayer to a pool of lower-income people. 
• Some employers, in part because of government and activists' pressure, use reverse discrimination in hiring and promotion. Indeed a study conducted by Harvard and Tufts researchers found that both whites and blacks believe discrimination against blacks has decreased and whites feel that discrimination against whites is a bigger problem.
• ObamaCare redistributes the health care pie to the poor from everyone else. The number of doctors, nurses, MRI machines, operating rooms, etc will grow too slowly to accommodate the planned 40 million additional covered people plus 11.7 million illegals when President Obama achieves his promise to legalize them. That will mean 50+ million disproportionately lower-income people with high health care needs will take a larger share of the health care pie but pay little into the system. They will be paid for by employers and, indirectly by employees because their premiums will be raised to compensate for the costs of providing health care to the poor. The already overwhelmed health care system kills 440,000 people a year just in hospitals because of medical errors. The result of adding 50+ million more who pay little will mean that their addition will kill many thousands of people who do pay for health care. That may be the ultimate redistribution. 
• Legalizing the illegal immigrants. Poor people who sneaked into the U.S. illegally and their families will receive the benefits of US citizens, compliments of the taxpayer.
• Unrecorded redistributions: Every time we do something good for someone, even if part because they are poor, a woman, or minority, we are redistributing. 
• Nonprofits' mission is to solicit donations from the haves to redistribute to the have-nots: literacy, food, health, etc, here and worldwide.
• Indeed, redistribution policies extend beyond the U.S., for example, foreign aid from the U.S. and other developed nations to "developing" nations. Another example: the World Bank and EU pressure successful countries to bail-out unsuccessful ones such as Greece or Rwanda, and for private banks to forgive loans to developing nations. A final example: the worldwide support of the (have-not) Palestinians over the (have) Israelis. The Israelis have contributed more to the world in science, literature, women's rights etc, than any nation in the world, yet it is viewed as equivalent to the Palestinians. Worse, we have a double-standard: We expect Israel to allow Palestinians to have equal rights when their government calls for Israel's extermination while we accept without question the many Muslim countries insisting that only Muslims can escape punishment. We should be rewarding merit more than redistributive egalitarianism.
• And a catchall: In every industry, nonprofit, and government agency, in recent years the focus has been redistributed from what's best overall for society or for the middle class to how to better serve the have-nots. 

All of this of course is fueled by a media that disproportionately does stories praising redistribution.

As a thought experiment, here I  lay out a positive and a negative scenario of what might occur as a result of our accelerating egalitarianism. Yes. we see headlines lamenting the tiny sliver of people who earn big incomes (like top CEOs) but the middle class is hollowing out as we redistribute ever more to the poor. Even if we tax the rich at 100%, they represent too small a percentage of the population to provide a solid existence for the poor. To do serious redistribution, we must soak not only the rich but the middle class.

Assumptions
Immigration, differential birth rates, the Democrats' superior ground game and Internet marketing, and making Puerto Rico and D.C. the 51st and 52nd states, will result in an ever more Democratic-party-run government, resulting in ever more redistribution. Within about 20 years, except for the tiniest sliver of the ultra-wealthy, most people will be living at about 200% of the poverty line, approximately $45,000 in today's dollars for a family of four. People will thus afford only basic food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care. As a result, whole industries, for example, car manufacturers, will not be able to survive because few could afford a new car. As a result, government will nationalize it, making only tiny utilitarian vehicles, which could be sold new for under $10,000 like the Tata Nano. The shutting down of industries producing non-essentials will cause an even greater shortage of jobs, and the egalitarian ethos will result in government passing a 20-hour maximum workweek.

A positive scenario
The deemphasis on material acquisition will result in people living more rewarding lives, finding pleasure in creative expression, relationships, and life's simple pleasures: nature, beauty, sex, etc. The more egalitarian society will reduce competition and increase cooperation among people, reducing stress and increasing a communal sense of purpose. The small percentage of entrepreneurial types will start small businesses, mainly simple service businesses: repairing, garden preparation, artistic performance, etc.  While health care won't be as good, the lower stress lifestyle will result in less need for elaborate health care and people will come to accept dying without high-tech intervention. The more cooperative, less materialistic society, with most people being of relative equal financial condition, will result in less violence. Life will resemble that on an Israeli kibbutz.

A negative scenario
The lack of financial incentive will make most people work minimally. That will cause the food and service shortages that existed in the Communist Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and exist today in Cuba and socialist countries such as Venezuela and Bolivia.  Single-payer health care will be adopted but lead to lack-of-access and vastly increased deficits as is occurring even in countries liberals like to point to as models: Sweden, Canada, and Great Britain. As is often the case with welfare recipients, an egalitarian society will cause an increase in entitlement and frustration with shortages and, in turn, an increase in drug abuse to anesthetize the pain and in violent social upheaval as has occurred in recent years in, for example, the thousands of car torchings in socialist France. For example, gangs will flash-mob-invade the homes of people who have more than they do and rob them empty. Life in the U.S. will become more like life in a "developing" nation.

Which scenario do you think is more likely?

Lessons from Losing My Dog

Today, I took my doggie Einstein on an off-leash trail we've taken dozens of times.

Every time, it's the same: Einstein often lags 10 to 30 yards behind--smelling, peeing, pooping, saying hello to other doggies--then racing to catch up with me. Or if a half-minute passes without my seeing him, I turn around to make sure he's close by or I call him, in which case he always immediately races to catch up to me.

Until today. Thirty seconds had transpired so I turned around to see if Einstein was close enough: No Einstein. "Einstein" No Einstein.  "Einstein!"  No Einstein. "Einstein, wanna treat!" No Einstein.

I retrace my steps and call his name, probably 100 times by the time I return to the car. No Einstein. I alternate between being panicked and trying to make peace with the fact I'd never see Einstein again.

Long story short, two hours later, I get a call from a professional dog walker, Leah, who, on a side trail, had used a dog whistle to call one of her dogs. Einstein apparently likes dog whistling, so he ran to Leah, apparently out of earshot of my calling him.

Leah immediately tried to call me on her cell phone but she has poor vision and couldn't quite read the phone number on Einstein's tag and so called the wrong number. It was two hours later when she decided to take a closer look at the phone number and realized she had read a "2" as a "3," so now could reach me. Meanwhile, for the two hours, Leah reported that Einstein was happy as could be, never showing a hint of missing me, her devoted caretaker.

Lessons learned:

1. Alas, even our most comfortable rituals can be disrupted, potentially with serious results.

2. The notion that doggies are loyal, man's best friend, may require revision. Doggies are loyal unless perhaps there's another doggie or nice person around.

3. There's a lot of luck in the world. If Leah had normal vision, she would have reached me instantly, saving me two hours of agony. If she happened to have been a bad person, she could have stolen my Einstein.

But in the end, as I write this, Einstein is sleeping on the doggie bed that's next to my desk, and life is back to normal.

Oh and that's lesson #4:

4. Life back to normal is a pretty good thing, something we shouldn't take for granted.

Six Ways to Meet Gifted and Bright Kids’ Needs in a Regular Class…Without Giving Yourself Much Extra Work

You have a wide range of students in your class. It’s hard to meet all their needs. And you may feel you need to focus on low-achieving kids, maybe because your heart especially feels for them and/or because you’re feeling external pressures such as No Child Left Behind and now Common Core.

You have one or more bright or gifted students in your class but if someone has be shortchanged, maybe it’s them. After all, consciously or unconsciously, perhaps you think they’ll do fine anyway.

I can understand, but maybe your bright and gifted kids are worth a second look. In fact, many such kids turn out to be brilliant failures. Maybe you know one. And after all, all children are entitled to an appropriate-level education, to not be bored too much of the time. And those kids are the most likely to grow up to cure our diseases, be our corporate, non-profit, and government leaders, be our teachers and administrators!

And it is possible for you to better meet their needs without giving yourself too much work. Consider trying one or more of these tips:

Tip #1  Cluster-group. When bright kids are listening to a lesson or are in a group activities where their classmates aren’t as bright, they’re often bored and deprived of their right to grow. Less bright kids may feel that no matter how hard they try, they’ll never do as well and so may just give up and let the bright kids carry the load. 

So, as you deem appropriate, for parts of the day, divide the class into groups by ability: how quickly they learn, reason, and sophisticatedly they communicate. Sure it can help kids if you take the time to create separate lessons and activities for each group but that’s time-consuming, although technology, for example a personal device, may make it easy to provide individualized activity. 

The good news is that even if it’s the same lesson or activity, it’s exciting to watch bright kids build off each other rather than be bored and that’s not only good for them but ultimately for society. So, tip #1:  For parts of the school day, consider dividing the class by ability.

Tip #2. Allow bright and gifted students to propose doing a more challenging assignment or activity of their own choosing rather than the regular one. Or you propose one. 

For example, if you’re about to teach a spelling lesson, you might invite bright kids to write a story using the spelling words. If the class is about to work on a worksheet a child feels is too easy, s/he can propose that s/he be allowed to use some educational software on her iPad, Chromebook, whatever. If you’ve assigned making a diorama on the Civil War for homework, a students who wished to, could opt to write a scene and perhaps act it out for the class on the dilemma President Lincoln faced in deciding how to respond to secession. And again, technology may enable you to find assignments that better meet bright and gifted kids’ needs. So, Tip #2:  Allow or give bright and gifted kids an alternate assignment.

Tip #3. For content that some students in your class knows but could use solidifying, occasionally make them your roving assistant teachers, helping the other students with their seatwork on that content. 

For example, if you’ve just taught a lesson on subtraction with regrouping, ask for volunteers to take a 1-question quiz that demonstrates they know it. Or perhaps you already know they know it without having to quiz them. Anyone you deem to sufficiently know the content or concept can volunteer to be your roving assistant teacher for the seatwork on that topic. When other students raise their hand asking for help, one of your “assistant teachers” can go over to the student and try to help. Of course, that must only be done occasionally. Bright and gifted kids deserve to be learning material that’s challenging for them, not just helping slower students. So Tip #3: When kids know a concept before you teach it, occasionally make them your roving teaching assistant.

Tip #4. Have students actually teach a lesson to a group of classmates or even the entire class. If you like that idea, you might, when the rest of the class is doing independent work, teach your would-be “teachers” a lesson on how to teach a lesson. For example, you might teach them a model such as 

1: Tell the class why the lesson is important. 
2. Model what you want them to learn, for example, the scientific method. 
3. Walk them through an example, such as designing an experiment to test whether Coca-Cola really does eat through car paint. 
4. Have them do an example independently.
5. Ask for questions. 
6. Summarize. 

So, Tip 4: Have kids teach lessons to part of or even the entire class. 

Tip #5. As appropriate, allow students to join a higher grade’s class for a given subject(s).

Tip #6. Consider having a child skip one or more grades. Research indicates that can be wise as long as the child is capable and motivated, the receiving teacher enthusiastic, and the child paired with a popular child in the new class  to teach him or her the ropes and help the child make friends.  So, Tip #6: Consider talking with your principal about having a gifted child skip one or more grades. 

You may want to try none, one, even all those six ideas. But we often promise ourselves to do something but forget. So do you want to write down the idea or ideas you want to try? Whatever you try, treat it as experimental. If it doesn’t work, scrap it or perhaps tweak it. 

In any event, thank you for all you do. A great teacher can make all the difference.

If you have a question or comment, email me at mnemko@comcast.net

A Flytrap Business Catches More than Flies

One approach to small-business success is to find an under-the-radar niche. Matt Miller’s Flytrapcare.com is an example.

Starting when he was seven, Matt’s parents took him every year to the Missouri Botanic Garden, where his favorite plants were the carnivores: pitcher plants and especially Venus flytraps. When his family got to the garden’s bookstore, Matt would each year, get a more advanced book on flytraps.

At college and in graduate school (he has a masters in math,) and in his job afterward at Raytheon, flytraps had left his life. But on a visit to Wal-Mart, he happened upon a display of flytraps and bought three.

To try to learn more about flytraps, he searched the Internet but found surprisingly little. So using his books, articles, growing experience, and mathematical mind, Matt started to write about them on a website whose URL was available: flytrapcare.com. He wanted as many people as possible to benefit from his work so he learned search-engine optimization. Today, flytrapcare.com has become the most-visited flytrap site on the Internet.

To make money, Matt sold flytraps on his site. He first got his inventory from other dealers but soon realized he could get flytraps far less expensively if he learned how to clone them using tissue culture. He found kitchenculturekits.com and after a few hundred bucks of supplies, two $600 greenhouses, and some trials and errors, he was making clones of the most desired varieties, for example, the large-trapped B52 and a hybrid he developed himself: Maroon Monster.

Indeed, part of the fun for Matt is developing new varieties by crossing the best existing ones. Because customers love size, he’s even thinking of trying to get progeny by crossing large flytraps with a much larger related species: Drosera Regia Big Easy.

Matt plans to keep growing flytrapcare.com because of the pleasure, the many thank-yous from satisfied customers and posters to his site’s forum, and yes, the money. He’s making a solid middle class living doing what he loves, working from home.

His advice to prospective small business owners: Develop a focus and stay with it.  Perhaps there really is nothing new under the sun---other than a flytrap business.

Get free career advice from me on KGO: Ronn Owens Program

KGO's Ronn Owens after interviewing President Obama

Tomorrow, Thursday, Jan 9, from 11 AM to noon, I'll be making my every couple-month appearance on KGO's Ronn Owens Program. 

The focus will be on offering fresh advice for employees, employers, and on self-employment. And you can call in to the show for my customized advice. From anywhere in the Bay Area, call 8080-810. That will work for all area codes.

My Career and Workplace Predictions and Trends for 2014 and Beyond: Part II

Today, USNews.com published Part II of my career and workplace predictions for 2014 and beyond. HERE is the link.

13 Career and Workplace Trends and Predictions for 2014 and Beyond. Part I

HERE, on USNews.com, is Part I of my 13 career and workplace trends and predictions for 2014 and beyond, including a rundown on how accurate my 2013 predictions were.