As we segregate by income into different communities, schools in lower-income areas have fewer resources than ever.
Robert ReichRead
A lot of attention has been going to social values - abortion, gay rights, other divisive issues - but economic values are equally important.
Interpretation
Economic values are as crucial as social values in contemporary discussions.
In the quote, Robert Reich emphasizes that while various social issues such as abortion and gay rights dominate public discourse, it is vital to recognize that economic values also play a significant role in societal welfare and justice. He suggests a more balanced perspective that integrates both social and economic dimensions in discussions of societal progress and policy making.
In practice
In a debate about public policy, I referenced Robert Reich's quote to highlight the importance of considering economic factors.
As we segregate by income into different communities, schools in lower-income areas have fewer resources than ever.
What are called 'public schools' in many of America's wealthy communities aren't really 'public' at all. In effect, they're private schools, whose tuition is hidden away in the purchase price of upscale homes there, and in the corresponding property taxes.
What someone is paid has little or no relationship to what their work is worth to society.
Tax laws favor capital over labor, giving capital gains a lower rate than ordinary income. The rich get humongous mortgage interest deductions while renters get no deduction at all.
The dirty little secret is that both houses of Congress are irrelevant. ... America's domestic policy is now being run by Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve, and America's foreign policy is now being run by the International Monetary Fund [IMF]. ...when the president decides to go to war, he no longer needs a declaration of war from Congress.
You can't inspire people if you are going to be uninspiring.
We announce the birth of a conceptual country, NEWTOPIA. Citizenship of the country can be obtained by declaration of your awareness of NEWTOPIA. NEWTOPIA has no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people. NEWTOPIA has no laws other than cosmic. All people of NEWTOPIA are ambassadors of the country. As two ambassadors of NEWTOPIA, we ask for diplomatic immunity and recognition in the United Nations of our country and our people.
The way you really find out about the performer's seriousness about the cause is how long they stay with it when the spotlight gets turned off. You see a lot of celebrities switch gears. They go from the environment to animal rights to obesity or whatever. That I don't have a lot of respect for.
Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free.
The spiritual life is a stern choice. It is not a consoling retreat from the difficulties of existence; but an invitation to enter fully into that difficult existence, and there apply the Charity of God and bear the cost.
But the big feature of human-level intelligence is not what it does when it is works but what it does when it's stuck.
Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.
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