Tying in with the previous discussion about fairness vs. equality, you might find this piece at Vox.com by Fabiola Cineas on chronic absenteeism by public school students K-12 interesting:
Before the pandemic, during the 2015–16 school year, an estimated 7.3 million students were deemed “chronically absent,†meaning they had missed at least three weeks of school in an academic year. (According to the US Department of Education, there were 50.33 million K-12 students that year.) After the pandemic, the number of absent students has almost doubled.
Chronic absenteeism increased in every state where data was made public, and in Washington, DC, between the last pre-pandemic school year, 2018–19, and the 2021–22 school year, according to data from Future Ed, an education think tank. Locations with the highest increases saw their rates more than double. In California, for example, the pre-pandemic chronic absenteeism rate stood at 12.1 percent in 2018–19 and jumped to 30 percent in the 2021–22 school year. New Mexico experienced one of the largest increases, with the rate jumping from 18 percent before the pandemic to 40 percent after the pandemic.
I believe that should be considered in conjunction with the Department of Education’s findings on chronic absenteeism:
What is the relation between chronic absenteeism and fairness and equality? Unless you believe there is no relationship whatsoever between actions and outcomes there is quite a bit. My own belief is that the difference is mostly social and one of expectations—those of the students, their parents, their teachers, etc.
In Norway the rate of chronic absenteeism is lower than it is here but just about the same as the rate of chronic absenteeism among white Americans.
Consider Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan. He’s not the beneficiary of multi-generational inherited wealth. His family did work in the financial sector since before they emigrated from Greece nearly a century ago. When they came over here they had nothing except ambition and the conviction that working in the financial sector was their goal. Working in the financial sector is a pretty good way to become wealthy if that’s your goal. He attended a top prep school, then a top tier non-Ivy college, then went to work in the financial sector, then got an MBA from Harvard Business while working in the financial sector. Now he’s one of the richest people in the country. Had he and his ancestors skipped school he might be waiting on tables.
It’s even worse, Dave. Immigrants are being given a selective pass on absenteeism.
They are being done a disservice.
But hey, future candidates for inequality arguments and promises in exchange for votes.
A key point: unless we are willing to impose additional taxes to pay for additional spending, trying to ameliorate income inequality through government benefits is doomed to failure. The benefits will always lag behind inflation and without increasing aggregate product additional spending by extending additional credit to ourselves (borrowing) will result in more inflation. We have shown little inclination to pay for additional spending through increased taxes.
“When they came over here they had nothing except ambition and the conviction that working in the financial sector was their goal”
Not true. They had experience working in the financial sector and had that experience, human capital, to pass on to Dimon. His grandfather was a banker. His father was an executive VP at American Express. Note that his grandfather changed his last name from Papademetriou to Dimon for fear someone with a Greek name might not get hired. He was fortunate he did not need to change his race or religion. I am sure Damon worked hard, is smart, etc, but lets face it he had about an easy a path as you can get. Someone equally smart and hard working but coming from a poor family doesnt get to go to a spiffy private prep school.
Steve
Steve
Your interpretation is different from mine. Let’s use another example: you. You graduated from college with good grades, took the MedCATs and got a good score, applied and got into a med school, worked extremely long hours like a dog as an intern, became a resident, and then became, I think, an anaesthesiologist.
How successful would you have been if you had skipped high school?
Chronic absenteeism is a choice and it’s a bad one. It limits later choices. Finishing high school is not an indication of privilege. If it’s “acting white” then a lot more people should be acting white. Maybe some people think that’s white supremacy. I think it’s doing what you need to do to achieve your life goals.
And that’s how the Dimons strike me: people who knew how to check all the right boxes to achieve their goals:
change name to something less Greek–check
attend a toney prep school–check
get into an elite college–check
have connections at a brokerage–check
work at a brokerage–check
get an MBA from a top school–check
“Worked in a bank” can mean anything from was the owner of a bank to a janitor of a bank. What a vice presidency means depends on the corporate culture. It can mean anything from an office manager to the COO.
The REAL story is how Jamie Dimon’s grandfather became a stockbroker. I think he probably did whatever he needed to do. He doesn’t scream “Privilege!” to me. He sounds like an ambitious guy to me.
To Dave’s point, you practically have a do loop. Even if we were able to politically charge those taxes, that’s a transfer of resources from the private sector to the public. In this country, that’s a recipe for lower output.
A society can decide it wants to be civil, and provide a safety net. That’s doable. But to redistribute national income on a scale to satisfy the last zealots notion of fairness is to doom the society to a creaking, groaning terribly suboptimal mess.
Further, societies that dictate such confiscation and redistribution tend to be authoritarian. See: Africa and S America.
People dont just magically decide to check all the boxes. You have to know which ones to check and then have the means to do so. My mother, probably the very large majority of mothers, wouldn’t have known anything about Weill or Shearson and it would never occurred to her to write him. Even if the thought occurred she wouldn’t have known how or been able to figure it out. Most kids cant afford to go to a spiffy private school.
The US being a big place I have no doubt there were others kids just as smart and just as willing to work hard as Dimon, but their family didnt have the resources to help them get there. Their families didnt have the forethought to get rid of a funny name or they couldn’t change the way they looked. Since the topic is fairness, is that fair? We dont know much about Dimon’s grandfather but I agree that with what we know it doesnt should like privilege, but Jamie? He still needed to be smart, he needed to work hard but his path was about as easy as it gets. His family resources, money and human capital, put him 3rd base, he just needed to figure out how to get home. (Please let me emphasize again that I am not claiming Dimon didnt work hard or isn’t smart. He did and is, he just had it easier and didnt face the negatives that might have arbitrarily kept him from succeeding. He wasn’t a woman. He wasn’t a minority. He wasn’t ugly. He wasn’t an atheist or a Muslim. Heck, he is 6 foot tall. What were his chances if he was 5’2″?
Steve
Steve
Short people got no reason
Short people got no reason
Short people got no reason
To live
They got little hands
And little eyes
And they walk around
Tellin’ great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes
On their nasty little feet
Well, I don’t want no short people
Don’t want no short people
Don’t want no short people
‘Round here
Short people are just the same
As you and I
(A fool such as I)
All men are brothers
Until the day they die
(It’s a wonderful world)
Short people got nobody
Short people got nobody
Short people got nobody
To love
They got little baby legs
And they stand so low
You got to pick ’em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars
That got beep, beep, beep
They got little voices
Goin’ peep, peep, peep
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They’re gonna get you every time
Well, I don’t want no short people
Don’t want no short people
Don’t want no short people
‘Round here