Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Bookmarks: Social Class

Who Rules America: Explore the Power Elite

Mapping Poverty in America - The New York Times

Where Americans—Rich and Poor—Spent Every Dollar in 2012 - The Atlantic

In Climbing Income Ladder, Location Matters - NYTimes.com

Inequality is real, personal, expensive, and it was created

Institute for Research on Poverty | University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty

Where the 1 Percent Fit in the Hierarchy of Income - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power

Our Broken Economy, in One Simple Chart - The New York Times

Are you in the US middle class? Try our income calculator | Pew Research Center

Childhood poverty linked to brain changes related to depression

5 facts about the minimum wage | Pew Research Center

Which States Are Givers and Which Are Takers? - The Atlantic

Americans Think Upward Mobility Is Far More Common Than It Really Is - CityLab

Plutocracy Rising | Moyers & Company | BillMoyers.com

Talk Poverty - Real People. Real Stories. Real Solutions.

10 least expensive states to live in the U.S.

Overworked America: 12 Charts That Will Make Your Blood Boil – Mother Jones

The Most and Least Healthy Counties in America - The Atlantic

America's Wealth Is Staggeringly Concentrated in the Northeast Corridor - CityLab

The Minimum Wage Used To Be Enough To Keep Workers Out Of Poverty—It’s Not Anymore: 
Raising It to $10.10 Would Lift a Family of Three Above the Poverty Line | Economic Policy Institute

Who Makes Up The Working Class, in 3 Graphs - CityLab

Peter Temin: Economic Mobility Requires the Nearly Impossible - The Atlantic

http://blogs.census.gov/2014/09/10/how-the-census-bureau-measure

Why the Poor Don't Work, According to the Poor - The Atlantic

Very Sad Graph: How Much Americans Have Left to Spend After Essentials, Today - The Atlantic

NCCP | Budgeting for Basic Needs

Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality

‘Welfare Makes People Lazy’: A Myth That Needs Busting - The Atlantic

The financial impact of winning (and losing) the birth lottery - Mar. 6, 2018

The new gilded age: Income inequality in the U.S. by state, metropolitan area, and county | Economic Policy Institute

Barry Schwartz: The way we think about work is broken | TED Talk

How Many Americans Live in Poverty, and What Does That Actually Mean? (with Lesson Plan) | KQED

Middle-class income rose above $61,000 for the first time last year, U.S. Census Bureau says - The Washington Post

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Coronavirus: on lifting orders

First, I'm not at all into conspiracy. I am though very much into understanding personal and social phenomena with valid and reliable data. I've tried my adult life not to jump to conclusions without good information. In fact, in the face of no good information I'm quite comfortable saying "I don't know" or "based on the information I have..."
I also believe there is tremendous value in making decisions and living life in an informed, mindful manner.
Here's some food for thought. Be very careful how you interpret information being given out by organizations. Most are adept at "branding" and "messaging." That often means you are getting the information they present to you through a marketing filter. What you're being told is what they want you to know in the context of what's good for their organization.
For example: we're in lockdown/quarantine and there's discussion at the federal level about lifting those orders. Without on demand testing and/or a vaccine, what makes going out in public in crowds any different now than a month ago?
Also, there is some data available on infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. But, HOW and WHERE infections are occurring has not been made available to the public. Wouldn't you like to know if there are public places that are showing a trend for contraction of the coronavirus? For example, shouldn't we know if people are contracting the coronavirus by going to drive thrus or the grocery?
I present this food for thought because organizations and agencies are making decisions for you. Are those organizations operating in their best interests or your best interests? Are the decisions to be made based on finances or based on what's best for the health of their employees, clients, or even the general population?
Do your best to stay informed. Your health and the health of your family may depend on it.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

New coronavirus (covid-19) cases in Daviess County, Kentucky


Update: December 15, 2020

In an effort to reach a broader audience, I've been providing regular covid-19 updates on a Facebook Page that I've created. Until further notice those updates are posted to the Facebook Page here: Owensboro: Managing Covid-19

____________________________________________

Update June 10, 2020

My last presentation of local coronavirus data included the addition of the moving average measure. That May 20 post indicated a previous two week decline of covid-19 cases in Owensboro-Daviess County.

Over the past 7-10 days national, state, and some local media have been reporting an increase in cases in several states, including Kentucky. This is precisely why it is important to look at this type of data at the local level.

As of yesterday (June 9th) Owensboro-Daviess County continues to see a stable, declined rate of new cases of coronavirus/covid-19.

*Note: data are not included for several days in late May and a few dates in early June. In late May Governor Andy Beshear 's office changed how they were holding covid-19 media briefings and how they were presenting new case data. I also cannot go back to review any press briefings to retrieve the missing information.

As a matter of record I'd also like to include a link and text of some comments made on Facebook after the Daviess County Judge Executive was brought into discussion. That Facebook post can be found here:  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10159064952081554&set=a.10151591660976554&type=3&theater

The main comment reply I'd like to include follows:

As I draft this comment I first want to note that Arnie tagged Al, not me. I'm not really seeking anything. I understand that so much data can lead to data overload. I'm a Sociologist and dealing with data is part of my profession. All I have done here is taken the only regularly publicly reported local data and graphed it over time. As has been well noted in the public health community, looking at data over time with this particular public health issue is important due to the time of contraction, dispersion, and contagious infection. When I began tracking this data longitudinally (over time) back in mid March there was no public source of Daviess County data available. You are correct Al, the hospital and public health department do post their data on their social media and online. I have not yet though seen it anywhere in longitudinal form. Daily data is certainly useful but what does daily data mean in the context of the previous day, the previous week, or the previous two weeks? And certainly those issues of where we stand in terms of a trend (currently being couched as a 14 day trend) are deemed critical in how political decisions are made regarding social distancing and reopening the economy and society. I asked early on for access to the data but the data at that time was believed to have not been accurate. I respected that conclusion and certainly did not want to get in the way of the very important work that needed to occur locally in the early stages of this pandemic. You and other stakeholders working closely on this issue may very well be discussing the trend among yourselves but I also feel it's very important for the community to see what is the trend. Trend data is being analyzed at the federal and state level. I personally want to know what is going on at the local level because what happens at the state and national level may not reflect local realities. Because I couldn't get access to local public data and because I understand the importance of looking at this longitudinally, I started tracking it with the data for which I had access.

_________________________

Update, May 14, 2020: trend data

Here's a look at the trend lines of 3 2 week segments (6 weeks) of new coronavirus cases in Daviess County.

It's a very stable line for the first four weeks, followed by a spike then a general downturn the past 7 days. This is encouraging.

______________________________

Update, April 25, 2020: trend data



_________________________

Update: As of April 25, 2020 there have been 205 deaths in Kentucky due to the coronavirus. Ninety five (95), or 46% of those deaths stem from people in long term care facilities.


Update: As of April 20, 2020 there have been 154 deaths in Kentucky due to the coronavirus. Fifty nine (59), or 38% of those deaths stem from people in long term care facilities.


Update: As of April 14, 2020, there have been 115 deaths in Kentucky due to the coronavirus. Thirty four (34), or 30% of those deaths stem from people in long term care facilities.

________________________

Looking at data over time (longitudinally) helps us to track the trends in increase, stabilization, or decline in cases. Much of the federal and state level data looks at covid-19 cases longitudinally. Unfortunately, comprehensive, longitudinal public data about coronavirus cases in Owensboro-Daviess County does not exist.

I have collected the following information from watching and recording daily new cases as stated by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear during daily press conferences beginning March 19, 2020.

Because the state data is sometimes updated the following data may or may not reflect exact official numbers for Daviess County.

I fully understand the variety of issues with testing and whether the new cases data accurately reflects the amount of coronavirus infections in the population. But, this is the only publically accessible data that can be examined for trends.

The "Projections" tab below contains the projection for hospitalizations in Daviess County.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Statement regarding proposed Fairness Ordinance

Please note this statement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


Public statement to the Daviess County Fiscal Court, Public Forum on the proposed Fairness Ordinance January 30, 2020


My name is Chad Gesser. I am an Associate Professor of Sociology and have been a full time professor for 16 years of the 25 years I’ve been teaching. I’ve also been a small business owner for the past 10 years.

I am here speaking this evening out of a sense of obligation. I have been fortunate for the past 25 years to be able to engage with students in the classroom, mostly introducing them to my field of study: Sociology. For those that do not know, sociology is the study of society. My field of study is built on a body of research and we examine all topics relative to be human, to be in society.

My sense of obligation centers around my areas of specialty, which include culture, inequality, and community. Over the past 20 years inequality has been a central focus of my field of study, particularly in the United States.

I teach a course entitled Inequality in Society. During that class, which lasts about 4 ½ months, we cover in great detail subject matter central to inequality in society. These topics include race, social class, gender, and sexual preference.

At the heart of each of these topics are the topics of prejudices, stereotypes, discrimination, and institutional prejudice and discrimination. On the surface these topics appear emotionally charged. The benefit that I and the students have in the classroom setting is that we are intentionally there to study these topics. As a result, my classes are always thoughtful, detailed, conversive, and frankly rewarding. Students find this class helpful in their understanding of people that may be different than the groups they belong to. Students also gain insight on topics central to inequality.

I would like to share a couple of insights from my professional experience that bear on topics relative to this evening’s public hearing.

First, culture has changed drastically over the past 20 years. As a result, people from different age groups increasingly have difficulty relating to one another. At the same time, community life has also become quite diverse.

For example, according to a 2019 report by the Pew Research Center, in 2004 only 31% of the American public approved of same sex marriage. In 2019 that number grew to 61%. When we look at those that indicate they oppose or approve of gay marriage over the past 16 years, the data actually are flipped flop over time. I bring up this particular point of information because for me, with my students, it stands as one of the most remarkable shifts in public opinion in the modern era. This is also relevant because of age groups. I mentioned this earlier. Many of us in this room grew up in an era where there was non acceptance of members of the LGBTQ community. I’m here to tell you that fact is not my fault, and it’s not your fault. But, culture and the times have changed.

When I cover this material with my students (certainly those of the younger generation) there often is a sense of relief. The students are glad to hear that their acceptance of members of the LGBTQ community is not a behavior that is inconsistent with the acceptance or lack thereof in the country. Young people feel the community does not represent their standards and values of acceptance.

We don’t have to look to national information to chart the acceptance of members of the LGBTQ community. As you know, many Kentucky communities have adopted fairness ordinances prohibiting LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. These include Louisville (1999), Lexington (1999), Covington (2003), Vicco (2013), Frankfort (2013), Morehead (2013), Danville (2014), Midway (2015), Paducah (2018), and Maysville (2018), Henderson (2019), Dayton (2019), Georgetown (2019), and Versailles (2019). Given the movement of these fairness ordinances, communities that overtly choose not to enact these protections do in fact give voice to prejudice and discrimination at the individual and the policy level. I do believe this is a very important consideration as you reflect upon your decision of this ordinance. What will you be saying to the public, to other communities, to businesses, if you choose not to pass this ordinance?

I now want to speak from a different vantage point. I’m married and have been for 22 years to my lovely and inspiring wife Susan. We are both from Owensboro-Daviess County. We have four children: ages 19, 15, 12, and 5. We are also both practicing Catholics, and our family are members of Sts. Joseph and Paul Parish.

I believe that in part I represent the silent majority. I’m not on either extreme of this “debate.” While I believe in the dignity of each person, regardless of race, gender, social class, and sexual preference, I also understand that your decision is a political one. Politics is not always moral, it’s not always ethical, it’s not always fair. What I do know is that culture has changed. We as a population of people are different now than we were 30 years ago, 20 years ago, even 10 years ago.

Be careful to hear only the extremes, and consider doing what is right not for you but for the good of this community and its future.

Monday, January 20, 2020

On MLK and Dignity

My family's background in justice was pivotal in both my educational and career trajectory. My graduate studies centered on culture and development. I've been teaching Sociology since 1993 and certainly over that time topics related to race, gender, social class, and sexuality have been at the center. Since 2006 I've taught Inequality in Society, and it is through this work in the classroom with students that my perspectives on inequality have come clearer in focus.

In the fall of 2014 I was approached by colleague Dr. Lewatis McNeal about speaking at the upcoming MLK Day event on our campus. Dr. McNeal was part of a local planning committee for the event. I frankly was stunned. What business does a white male have in giving the keynote address at this prestigious community event? Lewatis and I did know each other but I tend to think he knew something about me that others did not know: that I had an educational background similar to Dr. King, and that I had a unique interest in race and equality. Now, each MLK Day I share through my social media the transcript of Dr. King from Morehouse College, where he majored in Sociology and took the following courses: Introduction to Sociology, Contemporary Social Trends in America, Social Anthropology, Intercultural Relations, Social Institutions, Social Legislation, Statistics, Principles and Methods of Statistics, and a Seminar in Sociology:


Dr. McNeal and I did discuss that in our initial meeting, and I did accept the incredible honor of speaking that January 2015, to commemorate MLK. That invitation and that presentation stands as one of the highlights of my life and career. So much so that each MLK Day I do find myself reflecting even more on his life and how my life and work relates to his.

Below is the presentation I used that day (I've removed two slides from the original because they included links to sources that no longer function):


This year on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day I'm stuck in reflection on many things. I would not consider myself an MLK Scholar, but my daughter is an official one at the University of Louisville. She's on scholarship there as a MLK Scholar, and it stands as a huge badge of honor for her, for me, and our family. We were both very excited to be able to visit the MLK Memorial together in March of 2019.

My daughter Jackie and I at the MLK Memorial, Washington, D.C. March 2019

And now, dignity


While I'm a fan of Bob Dylan and his catalog I'm certainly not well versed on his variety of albums and songs. I believe I only became first aware of this song "Dignity" not too long after he performed on MTV's Unplugged in 1994. His pronunciation of the word dignity simply was enough for me to fall in love with the song and its subject matter. I was an early graduate student in sociology in 1994 and was pursuing topics related to dignity.

What Dylan speaks to is the various circumstances where one looks for dignity. Dylan suggests everyone is looking for dignity, even in the most unlikely of places. Dignity is not simplified, and as Dylan attests, sometimes dignity cannot be found. For example:

"Got no place to fade, got no coat
I'm on the rollin' river in a jerkin' boat
Tryin' to read a note somebody wrote
About dignity

Sick man lookin' for the doctor's cure
Lookin' at his hands for the lines that were
And into every masterpiece of literature
For dignity"

As I reflect today on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day I can't help but to think about dignity. King was deeply concerned about dignity. He thought about it, studied it, and it was a deeply spiritual conviction. Dignity is found sprinkled throughout his famous quotes, and certainly it was at the heart of his movement for equal rights.

MLK Memorial, March 2019
In light of the political climate related to topics of equality and rights (both local and national) over the past few years, I found myself in a moment in March 2019 while visiting the Lincoln Memorial. There I thought about Lincoln, and what he would think about the state of politics and our culture. As I stood at the top of the steps, I turned around and reflected on Dr. King's "I have a dream speech," given in front of 250,000 people across the Washington Mall.


Today in 2020, I continue to think regularly about these topics. I continue to teach about them, and I continue to work to live in such a manner as to personally respect the rights of every person. I too find myself thinking about my own dignity. Where do I find dignity? How do I get dignity? Dignity belongs to everyone, even in the smallest of ways. Dignity can take the form of introspection of self, of others, in interaction, in inaction, in culture, and in society.

But doesn't dignity seem lost within modern life? Even the consideration of dignity is complicated. I do think Bob Dylan's "Dignity" is particularly poignant in this regard. It is perhaps through this type of art that this importance in life and living can be accessed.

Dr. King's consideration of dignity took many forms. It took the form of dignity by recognition of the rights of others: through race, social class, creed. And yet access to dignity can exist in so many other contexts of human interaction and form. And the consideration of dignity is not just when it's convenient. It's now, and it's all the time. This underlies the challenge posed to every person by Dr. King. Not only where does one find dignity, but how do our interactions, our culture, and our society provide a context for which others too can have access and find dignity?

I do not underestimate the importance of the emotional, intellectual, and relationship work of the recognition of dignity. I think it took Martin Luther King, Jr.'s early life experiences and his studies of topics related to dignity for him to then to have found the courage to act out his principles in real time: in interactions, with others, and in society. No, he absolutely was not perfect. And getting access to the subject of dignity is not always a straight shot or linear. But it became to be his effort, his work.

Let's continue to take that intention forward in our personal lives, in our interactions with others. It takes work, it takes time. Keep at it.

Chad Gesser

Monday, November 25, 2019

A brief word about organization of this blog

I became employed in fields related to Sociology in the early 2000s. I produced several documents and was involved in public health planning and evaluation from the early 2000s to 2006. Some of that work was put online as an effort to create more awareness for local and regional constituencies. I look to post some of that work through this blog.

I began blogging in late 2004. I started with The Owensboro Blog and The Sociology Blog. Both blogs will still exist but I've merged both of those blogs (along with a couple of other personal blogs) into this one. Of those posts that have been merged many remain in their original form. I prefer them this way to maintain historical perspective and as a record of that work originating 15 years ago. As a result some posts have missing links and wording consistent with those blogs. As someone that has been involved in social media and social networking since its explosion on the internet scene, I do like to go back in time as a way of sharing with students the early days of web 2.0.

A major benefit of a blog is the ability to organize content by labels and by date. You'll see in this blog I have a label for each blog post to better organize the content for myself and for any readers. 

My intention is to provide a broad array of course content and links to that material through the labeling of posts. I will also organize my perspectives, random content, photography, and all other subject matter by way of labels. At the time of this posting there are over 350 posts with labels. Much of that work was short form posts designed to provide focused material for students.

Lastly, the writing style varies quite a bit throughout these blog posts. This reflects the purpose of posts in the past, how I used several different blogs, and my how my writing may change in future posts. Expect variety as you may peruse through this blog.

Purpose of this blog as of November 2019

I plan to use this blog as a space for many things. It will bring together mid to long form ideas and content relative to my career in Sociology, to teaching, to my family, to my DJ and related work, to new ideas and projects, and as a place for me to breathe life into more random mid to long form content. But ultimately this blog will exist in conjunction with several online services as a way for me to provide a narrative to my life. I do not plan on regular posts. I will use Facebook, Instagram, and perhaps Twitter for that. More long form content though will show up on this blog, but it will be irregular.

When I began dabbling in music production then DJing, my intent was to get myself involved in something that did not have an end goal in mind. It was a creative endeavor with no expectations. It however quickly morphed into something more. However, I’ve been very open and intent on keeping the original purpose of my entertainment work in mind: for creativity, and for fun.

I’m approaching this blog with a very similar intent. I plan to use it to serve as the mid to long form narrative for many things. Developing this portion of my website is not for the intent of monetization. Meaning, I’m not doing this for money. I’m not opposed to that happening, and I could see in places where it could. With the availability of so many wonderful digital services, look at this blog, website, and web presence as something like a modern, rich media book. Yes, I’ve thought about writing a book, but find this approach to be much more editable, with a host of possibilities, and more interesting. I have been using Google and its applications for years. I have a whole trove of content in Google Drive, in Google Photos, and on YouTube. I look to integrate some of that in a more public, digestable form.

The newer content I look to share on this blog will be related to ideas and experiences, and perhaps as a way to flesh out new projects. I also will use this blog as a way to provide deeper sociological analysis of key local, state, national, and perhaps national issues. I want to develop the sociology portion of this blog so as to integrate classroom sociology with public sociology. I’m excited to share with the broader public some of my work and insights on a host of sociologically related content.

I also look to share perspectives on parenting, marriage, creativity, and other topics. Lastly, I look to use this blog as a model for others with similar ideas they’d like to get up off the ground. While I’m both a public and private person, I do like to share my narrative on my own terms. This blog will help to develop my life narrative, in my voice.