FIRST ARTICLE

David Brooks The New York Times

How Racist Is America?

⁃ African American experience: barriers to opportunity are still very high, the
income gap separating white and Black families was basically as big in 2016 as it was
in 1968. The wealth gap separating white and Black households grew even bigger
between those years
⁃ Black adults are over 16 times more likely to be in families with three
generations of poverty than white adults.
⁃ in 2004, researchers sent equally qualified white and Black applicants to job
interviews in New York City, dressed them similarly and gave them similar things to
say, Black applicants got half as many callbacks or job offers as whites.
⁃ „systemic racism”: a set of structures, like redlining, that have a devastating
effect on Black wealth and opportunities, racism is not something we are gently
moving past; it’s pervasive
⁃ as Bloomberg’s Noah Smith pointed out recently on his Substack page,
Hispanic American incomes rose faster in recent years than those of any other
major group in America. 45% of Hispanics who grew up in poverty made it to
the middle class or higher, comparable to the mobility rate for whites.
⁃ Hispanics have lately made astounding gains in education. In 2000, more than
30 percent of Hispanics dropped out of high school. By 2016, only 10 percent did. In
1999, a third of Hispanics age 18 to 24 were in college; now, nearly half are. Hispanic
college enrollment rates surpassed white enrollment rates in 2012: a period of struggle
followed by integration into the middle class
⁃ A study by scholars from Princeton, Stanford and the University of California
at Davis: today’s children of immigrants are no slower to move up to the middle class
than the children of immigrants 100 years ago. It almost doesn’t matter whether their
parents came from countries from which immigrants are mainly fleeing misery and
poverty, or from countries from which immigrants often arrive with marketable skills,
children of poor immigrants have higher rates of upward mobility than the children of
the native-born.
⁃ Almost every immigrant group in American history has faced hardship. It just
means that education and mobility can help overcome some of the effects of this bias,
immigrant groups are largely doing well because they come to places where
opportunity is plentiful. They are not so much earning more than those around them,
but earning more along with those around them.
⁃ A landmark 2015 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering
and Medicine: the lives of immigrants and their children are converging with those of
their native-born neighbors, in good ways and bad. This pattern applies to how well
educated they are, where they live, what language they speak, how their health is and
how they organize their families
⁃ A study by a Brown University sociologist found that Mexican immigrants are
learning English at increasingly higher rates and growing less isolated from non-
Mexican Americans.
⁃ Rising intermarriage rates: 2017 Pew Research Center report: about 29 percent
of Asian American newlyweds are married to someone of a different race or ethnicity,
as well as 27 percent of Hispanic newlyweds. The intermarriage rates for white and
Black people have roughly tripled since 1980. More than 35 percent of Americans say
that one of their “close” kin is of a different race.
⁃ Blending identities: The researchers Richard Alba, Morris Levy and Dowell
Myers: 52 percent of the people who self-categorize as nonwhite in the Census
Bureau’s projections for America’s 2060 racial makeup will also think of themselves
as white. Forty percent of those who self-categorized as white will also claim minority
racial identity.
⁃ an essay for The Atlantic: “Speculating about whether America will have a
white majority by the mid-21st century makes little sense, because the social
meanings of white and nonwhite are rapidly shifting”
⁃ some people have issues with the phrase “people of color.” How could a
category that covers a vast majority of all human beings have much meaning?
⁃ Writing in GQ, Damon Young argues that the term “people of color” has
become a linguistic gesture, “shorthand for white people uncomfortable with just
saying ‘Black.’
⁃ immigrants blend with the current inhabitants, keeping parts of their earlier
identities and adopting parts of their new identities, intermingling of groups is not
replacing America; it is America.
⁃ blending and fluidity
⁃ Raj Chetty and his team at Opportunity Insights have done much of the most
celebrated work on income mobility. They find that, indeed, Black Americans and
Native Americans have much lower rates of mobility because of historic
discrimination
⁃ structural racism and the truth that America is a land of opportunity for an
astounding diversity of groups from around the world

SECOND ARTICLE

The Economist 2021 (autor not given)

America is becoming less racist but more divided by racism

(How it confronts ethnic divisions matters to multiracial democracies
everywhere)

This article focuses on the famous case of the murder of George Floyd by policeman
Derek Chauvin. It also gives some statistics about police brutality towards whites and
minorities such as blacks. However, the main focus of the article is the changes in
the society concerning topic of racism.

Chauvin:
- Knelt on Floyd’s neck
- Had been disciplinted twice for miscounduct and had 17 complaints against
him
- Convicted of murder on April 21st
Floyd:
- Unarmed
- Had been arrested before multiple times
Some nice to remember statistics when it comes to police brutality in America:
- Police kill over 1,000 people a year! ¾ of them are armed victims. Sorted by
race, more whites die like this than any other group.
- Black Americans (13% of the population) are over twice as likely to be killed
by the police!!!!!!!

Aftermath of murdering Floyd:

- 7,750 protests in over 2,440 places in every state
- Black Lives Matter protests in Brazil, France, Japan, New Zealand etc.
- English footballers took a knee before games

Of course, the main problem of America was/still is racism.

- Sogiological observation by Cynthia Duncan: “(in 1990s) when black describe
white person who doesn’t seem racist, they describe him/her as HE/SHE
TREATED ME LIKE PERSON

However, 30 years later, there are some changes in the attitudes of modern
society:
- 90% of Americans approve of mixed-race marriage.
- Belief that prejudices are no longer widely accepted
- More than 10% of babies born in America are now mixed-race
- Since 2019, non-Hispanic children have been in a minority in America
- African-Americans think there is less racial discrimination than there was;
in 1985 ¾ of A-A thought that the fact that whites had better jobs, wages
and houses was mainly down to discrimination – it has changed. Now less
than 50% think that. Instead, they think it is because of ‘lack of will’
- Rise of awareness of racism after such tragic events as Floyd’s assassination,
police brutality, mass-shooting at a black church in South Carolina
- Now whites think that black Americans have worse wages, jobs etc. Are
due to discrimination! IMPORTANT CHANGE. Whites who thought that
governement should give no special treatment to A-A shrank down by a
third in six years.

RACISM IS RATED MORE IN GALLUP’S RATING MORE THAN HEALTH

CARE, POVERTY, CRIME, THE ENVIRONMENT OR NATIONAL SECURITY.
Great Awokening on race – a term made by a journalist Matt Yglesias after Barack
Obama’s election.

QUOTE: “America’s taks now is to make multiracial politics work without setting
groups against each other.”
The Economist: Is there any truth to the idea of “Midwestern nice”?
 It all depends on how we measure the ‘’niceness” of the regions
 “Midwestern nice” according to the article is allegedly; overly apologetic, kind even to
strangers, avoiding confrontations
 When it comes to volunteering; two out of five cities with the highest rates of volunteering
are located in Midwest, which would suggest it is indeed pretty nice but the article suggests
that volunteering requires free time and goodwill, so the results are inconclusive
 “Minnesota nice” as the zenith of niceness in Midwest
 A study conducted with the use of Facebook and other social media concluded that people
from middle America have treats that make them most agreeable and friendly but also more
conservative overall
 When it comes to charity; southern states are the most charitable so one could argue that
they are the nicest but most of their charities go to churches and Alabama (which gives over
5% of their income to charity) is the most religious state
 In conclusion; the article presented three ways of measuring niceness. Volunteering;
Midwest, personality traits; ‘Middle America’ (I think they’re referring to Midwest) and
charitability; the South (most importantly Alabama)

The Economist: A region with outsized punch

First part of the article

 ‘America’s Midwest matters out of proportion to its size, says Adam Roberts’
 The article mentions two events connected to the Midwest; Midwestern states contributed
to Trump’s winning the election and Midwest is where George Floyd was murdered by the
police, spiking racial debate across the America and the entire world
 The Midwest is full of swing states – in those states there is no fixed formula on how the
citizens would vote (unlike e.g. the South where it is mostly red) and the outcome is not
easily predictable and so they have enormous power over the presidential candidates that
treat those states as their battleground
 The Midwest is also deeply racially divided. The article states that the police is ill-trained and
the protestors want to highlight that. For this region to flourish again they have to overcome
those divisions (according to the article the whole of America won’t until the Midwest does)
 The article also talks about how the Midwest grew from industrialism and stuff but then
declined but then bounced back
 The region is developing and it is expected that it will gain more people living in big
metropolises
 Some towns are now the beacons of liberalism, marihuana has been legalised in Illinoi (so
people are being realised from jail), election of a Muslim woman as Congresswoman, an
African-American lesbian has been elected as a major of Chicago and all the good stuff
 The article raises the issue of Covid-19 and Trump’s being the reason for less dynamic
development of the region and no incoming immigrants
 It also puts emphasis on cities in the Midwest as the places, which the region should focus
on
Second part of the article
 For Midwesterners Midwest is not only about geography but also values
 A long ass description of the Midwest, it is kinda hard to cut things out so I strongly
recommend reading this part of the article (or read the general info about this region you
received in classes)
 The point is, Midwest does not have the efficient institutional structures and if it wants to
grow it needs to focus on urbanism
1.LOS ANGELES TIMES

Essential Politics: War in Ukraine scrambles GOP and Democratic strategies for midterms
Ten artykuł to serio mess bo porusza się tu w chuj kwestii ale ok

CZĘŚĆ 1 TEGO ARTYKUŁU

An overwhelming issue

 The domestic political impact of the war in Ukraine — now in its third week
— has scrambled the two parties’ strategies going into this year’s midterm
elections.

 President Biden and the Democrats, who have been tracking toward a
significant defeat, attention to a foreign crisis could provide a badly needed
shakeup of the campaign debate.

 "As a general rule, Americans do not vote on foreign policy unless

American men and women are dying in a war, but we have rarely had an
international event not involving the United States directly that has so
totally consumed our news and attention as the Russian invasion of
Ukraine,"

 ."This war has become symbolic for the survival of democratic regimes
against authoritarian dictatorships,"

 National security and foreign policy had jumped to the top of American
concerns, tied with jobs and the economy, displacing worries about the
coronavirus and inflation, the poll found. That

 That level of attention makes the Ukraine war the kind of event that could
significantly shift U.S.politics
  Usually the midterm elections were awful for the president’s party but
there were two instances where it was not the case: when voters rejected
Republican efforts to impeach President Clinton and Democrats gained
four seatsand when Republicans under President George W. Bush gained
seats in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001.

 But Biden is not close to this kind of midterm success unless his decisions
are seen as good.

 Biden is seen as not a good leader and this is the moment to maybe change
that.

 For now, the war has provided Democrats with at least a talking point to
use on one of their other problems the inflation that has swept through the
U.S.economy.

 The House vote to support the import ban reinforces the polling on
another impact of the war the degree to which Republicans have rejected
former President Trump's favorable attitude toward Putin.

CZĘŚĆ 2 TEGO ARTYKUŁU

Harris in Eastern Europe

 The visit of Kamala Harris in Poland

 How is Poland coping with the war in Ukraine

 Harris said about the potential of commiting war crimes (bombing of the
hospital) in Ukraine by Russians which is really important as she’s high level
US official
  When asked why won’t the US bring MIG planes from Poland to Ukraine
the response was

 “We’re in a very challenging position, where we are obviously providing

enormous amounts of support to Ukraine as we should and need to do, but
at the same time trying not to escalate the conflict into a full-on NATO or
U.S. war with Russia,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the
senators.

CZĘŚĆ 3 TEGO ARTYKUŁU

Jan. 6 investigation

 How is the investigation on the attack of the capitol going.

 People are being sentenced, some still waiting in custody for trail, most of
them for the assault on police officers.

 There’s loads and loads of evidence, audio recordings and photos.

 John Eastman who advised Trump to overturn the results has been fighting
to prevent the committee from seeing more than 100 emails involving him.

 The judge rejected the appeal.

CZĘŚĆ 4 TEGO ARTYKUŁU (NO TO DALEJ JEDEN ARTYKUŁ XDD)

The latest from Washington

 Inflation surged in February to a new four-decade high with the cost of

gasoline and other consumer goods and services climbing at an
accelerating pace.
  Rising costs remain a top issue for the White House, which is trying to blunt
Republican attacks.

 The White House plans to impose new sanctions on North Korea over two
recent missile tests

 The House on Wednesday (idk what Wednesday dont mind me) approved a
$1.5-trillion spending bill to keep the government’s doors open for the next
six months as well as send $13.6 billion in humanitarian and military aid to
Ukraine.

 Biden announced Thursday that he will name Colombia as a major non-

NATO ally, a significant recognition as the United States tries to undercut
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s influence in Latin America

 The special status has been given to only two other Latin American nations
— Argentina and Brazil — and signals a close relationship between the
United States and countries not part of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization.

CZĘŚĆ 5 I OSTATNIA
The latest from California

 A senator from Iowa wants to delay a senate vote to make Eric Garcetti- LA
mayor an ambassador of India so the case of sexual harassment in his office
can be investigated (he allegedly knew about it and did nothing)

 Garcetti’s office denied the allegations saying that Garcetti has already
testified and he stands by his words
  With violent crime in Los Angeles near a decade high, several leading
candidates for mayor are campaigning on promises to put more police
officers on the streets

 The war in Ukraine has also influenced local election in LA

 Mark Barabak’s latest column looks at how big money has roiled the
politics of a small city. The city is Benecia, in the Bay Area. The money is
mostly from Valero, the big oil refining company that is the city’s largest
employer. And the target has been Steve Young, the city’s 70-year-old
mayor. It’s a cautionary tale about money, politics and the decline of local
news coverage.

2.

STARTINGPOINT

IN DEFENSE OF THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM

Sukhayl Niyazov
One of the most widely criticized elements of America's political system is its winner-take-
all, first-past-the-post principle that leads to the domination of two political parties.
"The Two-Party System Broke the Constitution," writes The Atlantic.
In the 2016 presidential election, many voters on both left and right were dissatisfied with
their respective parties' presidential nominees.
But in a system with proportional representation, even if a party in power is thrown out
from government by a majority of citizens in the next election, it could still cling to power by
forming a coalition with a smaller party. (Main point the guy makes is basically the third
party would have too much power in a sense of making coalitions)
Unlike other alternatives, the two-party system makes it possible for voters to signal their
views as to the effectiveness and desirability of the government's policies. (his words not
mine)
The hallmark of every rational system should be the ability of voters to dispose of ineffective
government and by extension policies, peacefully.
The increase in the number of parties makes it much more difficult for voters to remove bad
leaders and punish them for bad policies, potentially leading to a tyranny of the minority,
where the third-largest parties exert disproportionate influence.
Ironically, a system that is supposed to allocate influence to a party based on the number of
votes it receives gives a disproportionate amount of power to the third-largest parties.
As David Deutsch writes, in a proportional system, what counts most is not the changes in
public opinion but "changes in the opinion of the leader of the third-largest party.
 Foreign Policy

The Economist: “How Joe Biden is reshaping America’s Global Role”

 Biden’s policy is nothing like Trump’s nor Obama’s

 Hillary Clinton (a secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 under Barack Obama) tried to warm
relations with Russia (through Sergei Lavrov)— the red button with the word “reset” in
Cyrillic as a gift to the Russian foreign minister (the word in fact was “overload”) - happened
it 2009

 Trump pursued his own version of reset with Vladimir Putin - he joked with him about him
(Putin) and Russian election interference being attracted to each other

 Biden has called Putin a killer without a soul, however, he still wants to work with him

 Biden’s aides stress they’re working with allies and partners - being clear-eyed (not like
Trump) and step aways from naivety in seeking peace (against what Obama tried to do;
Obama sought a reset with Russia, negotiated an imperfect nuclear deal with Iran and
welcomed the rise of China

 Biden abandoned the 20-year was in Afghanistan

 Biden attempts a two-track policy — on the one hand he resists such regimes as human-rights
abuses or transnational meddling, but on the second hand he works with them when their
interests overlap with America’s

 John Sullivan - appointed ambassador to Moscow

 Bill Burns - the director of the CIA and former ambassador to Moscow

 Antony Blinken - the secretary of state and former deputy national security adviser

 America has not had a president so steeped in foreign affairs in 30 years.

 America finally, after 12 years, stands up to Russia and Putin - Biden is very careful not to be
too close to Putin but also not too far from him
  Biden imposed sanction on Russia (2021), mainly, for interfering in the 2020 American
election; EU and the UK were ready with statements of support once he did it

 Daniel fried commented that Americana administrations have had a tendency to either “reset”
or to draw a hard line across the board when it comes to the relationship with Russia; he says
that Biden has given himself room to work with Putin without any possible dangers

 Biden didn’t want Russia to react with aggression to the sanctions but rather to respond
appropriately - Russia said it would expel ten American diplomats and banned eight current
and former American officials from entering Russia (the appropriate way)

 Biden pledged (during his campaign) that he would revive the nuclear deal with Iran
(negotiated by Obama, broken off by trump); the negotiations are continuing, but nevertheless
Biden would like to retain some Trump sanctions

 Biden accused Chinese government of genocide, nevertheless, America and China will work
together on an issue of climate change

 Japan’s prime minister, Suga Yoshihide - the first visitor to the White House; they talked
about the stability across the Taiwan Strait, which China didn’t like

Biden seeks to strike not just a theoretical balance but actual compromises between an idealist’s hopes
and a realist’s expectations.

Chicago Tribune: “Ukraine is a test for Biden’s foreign policy

doctrine”

 Biden wants to change the military-driven approach of the US - military power only used as a
tool of last resort

 New image of America - more reserved and diplomatic

  2021 Chicago Council Survey - Americans are more willing to send US troops to defend
allies and partners
59% supported using U.S. troops if Russia invaded a NATO ally
63% supported defending South Korea if North Korea invaded
52% defending Taiwan against China
Notably, this survey was conducted months before Russia amassed troops outside Ukraine’s borders

 Russia - a dangerous nuclear power

 USA as a world policeman

 Ukraine is not as important as Russia to the US

 Biden says that tne country cannot change the borders of another by force or dictate its choice
of allies

 The administration is focused on diplomacy and deterrence

 Promise of higher economic sanctions than before (targeting Russia)

 What we do where is determined by NATO borders

 Biden doesn’t intend to deploy troops to Ukraine

USA as a world policeman?

No: US has enough internal issues to overcome
No: one country simply cannot have power over the other countries, no matter how substantial it is
No: when a country as big as the USA joins the war it becomes the world's responsibility
Yes: stops other countries from taking that position. Supposing the USA resigns from its
global post, the chance of empires like Russia or China taking over
RELIGION IN THE USA

1. “About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated” BY GREGORY A. SMITH
- Self-identified Christians - 63% of U.S. population in 2021 (2007- 78%)
- the society is secularizing in 21st century
- Christians continue to make up a majority of the U.S. populace, but their share of the adult
population is 12 points lower in 2021 than it was in 2011.
- religious “nones”- 29% (atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about
their religious identity)
- 2021, 40% of people identified themselves as Protestants (2007- 52%)
- Catholic people: 2007- 24%, 2021- 21%
- Within Protestantism, evangelicals continue to outnumber those who are not evangelical;
60% of Protestants say “yes” when asked whether they think of themselves as a “born-again
or evangelical Christian,” while 40% say “no”
- Today, 24% of U.S. adults describe themselves as born-again or evangelical Protestants,
down 6 percentage points since 2007
- Praying on a daily basis; 2021- 45%; 2007-58%
- Not praying at all: 32% (2021), 18% (2007)
- Religion is very important for 41% of people, 4 points lower than in 2020
- 31% attend religious services at least once or twice a month, including 25% of people who
attend services once a week
- Black Protestants (63%) attend religious services at least once or twice a month, monthly
attendance peaking at 70%; White Protestants (56%)
- Regular religious attendance is much less common among U.S. Catholics (35% of whom say
they attend monthly or more often) and White Protestants who are not born-
again/evangelical (28%)
- born-again/evangelical Protestants (79%) say they pray every day, including 76% of White
evangelicals and 81% of Black evangelicals
- 6% of adults identify with non-Christian faiths (Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu)
- 4% of respondents describe themselves as atheists (up from 2% in 2011), and 5% describe
themselves as agnostics (up from 3% a decade ago)

2. How Religious Are Americans? BY JEFFREY M. JONES

- Generalnie to ten artykuł jest o tym samym co poprzedni, ale tu są zupełnie inne
procenty w różnych przypadkach, więc streszczę go, ale uważam, że ten pierwszy artykuł
jest o wiele lepszy
- percentage is declining
- the largest proportion, 69%, identify with a Christian religion, including 35% who are
Protestant, 22% Catholic and 12% who identify with another Christian religion or simply as a
"Christian."
- 7% non-Christian faiths
- 21% have no preferences
- (1971) 90% of people identified with Christianity, 4% had no religious preferences
- 45% religion is very important; 27% fairly important, 25% not very important
- (1965) 70% religion is very important
- (2021) 29% reported they had attended church in the past 7 days
- The long-term decline in church attendance is linked to a drop in religious identification in
general
- 22% of Americans report they attend religious services "every week," with another 9%
saying they do so "almost every week" and 11% saying they attend about once a month
- 47% belong to a house of worship, in 1999 70%
- The decline in formal church membership has largely been driven by younger generations
of Americans
- Further, many young adults who do identify with a religion nevertheless do not belong to a
church
CS US TOPIC: Education
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Main issues (the gist):
- student debt in the US is considered way too high, and it is constantly
increasing;
- the awareness about repayment of the student debt is still low;
- many post graduates are unable to pay off their debt;
- low balance borrowers face the biggest troubles with the repayment;
- increased access to student loans poses many dangers;
- state support for higher education declines;
- some colleges are providing low quality education despite requiring a
student loan;
- reducing the student loan crisis is a difficult and time-consuming task.

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1. How Much Does it Cost to Study in the US?

(QS World University Rankings, Laura Bridgestock 2022)

• The US as the world’s most popular and most expensive destination for international students;
• according to HSBC 2018 report, The Value of Education, the US among the top choices for parents
considering university abroad for their child;
• students in the US spending an average US$99,417 over the course of their degree;
• most undergraduate degrees at public universities costing $26,290;
• at top tier US universities (in majority private, non-profits) fees and living costs are likely to add up
to around US$60,000 per year;
• colleges within the public US sector are more affordable (typically run as state university systems
[collection of colleges within a state]);
• Public universities in the US have two tuition fee rates: a) for state residents and b) for everyone
else;
• option b) is more expensive and applies to applicants from other states and countries;
• private universities are more diverse in student population due to the fact that the tuition is the
same for all students;
• According to College Board, published tuition fees for 2018/19 at state colleges are an average of
US$10,230 for state residents, and $26,290 for everyone else;
• average of $35,830 at private non-profit colleges;
• public two-year colleges (community, technical or city colleges) – average fees for 2018/19 are
$3,660;
• two-year college doesn’t give you a full degree;
• Transport and living expenses according to College Board for undergraduate students in 2018/19:
▪ $17,930 (community college)
▪ $25,890 (in-state students at a four-year public college)
▪ $41,950 (out-of-state students at a four-year public college)
▪ $52,500 (private non-profit four-year college)
◦ all of the above vary more or less depending on the prestige of the university;
• it’s rare for US students to pay the full tuition amount;
 • In 2015/16, 85 percent of full-time undergraduate students at four-year universities in the US
received some form of financial aid, including 83 percent of those at public colleges and 89 percent
at private non-profit colleges;
• the most prestigious US universities often offer the most generous funding;
• MIT, the highest-ranked university in the US (and the world), 58 percent of undergraduates receive
financial aid;
• Caltech, almost 60 percent of undergraduates receive aid, while 98 percent of graduate students
and 99% of doctoral candidates receive full financial support;
• aid opportunities are available both for US citizens and international students;
• ‘need-blind’ admission policy – students’ financial background is not considered during the
admissions process.

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2. The U.S. has a record-breaking $1.73 trillion in student debt—borrowers

from these states owe the most on average
(CNBC, Abigail Johnson Hess 2021)

• In quarter two of 2021, Americans owed a startling $1.73 trillion in student loans;
◦ an increase of 3% compared to quarter two of 2020;
◦ (despite a lengthy pause on federal student loan interest rates and the elimination of billions of
federally held student loans by the Biden Administration)’
• since 2011 the US student debt has increased by more than 91%;
• not all states share the same situation in terms of the student debt crisis;
• West Virginia as the state most impacted by student debt, data suggesting that borrowers from
the state experience some of the worst ratios of student debt to income, high percentage of
borrowers are behind on their student loan payment;
• The second worst state for student debt holders is New Hampshire;
◦ the average student debt total for New Hampshire residents in the college Class of 2019 is
roughly $39,410 — the most of any state;
• California and Utah were identified for having some of the least serious student debt difficulties;
• Oliver Schak, TICAS research director:
◦ “Student borrowing and debt varies a [...] across states and colleges because of variations in
state and institutional policies, as well as state investment in public colleges. For bachelor’s
degree graduates in the Class of 2019, statewide average debt levels ranged from $17,950
(Utah) to $39,400 (New Hampshire), compared to the national average of $28,950”;
◦ “States can also vary greatly in how likely students graduate with student debt, with the
majority of graduates leaving with student debt in 38 states”;
◦ the highest levels of student debt borrowing have been concentrated in “certain states and
regions.”;
◦ “Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts have also seen the largest increases in debt from
2004 to 2019, based on our 15-year trend analysis”;
◦ “Eight out of 10 states on the high and low debt lists appear at the high and low end of the
spectrum like previous years.”;
• how much states invest in public higher education — and in turn, lower costs — is the most
significant cause for the geographical differences in student debt;
 • colleges enrolling the most low-income students and students of colour often receive the least
funding from states;
• states that invest equitably in public institutions that enrol students who would be more likely to
take on loans, can reduce debt burdens in their state;
• states as California set default rate and graduation rate standards for schools in order to encourage
schools to keep debt loads manageable;
• financial aid and state grant aid programs (e.g. California’s Cal Grant program) as key tools for
reducing net costs and limiting borrowing;
• by allocating state grant aid to students based on need, rather than merit, California is able to limit
the amount that many low-income students need to borrow;
• the range in student debt by state highlights conversations about student debt forgiveness;
• Charlotte Hancock, senior director the youth-centered research and advocacy group Generation
Progress:
◦ “states that would see the highest return on broad-based debt cancellation may be the ones
with the lowest average balances”;
◦ “Borrowers with low balances often face the highest hurdles [...] as they are the most likely to
be in default and less likely to have salaries that allow them to pay down their debt.”;
• borrowers with less than $10,000 in student debt are the most likely to go into default, if a
student debt forgiveness policy that eliminated up to $50,000 of student loans (as has been
proposed by some Democrats) was enacted, states with larger average totals could have more
funds forgiven;
• debt cancellation would benefit everyone, regardless of the state they live in.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. The Student Loan Crisis Is Worse Than You Think

(Forbes, Zack Friedman 2021)

• student loan debt has ballooned 144% since 2007;

• there are 45 million student loan borrowers who collectively owe $1.7 trillion of student loans;
• without reform, student loan borrowers and their families will continue to be saddled with student
loan debt and the federal government will be financially liable if student loan borrowers default on
their student loans;
• FOUR drivers of student loan debt:
◦ Increased access to student loans;
▪ easy access to federal student loan means more people can attend college, but at the same
time, many colleges and universities have increased tuition because they know everyone
will pay increased costs to get access to higher education – consumers are less price-
sensitive to tuition hikes if there is available money to pay for school;
◦ Less state support for higher education;
▪ state support for higher education has declined;
▪ many states are facing budget cuts and a decreasing tax avenue;
◦ PLUS Loans are too easy to get (Parent PLUS Loans and Graduate PLUS Loans);
▪ a loan which a parent can borrow to pay the cost of a child’s school, are only capped by the
cost of the school;
▪ PLUS Loans aren’t based on an ability to repay the student loan;
▪ Parent PLUS Loans have the highest interest rate among federal student loans;
 ◦ Not all colleges and universities should have access to student loans;
▪ poor quality colleges and universities still have access to federal student loans;
▪ ^ this may be despite not delivering a high-quality education to students;
▪ if student loan borrowers at these schools cannot repay student loans, the federal
government bears the financial cost;
• before taking a student loan:
◦ one should understand the total borrowing cost (including compounding interest) and weight it
against their ability to repay (understand monthly payments);
◦ one should make sure the chosen school delivers the expected high-quality education;
◦ one shouldn’t borrow more than they need;
• Biden has cancelled $11.5 billion of student loans ($2 billion of student loans will be cancelled
within weeks);
• Biden has pushed a historic expansion of Pell Grants;
• The Education Department also is holding student loan servicers and for-profit schools more
accountable for outcomes;
• additional student loan borrowing is encouraged, while some student loan repayment plans
reward higher-income earners with large student loan balances, which can create a regressive
system;
• Biden is focused on simplifying student loan repayment, cancelling $4.5 billion of student loans
for public servants, and increasing targeted student loan cancellation in the near-term for more
student loan borrowers;
• temporary student loan (because of the COVID-19) has ended on January 31, 2022.
The Guardian: "America’s death penalty divide: why capital punishment is getting better, and
worse"
 More than half the US states have abolished or formally suspended the death penalty

 Virginia – first southern state to abolish it

 Virginia’s shift has created a death penalty-free zone on the north-east seaboard of the US that
runs from Maine’s border with Canada down to the edge of the Carolinas. A similar zone now
runs all the way down the west coast of the US

 Record low number of new death sentences – 18 (2021)

 The fewest executions since 1988 – 11

 The states that want to keep the death penalty most, are the states that often disregard the
process, botch executions, and have histories of racism and biased criminal justice system

 This year Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas are responsible for half of all death sentences and
most of the 11 executions

 Oklahoma botched its first execution in six years – John Grant (convulsing and vomiting)

 Arizona, spent thousands of dollars obtaining hydrogen cyanide for its gas chamber

 10 out of 18 new death sentences were meted out to prisoners of color, 6 out of 11 executed
were African American
 all but one prisoner executed this year had serious impairments, including brain injury or
damage, mental illness, and intellectual disabilities, or had histories of gruesome childhood
neglect and abuse

 Two death-row inmates were exonerated during the year, taking the total number of prisoners
in the modern era who had been awaiting execution only to be found innocent to a 186 – one
exoneration for every eight executions

 Three people on federal death row were killed in less than 10 days before Joe Biden’s
inauguration, as part of Donald Trump’s rush to carry out 13 executions in six months
 Since Biden there were no more federal executions

ABC News: “Meet the former state executioner who’s cheering for the decline of the capital
punishment in America”
 Jerry Givens ex-executioner, deeply religious family man

 Was killing for 17 years – 37 in the electric chair, 25 with lethal injections

 Even his wife didn’t know

 He is now trying to stamp out the punishment

 The inmate comes to his ‘care’ 15 days prior to their death – health check, family farewells,
last meal

 He changed his mind about executions after almost killing an innocent man (cleared few days
before the penalty) who had the IG of a 10-year-old-child
 The death penalty in the US is in decline

 Texas has the biggest total numbers of executions ever – 561

 People who didn’t believe in death penalty stopped opposing after losing a loved one

 majority of Americans are in favor of the death penalty.

 A Gallup Poll in 2018 put overall support at 56 per cent — down from 80 per cent in the mid-
1990s.

 Capital punishment is legal in 30 American states, and 1,498 Americans have been executed
since 1976
 Gun Control

National Rifle Association: “What Is The Second Amendment And

How Is It Defined"

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to
keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

 the Second Amendment was ratified on December 15, 1791 - one of the first amendments of
the Bill of Rights

 Self-defence is the core of the 2nd Amendment

 the Second Amendment states that as an American citizen, you have the individual right to
arm yourself (one of America’s most fundamental freedoms) and the government cannot
infringe on that right

 The term “militia” refers to American people

 “being necessary to the security of a free State” - everyone has a right to defend themselves
and their property

 “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” - individuals have the
right to own firearms for lawful purposes

 Two most important precedents in court cases: District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) &
McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

 District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) - the first time when the Supreme Court has decided
that the Second Amendment protects the rights of an individual to protect themselves (being
in possession of a firearm); District of Columbia tried to pass laws restricting the possession
of firearms and they were said to unconstitutional

 McDonald v. Chicago (2010) - Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in Heller, some states still
tried to pass laws that infringed upon an individual right to keep and bear arms; in this case
the Supreme Court affirmed that through the 14th Amendment, Americans have the
individual right to keep and bear arms regardless of city/state
  Some states have stricter regulations, e.g California, the place you call home may impact
exactly how and when you can exercise your Second Amendment rights

This is the description of the 2nd Amendment according to the National Rifle Association, which tries
to explain this right to American citizens as simply as possible. Gun control in the US is not perfect -
we have many mass shooting, homicides, and suicides, all committed while bearing a firearm. Even
though some states try to make te regulations stricter they can’t really do that, because they’ll be
violating the Constitution.
ECONOMY
1. America’s economy will claw its way back to the pre-covid trend
- America’s GDP is on track to expand by nearly 6% after shrinking by 3.5% in 2020, its
sharpest trough-to-peak rebound in more than half a century
- Inflation has jumped, companies are struggling to find willing workers
- In the early months of 2022 much of the focus will be on the Federal Reserve. Given the strong
economic backdrop, the central bank will bring an end to its ultra-loose monetary policies
launched at the height of the pandemic
- the gradual halt of its monthly purchase of bonds and other assets—will begin in late 2021 and
be complete by mid-2022 -- headwind for financial markets
- slight majority of its rate-setting committee thinks that modest tightening will be necessary
before the end of 2022
- Many analysts agree, expecting inflation to decelerate towards 3% in 2022 as the global
economy continues to open up. As, with luck, covid-19 fades, into the background, more
Americans will also re-enter the job market, bringing the economy a step closer to normality. If,
however, inflation proves to be more persistent, the Fed will face calls to raise rates more swiftly
- Mr Powell’s term expires on February 5th and President Joe Biden is expected to reappoint him
for a second term well before that deadline (Democratic Party wants somebody else, but Mr
Powell oversaw a forceful monetary response to the pandemic slowdown and deserves a second
crack at the Job)
- 2022 will be the first year in which Mr Biden’s “Build Back Better” spending hits the economy
(his programme: a renewal of America’s neglected physical infrastructure and a recrafting of its
social safety-net, including more funding for families with children) unfortunately total invested
will be smaller than it was expected
- it will be refreshing to see that the American government is still capable of pulling together
funding for long-term priorities

2. U.S. Economy Plows Through Covid Obstacles Toward a Solid 2022

- the economy will expand an annualized 6% in the fourth quarter before down-shifting to a
still-solid 3.7% average pace in the first half of 2022.
- Most-recent data showed further strength in manufacturing output, a rebound in home
construction, robust household spending and improving labour market conditions
- inflationary pressures are set to persist through much of next year
- Fed officials signalled at this week’s meeting that they’re ready to raise interest rates at a
faster pace in 2022, intensifying their battle against rapid price increases
- total consumer spending – which includes outlays for both merchandise and services will
rise to 5.5%
- more Americans are returning to work
- U.S. economy is improving in: low unemployment rate, housing (new houses and sales),
and in manufacturing (output at factories posted a solid advance in November, rising 0.7%
and revised 1.4% jump in October)
- The producer price index posted a record annual increase of almost 10% in November
- The annual inflation metric will average 4.9% in the first quarter of 2022 and 3.9% in the
following period, before slowing to 2.5% at the end of the year

According to the articles the U.S. economy should be on the path to recovery
from the pandemic and recession caused by it. The American Government is
planning to pull together a program that's meant to renew America's
neglected physical infrastructure and a recrafting of social safety-net, that
would include more funding for families. They have to be more ambitious
because they don't want to lose the elections. Furthermore, recent data has
shown strengthening in the sectors of manufacturing output, a rebound in
home construction, and improving labour market conditions. But we have
to remember that the predictions in those articles were made at the end of
2021...
 CS USA TOPIC : CULTURE

MAIN ISSUE : Both articles touch upon the issue of streaming platforms taking over the
film industry. Take note, that the articles are from 2019 and 2020.

1. “Netflix vs. Hollywood: The fight to define the future of film”

(VOGUE, author : Par Radhika Seth, 2019)

• Opening question : Is the industry ready to embrace the global streaming service?

• The film Roma did not won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2019.
Author suggests that this happened “because Hollywood still couldn’t stomach the
idea of a Netflix production being crowned Best Picture”

• Netflix - known today as the biggest global streaming service, was founded in 1997 as a
DVD sales and rental business and expanded to subscription-based streaming a
decade later.

• Release window - (usually “90-day release window of exclusivity for theaters”) the time
it normally takes for a film to go from cinemas to DVD.

• The Academy Awards (Oscars) requires films to have their first public exhibition in a
theater in order to qualify. Netflix release, Beasts of No Nation in 2015, violated the
release window rule, and therefore failed to receive any Oscar nominations.
Additionally, some US cinema chains were hostile, and boycotted the film, because "why
should they support something that could threaten the theatrical distribution model”.

• Manchester by the Sea by Amazon Studios was the first from a streaming service to be
nominated for Best Picture. (They complied with the release window regulation.)

• “Netflix refused to go down without a fight” + they didn’t “change its distribution
model drastically in order to succeed”. In 2017 Netflix premiered Mudbound
“alongside a one-week theatrical release”. They secured four Oscar nominations.

• Roma “was given a three-week theatrical run before debuting on Netflix” and they
invested a lot of money to campaign it. It didn’t win the Best Picture which was
considered “the beginning of an industry-wide assault against the streaming
giant”.

• “For many filmmakers, Netflix has amplified marginalized voices” (it distributes black
work, 13th and When They See) (btw I recommend both those movies)
and “funded projects that could not otherwise have been made” (e.g. The Irishman).

• The article mentions solutions and ideas for cooperation between theatre owners,
festivals and distributors. “A “theatrical tier” that allows Netflix members to pay a
nominal fee to see the streamer’s films in theaters for free”.

• Conclusion : “Netflix is slowly but surely changing the game”

2. “Hollywood Faces the Hardest Truth: Movies Are No Longer
King” (INDIEWIRE, author : Anne Thompson, 2020)

• Opening statement : “Theatrical release is no longer the dominant mode of

distribution, and movie content is no longer king.”

• “The old way is not sustainable” - spending money on movies that last in theatres for
three days and won’t be an event on a streaming platform is not beneficial.

• Major studios did not recognise Netflix as a threat — “until it was too late”.

• Netflix started to invest heavily to create original series “and eventually surpassed the
studios not only in the volume produced, but in Emmy and Oscar nominations”.

• The article mentions how the pandemic positively impacted Disney+ start.
“Hollywood is betting that Disney+ is Netflix’s biggest competitor”.

• One of the Netflix’s most significant advantage is the money they are able to
invest. Other studios struggle to compete. For example, Paramount couldn’t afford to
produce The Irishman.

• Streaming platforms benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic. “In the first two
quarters of 2020, boosted by the pandemic, Netflix gained 26 million new subscribers”.

• Movie theatres are struggling in the era of streaming platforms. “Meanwhile,

theaters are in ragged financial shape.” The article suggests, that “For theaters to
survive and thrive, innovating and playing ball with distributors is key. They cannot afford
to hang on to their old antagonism.”

• The author predicts, that many movie theatres will close down. However, the article
mentions that two type of movies will still go the theatres despite the streaming
platform success. Firstly, “the Marvel, DC, and franchise tentpoles”. Secondly, "the
highest-quality, Oscar-worthy festival titles”.

• In the end, an argument in favour of movies being released into movie theatres is
made. “Pixar family movies are event movies. Families want to get out of the house.”
 MEDIA

1.The Conversation: “Political bias in media doesn’t

threaten democracy — other, less visible biases do”

● media bias is in the eye of the beholder, many people define “bias” as
“anything that doesn’t agree with me”
● in the last decades Republicans have become more conservative and
Democrats more liberal or moderate
● in a Pew Research 2016 45% of Republicans said that the Democratic
Party's policy is misguided and 41% of Democrats said the same about
Republicans
● First Amendment states that Congress shall make no law limiting
the freedom of the press
● objective journalism- notion saying that media must report both
sides of every issue in every story (late 1800s)
● media outlets need audiences in order to exist, some can’t survive
financially without an audience, some simply want the prestige
● media define “new” as stories people find attractive, including drama,
conflict, engaging pictures and immediacy- these most people find
compelling
● by focusing on the drama, readers forgot about the prominent topics
that affect their lives like: education, health care, national defense, but
it is the reader’s fault, not the media’s, “we are the audience whose
attention media outlets want to attract”

The Economist Elon Musk wants to re-engineer the

“public square”

● Elon Musk is the world’s best-known engineer. He is known for

his cars, rockets and for making poor technologies better (for
example Tesla and SpaceX which overtook other producers).
● He recently decided to buy Twitter.
● He wants to make the platform private and inclusive, he says
he cares about people and not about economics. Twitter
 seems to be smaller than other social media but is very important
considering how many political debates take place there
● He states that he does not want to create new restrictions- even
on the contrary- and calls it an experiment.
● Twitter fits the pattern of Tesla and SpaceX, offering Mr Musk
another complex engineering system to tinker with, and a grand
reason for doing so.
● He wants to demolish the algorithm, does not want tweets
to be filtered based on what seems to be our interest. He also
wants people to prove they are not bots which will result
in more suspensions. He wants users to choose the algorithm for
themselves.
● It should not be biased and controlled by someone else.
He thinks it will lead to more open debate. He is clever and
ambitious but also prone to rise false allegations towards people
(like the “pedo-guy” case) and when he is the owner, people will
raise questions about whether he will be able to resist the
temptation to exploit his new position to pursue his own
obsessions and vendettas.
● This newspaper shares Mr Musk’s free-speech convictions.
Nobody has a monopoly on wisdom and experts are not always
right, a good debate is the best thing that can happen to the
internet. If Musk’s talent can help cut the knot of online speech,
everyone will benefit. He can set new rules but shouldn’t
be the one enforcing them. If he wants people to believe
he is impartial- he should not be one of the Twitter
users.