Remarks to the Urban League

Speech delivered at the Urban League Convention, Cleveland, OH, July 31, 1984.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/vice_presidential_campaign_speeches_1984/1026/thumbnail.jp

Myths of a Near Past: Envisioning Finance Capitalism anno 2007

This paper seeks to extend earlier work on particular features and manifestations of capitalism (De Cock et al., 2001). Our 2001 Myths of a Near Future paper offered ephemera readers a large depository of images concerning the New Economy. Eight years later our focus has shifted to Finance Capitalism. Over the course of the year 2007 we cut out and scanned 81 ads placed by financial institutions in the Financial Times. Our analysis of these aims to provide a sense of how the financial world ?showed up? in this pivotal year, whilst illustrating how its representations were interwoven with fantasy throughout. We also hope that the ensemble of images associated with the paper will be creatively reassembled by its readers and possibly provide a useful teaching aid

The Search for the American Dream:Interpersonal, Cultural, and Structural Constraints on Immigrants

The American Dream is a goal sought out by many people from around the globe. But immigrants must overcome many barriers that may inhibit that dream. This study attempted to understand, how structural (community distress and institutional prejudice), interpersonal, and bilingual constraints negatively impacted immigrant socioeconomic achievements and wealth accumulation. The study used a mixed methods approach; findings from a secondary quantitative survey data (Immigration and Intergenerational Mobility in Metropolitan Los Angeles) were elaborated on with qualitative interviews with six professionals who work with immigrants. Findings supported Feagin’s systemic racism, viewed as a fundamental cause, which set up structural, interpersonal, and cultural constraints that hindered immigrant progress towards the American Dream. Suggestions for future research included oral history interviews, both with immigrants who have successfully achieved the American Dream as well as with those at varying stages of progress towards the dream

On the Plausibility of Idealism: Refuting Criticisms

Several alternatives vie today for recognition as the most plausible ontology, from physicalism to panpsychism. By and large, these ontologies entail that physical structures circumscribe consciousness by bearing phenomenal properties within their physical boundaries. The ontology of idealism, on the other hand, entails that all physical structures are circumscribed by consciousness in that they exist solely as phenomenality in the first place. Unlike the other alternatives, however, idealism is often considered implausible today, particularly by analytic philosophers. A reason for this is the strong intuition that an objective world transcending phenomenality is a self-evident fact. Other arguments—such as the dependency of phenomenal experience on brain function, the evidence for the existence of the universe before the origin of conscious life, etc.—are also often cited. In this essay, I will argue that these objections against the plausibility of idealism are false. As such, this essay seeks to show that idealism is an entirely plausible ontology

MARYLAND\u27S NEXT SMART GROWTH INITIATIVE: THE NEXT STEPS

This article discusses Maryland\u27s Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation Initiative, the nation\u27s first statewide, incentive-based program to reduce the impact of urban sprawl. It has been used as a model by other states and espouses the notions that no growth is bad and the economy and environment are intertwined. Maryland attempts to change the bottom line of development decisions by making it more attractive and less costly to build in designated growth areas. The article identifies the next steps in Maryland\u27s Smart Growth initiative and concludes that Maryland and the United States must be successful in these and similar efforts to avoid a future of environmental and economic harm as a result of sprawl