The point is this: my experience of being stuck in Canada has caused me to critically evaluate the social structures and context that I am in, which has in turn revealed to me an ugly reality that I think we all would do well in recognizing: our economy and social structures are set up for people like me, at the expense of folks who are born into poverty or lower socioeconomic statuses. I’m a student at The University of Iowa and just wrapped up my second to last semester. I traveled to the Twin Cities to meet up with some friends as well as go to Winnipeg, Canada with my boyfriend for the weekend. I had several unfortunate things happen to me during the trip, resulting in my current state: writing this post on a 19-hour Greyhound Bus ride to Calgary, Canada to get an emergency Passport so I can get back to the US. The trip started off well—I spent quality time with my friends at Bethel University. However, early on in the week marked the first unfortunate event: losing my wallet. Thankfully, I did not have a lot of cash in the wallet, nor did I have my passport or anything else of significant value, just a few credit cards and debit cards, my Driver’s License, and some gift cards. Although cancelling my credit cards was a bit of a hassle, I knew I would be okay. I simply had to get a temporary debit card to get me through Canada. I wasn’t planning on driving at all to Canada, so I wasn’t really worried about losing my Driver’s License. Little did I know that in Canada I would also misplace my passport. Once I realized this, I began to panic a bit. Not only did I lose the one document I needed to get across the border, I also had no way to identify myself. No Driver’s License. No birth certificate on hand. No citizenship papers. Nothing. After realizing this, I went on a desperate search throughout Winnipeg to find my passport. We looked at every restaurant we had eaten at, as well as several locations where we sat down. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate the passport.
I had to submit several reports, including police reports to the local police indicating a lost passport, as well as a form to the US State Department. Additionally, I had to schedule an appointment with the US Consulate, which was done exclusively online since they were closed on the weekend and therefore couldn’t take a phone call. I also had to print off several items as well, which required a trip to Staples. I write this because as I have reflected on this experience, I realized that, while this will make a slight dent in my savings account, I am going to be just fine. In fact, I consider this an extended vacation in Canada. But here’s the thing: so many people could not survive this. The total costs of replacing my Driver’s License, Passport, as well as the bus ride and plane ticket will exceed well over $500. Consider also the resources I needed—a laptop and phone in order to submit the required forms, money to pay for the copies, access to a car to travel around the city and look for my passport. Not to mention the food I have to spend, as well as the hotel room that my dad booked for me. This is simply not feasible for so many Americans. Events like these financially destroy families. Furthermore, in my situation, it was partly my fault. I was irresponsible in losing my wallet and passport (assuming I wasn’t pick pocketed). Even so, everyone makes mistakes. This could happen to virtually anyone. What’s more, there are a plethora of events that could lead to disaster for so many families that are completely out of their control. One bad medical diagnosis, one car accident, one tragedy. Any of these very well could lead to insurmountable costs for so many families. The difference in me being okay versus so many hard-working families not being okay has nothing to do with how “hard-working” we are. The difference is in large part a result of my being from a family that is doing just fine. “Hard-work” is certainly not sufficient to guarantee economic security. It takes a lot of luck.
The injustice actually manifests itself earlier. Consider folks like me who are able to take unpaid internships in the summer to boost their resume, which will help me get a higher paying job in the future. An unpaid internship is not realistic for so many of my peers. Here lies just one piece of this cycle embedded into an economic game rigged against lower income folks.
Yes, it is certainly true that there are individual cases where folks are able to make significant strides in social mobility. And for that, I am very grateful! However, the macro level data suggest otherwise. (See the two studies at bottom of post for more). The point is this: my experience of being stuck in Canada has caused me to critically evaluate the social structures and context I am in, which has in turn revealed to me an ugly reality that I think we all would do well in recognizing. Our economy and social structures are set up for people like me, at the expense of folks who are born into poverty or lower socioeconomic statuses. Until we recognize that, I fear that poor folks will continue to get hurt by economic policies. I hope by sharing my story of me being slightly irresponsible (and unlucky), I have been able to show the extent to which our economic well-being is largely a byproduct of forces outside of our control. And that even though we all are susceptible to unfortunate events whether rich or poor, these unfortunate events disproportionately harm poor folks. Sources: https://www.minneapolisfed.org/institute/working-papers/17-21.pdf http://equitablegrowth.org/working-papers/the-decline-in-lifetime-earnings-mobility-in-the-u-s-evidence-from-survey-linked-administrative-data/
1 Comment
Ben
5/21/2018 02:37:50 pm
Nice post Marcus!
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Marcus MillerHello! Thank you for checking out my blog. I graduated from Johnston High School in Iowa back in 2015, and am attending the University of Iowa, where I am studying political science and ethics and public policy. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Archives
May 2018
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