Struggling to Make Ends Meet In America: What can we do?

Susan Jakes(919) 515-9161

susan_jakes@ncsu.edu

Robin Roper(919) 515-9138

robin_roper@ncsu.edu

Elements of Deliberation

• Deliberation is dialogue for weighing costs, benefits, and consequences.

• Deliberation is not a debate to be won.• Deliberation changes relationships, which makes

more action possible.• Through deliberation, a shared sense of purpose

and direction may be created. This shared sense of purpose and direction is a public voice and is essential for public complementary action.

Debate Dialogue Deliberation

•Contest•Compete•Argue•Promote opinion•Persuade•Seek majority•Dig-in•Tightly structured•Express•Choose solution•Usually fast•Clarifies•Majoritarian•Partisan victory

•Explore•Exchange•Understand•Build relationships•Understand•Seek understanding•Reach across•Loosely structured•Listen •Dev. understanding•Usually slow•Clarifies•Non-decisive•Private understanding

•Choose•Weigh•Decide•Make decisions•Understand•Seek integrative decision •Find common ground•Framed to make choices•Listen•Decide common path•Usually slow•Clarifies•Complementary•Public knowledge

Groundrules• Everyone should participate.  Please share your thoughts on

the issue.• Focus on what others are saying about the approach.  Think

about what their perspectives are on each approach.  Listen to them.

• Share your ideas and thoughts.• Don't hesitate to share stories that help present our ideas.

Stories help explain the personal value behind the idea. Deliberation allows a time and space to share our life experience stories.

• The facilitator will stay neutral but will encourage us to express the values behind our ideas on each approach.  

• We will deliberate all three approaches. You are encouraged to think about the advantages and tradeoffs of each approach

• Remember, it is difficult work to deliberate, let's begin!

Introducing the Issue

A big piece of the American dream is that if you work hard and play fair, you will prosper. In our Constitution we declare our commitment to “justice, domestic tranquility, and general welfare.”

What has happened to the long held American ideal of “general welfare”, generally understood to include equal opportunity and a minimally decent life for all citizens?

Focus of the Discussion

• 35 million families have incomes below the poverty line

• Over 55 million families are in the working poor and middle class that are struggling to make ends meet

• The large number of middle class families facing financial insecurity is a fairly recent phenomenon.

Comparing Approaches

• 1. Stress Personal Responsibility

• 2. Increase / Protect jobs with Benefits

• 3. Rethink the Safety Net

Stress Personal Responsibility

• Beliefs:– People make bad personal decisions that get

them into financial trouble– Individuals can and must make the effort to

improve their lot– Parents have an obligation to provide their

children with a stable family life– Young people need to stay in school and get

an education to become responsible tax paying citizens

Concerns with this approach

• Too simplistic

• Minimum wage jobs do not provide an adequate income to support families

• There is an inequality in the public school system that disadvantages some children

• Societal forces encourage Americans to spend beyond their means

Increase / Protect jobs with Benefits

• Beliefs:– Hard work no longer leads to financial security– Multinational corporations continue to

downsize, outsource, and consolidate in the hopes of improving their bottom line

– We need more jobs with higher wages and good benefits

– ?

Concerns with this approach

• This approach will undermine the free-market economy

• Employers are already overburdened with government interference

• Increased costs will lead to increased prices for goods and services

Rethink the Safety Net

• Beliefs:– The historic safety net for people in need of

assistance was provided by family, churches and charitable groups

– The Great Depression resulted in many new government programs

– These are now outdated

Concerns with this approach

• We can’t afford to increase spending on welfare right now (homeland security is more important)

• Government programs are unresponsive and inefficient

• Faith community is better than the government at helping people

• Band-aid approach, would increase dependency

Reflections on Our Forum

• How has your thinking about the issue changed?

• How has your thinking about other people’s views on the issue changed?

Reflections on Our Forum

• Can we, based on our deliberation, detect any shared sense of direction or any common ground for action?

• What did you hear the group saying, during our deliberation, about tensions between the approaches as we discussed the issue?

• What were the trade-offs we were willing to make as we deliberated?

• What were the trade-offs we were NOT willing to make as we deliberated?

Next Steps

• What do we still need to talk about related to this issue?

• How can we use what we now know?