Overview
View the 3 minute 30 second video by Robert Reich and look over "The Spirit Level" report, then respond to one of the following discussion prompts. After that comment on the posts of two classmates.
1) How does UC Berkeley Professor Reich define oligarchy and what evidence does he provide that the United States is an oligarchy today? What evidence does he offer that the U.S. is still a democracy?
2) Reich argues that the United States is in a second Gilded Age today. What was the first Gilded Age and how does Reich argue the threat of oligarchy was ultimately dispelled in the United States?
3) What is the relationship between economic inequality and social cohesion according to the "Spirit Level" report? How does the United States compare to other countries? What are the reasons the report mentions to explain why this relationship exists? What does bearing does Reich's