Economics, Culture, and Human Resource Management Personal Reflection Report
Answers to the Questions
1. While playing the Play Spent, I felt really nervous, and at the end, I understood how it is to feel as a person, who does not have the stable job, and money to live for. I played this game two times, and during my first try I only managed to survive for seven days, and it was really depressing. The second time was more effective and I made through the month with $426 (PlaySpent.org, “Play Spent”). However, I lost my job, and the rent is due the next day, so I probably would not survive. This game makes thinking deeply about the way poor people live, and the way economic system in the U.S. pushes people to poverty.
2. The issues of gender, race, sexuality, and class are deeply intersected in the issue of the workforce. For instance, Marcella Clinard in the video “White Privilege and Economic Success” claims that she would not be able to access her Ph.D. without the support of her family, who are whites from the middle class. The problem of the gender gap is also visible in the U.S. today as women are paid about 1.5 times less than men (See Progress. “The Gender Pay Gap Explained”). The situation of the Latino and African American women is even worst. Without an upward absolute mobility, it is impossible for a person to move to another class (Pew, “Economic Mobility and the American Dream”). Being poor and queer, as described by Dorothy Allison (“A Question of Class”) is a double stress, which destroys, and only understanding of own uniqueness, and improving life with it, can help to break this destructive circle.
3. This module helped me to understand my life in a completely different way. I used to believe in the American Dream but now I see that it is not easily achievable for everyone. Now I am interested in helping the people in need because it is clearer to me now that the system can destroy someone's life.
Works Cited
Allison, Dorothy. “A Question of Class.” Skin: Talking About Sex, Class, and Literature. Firebrand, 1994, pp. 13-36, http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/skinall.html. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
Clinard, Marcella. “White Privilege and Economic Success.” YouTube, 1 May 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV-dBlLdkYc. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
Pew. “Economic Mobility and the American Dream.” YouTube, 11 Aug. 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTDhi12rqYc. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
PlaySpent.org. Play Spent, 2016, http://playspent.org/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
See Progress. “The Gender Pay Gap Explained.” YouTube, 13 Apr. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkLmq03i2xM. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
Tressiemc. “The Logic of Stupid Poor People.” Some of Us Are Brave, 29 Oct. 2013, https://tressiemc.com/tmcpublicsociology/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-people/. Accessed 29 Nov. …
