Social and Economic Factors

Question 1

What is conspicuous consumption?

Answer 1

Consumption of luxuries on a lavish scale to enhance one’s prestige. As Canadians, we consume a lot of products.

Question 2

What does LICO stand for?

Answer 2

Low income cut off

Question 3

How you measure people to be in LICO range?

Answer 3

Those who spend 20 percentage points more of their gross income on food, shelter, and clothing than the average canadian.

Question 4

How low is our unemployment, typically?

Answer 4

Between 7-9%

Question 5

What are service sector jobs?

Answer 5

Often called McJobs, because they are generally low paying with little benefits.

Question 6

What does it mean to live in a knowledge-based economy?

Answer 6

The higher the education level you have, the greater chance at a higher paying job.

Question 7

What is outsourcing?

Answer 7

Jobs being moved over seas. E.g., sweatshops for our clothes in India

Question 8

What are the two main concerns about outsourcing our jobs to places like China?

Answer 8

1. What is the damage to the Canadian economy has this had?

2. What is the morality of outsourcing these jobs? I.e., what are the working conditions in which these people work

Question 9

What would people argue, if they were arguing against outsourcing?

Answer 9

Our consumption based culture is based on abandoning the moral ideas of equality.

Question 10

What would people argue, if they were arguing for outsourcing?

Answer 10

They point out that these people who work in these factories are often better off then their fellow citizens who do not have a job.

Question 11

Without ___________, we could not maintain current levels of __________.

Answer 11

Outsourcing, consumption.

Question 12

How have class divisions that exist in Canada changed in the last 50 years.

Answer 12

They haven’t, they’ve stayed about the same.

Question 13

What group is far more likely to end up as part of the lower class than any other group in Canada?

Answer 13

Aboriginal groups

Question 14

What is social mobility?

Answer 14

The ability of an individual, a family, or group to move from one social/economic position to another.

Question 15

What are two things that usually determine your social mobility and your employment?

Answer 15

Family background, and education.

Question 16

What are the two types of discrimination?

Answer 16

1. Deliberate - E.g., Making discriminatory sentiments about people’s race, gender or sexual orientation.
2. Systemic - E.g., In order to maximize their chance of economic success, they are forced to leave their culture or change in some way.

Question 17

What are social diseases?

Answer 17

Discrimination, alcoholism, drug addiction, murder, suicide, homelessness.

Question 18

Why is homelessness problems in big cities?

Answer 18

Prices of real estate in urban centres continue to climb, and shelters are being replaced as the value of the land increases.

Question 19

What is one way the government tries to solve the homeless problem?

Answer 19

Financial assistance

Question 20

What is the issue with using financial assistance to get rid of homelessness?

Answer 20

1. How much assistance should the government provide?

2. Too much assistance will make people go on welfare rather than work

Question 21

What is a poverty line?

Answer 21

The estimated minimum level of income needed to secure the necessities of life.

Question 22

What is the basic needs line?

Answer 22

A term the fraser institute has come up with to cover basic needs, it is much lower than LICO.