• As citizens
  • voting
  • participating in public life (getting involved in the community, for instance, social activism/social movements, paying skeptical attention to public officials, public policy decisions, powerful influences on government and public opinion)
  • education
  • watchdog functions–who’s watching those making the decisions that affect our lives?
  • differences (age, ethnicity/race, gender, geographic region, education level), possible discrimination
• As consumers (purchases support a certain system of production, consumption, even politics, whether intentional or not)
  • Corporate vs local
  • ‘Free trade‘ vs ‘fair trade‘
  • of media–skepticism, awareness of non-commercial resources
  • relationship to the environment (what are the consequences of our consumption, in terms of natural resources used, and waste disposed?)
    • remember that term: externality
• As workers
  • Safety
  • Compensation (remember living wage discussions? Relationship between social welfare programs and low-wage employment?)

Government

• Policy (executive branch)
  • energy (DOE, EPA, etc.)
  • media (FCC)
• Regulation
  • finance (SEC)
  • carbon emissions (EPA)
  • corporate concentration (FTC)
  • media (FCC)
• Money
  • budget, Congress, the legislative branch
  • taxing
  • spending decisions (budgetary policy)
  • for instance, why do we tax people’s labor, but not pollution?
• Laws
  • e.g., the cheeseburger bill protects the food industry from potential lawsuits
  • campaign finance (though McCain-Finegold law limiting corporate financing was thrown out by the Supreme Court)
• Services
  • Social welfare (e.g., SNAP, Social Security, Medicare)
  • What to local governments do/provide?
  • State governments (education, public safety/corrections, social welfare)

Markets/private sector

• Markets can be, are used to influence behavior (remember externalities)
• undue influence (back to corporate concentration)–how to bring down health care costs? What would happen if we raised minimum wages, the price of gas?
• relationship between markets and government (can governments get in the way? Regulate bad behavior? Favor large businesses over small ones?)
• Organizations/bureaucracies (tendencies toward large corporations, bureaucracies … sound familiar?)
• influence of advertising (from what sources?), especially versus public interest–remember the Supersize Me scene where individuals countries have billion dollar ad budgets, and the Five-a-Day Fruit and Vegetable Commission has about $200,000?

Communities/social capital

• Religious organizations
• non-profits
• volunteer organizations

International/multilateral

• United Nations (e.g., UNDP, FAO)
• Regulatory agencies (WTO, IAEA)
• Treaties (e.g., Montreal Protocol in 1988 to limit CFC production, ozone destruction; Geneva Convention governing conduct during wartime, treatment of prisoners, etc.)

Some principles

• Complexity–beware of seemingly well-meaning strangers bearing simple solutions
• Structure/agency–both play a part, help explain why things are the way they are, who has power (and why change can be difficult)–for instance, McDonaldization appeals to people’s sense of convenience, but avoids broader discussions about why people’s lives are so busy
  • Remember that difference between private problems and public issues
• Power–Why and how are republicans and democrats like Coke and Pepsi (two slight variations on the same theme)?
• Media–those basic news rules (don’t rely on one source; include non-commercial sources; avoid TV; get international perspective)
• Propaganda–who has the resources and expertise to attempt to influence or ‘frame’ public debates?
• Critical thinking–have to figure it out on your own, not generally included in your K-12 public education
• Change–it happens, sometimes slowly, sometimes driven by crises
• Hope—never give up ….