Showing posts with label sociology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sociology. Show all posts

Science Discovers Extrovert-Introvert Continuum

Science: Extroverts and introverts are on a continuum.
Do you mix with others easily?  Are you a loner?  Human beings can be categorized as extrovert or introvert.  There appears not to be a continuum to give variety to the species.  You are either one or the other.
Extrovert versus introvert
Don't get me wrong here.  Introverts can rise to the occasion and mix in a group.  Oddly, many introverts become entertainers to bring themselves out and beat their fears.  Clearly though, extroverts love other people and get lonely quickly, whereas introverts thrive doing things on their own.

After a noisy party where alcohol has temporarily changed introverts into extroverts.  The basically quieter type starts worrying about what he/she said at the bash.  The mixers just get on with life and don't fear anything.

Wait on.  Research has shown the people do fit on a continuum.  We cannot all be divided into either mixer or loner, not totally.  To make it simpler scientists have coined the phrase "ambiverts" for those in the middle.  This is very simplistic and smacks of keeping an established system alive.  No, we all different.  We are human aren't we?
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Is Australia More Equal Than Other Countries

SOCIOLOGY
Class in sociology is based in income - low, middle and high income earners, plus wealth. This is in conflict with assumed class by the ordinary person who believes that class is based on status. In England, for example, one's position in society can be inherited. An English earl will remain high class even though he has little income and lets the paying public into his home to pay for its upkeep. Anyway, let's get back to the issue, "at large", which is how income and wealth inequality has changed in Australia.
Income and wealth equality in Australia
Egalitarianism is an Aussie "thing". There is a strong belief that all Australians are equal, in daily interactions at least. An Australian can have a drink with the CEO of the business where he works. In England this is unthinkable. It simply will not happen because the boss will not allow the lowly employee into his/her circle.

In the 1950s income in Australia was relatively level. It was far more equal than in other Western countries. It even got more equal until the late 1970s. There has been a widening gap in income since then.  The Gini coefficient which measures income differential rose from 0.27 per cent in the early 1980s to 0.34 in 2011 (when one household has all the income the coefficient is 1.0).

Wealth inequality has, unfortunately, not been tracked over time. This is an unfathomable situation. After all, this should be a thing of great interest for sociologists. We do know the present state though. The wealthiest 20 per cent have A$2.2 million dollars in assets. The poorest 20 per cent have an average of $31,000. Of course, some people do not have any real assets at all.

How does Australian stand in regard to other nations? Of the 34 OECD countries, Australia is number 23 on the measure of income equality. On wealth Australia does much better. The Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report puts Australia as the second most equal country of 34 "advanced" nations, after Japan.
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Guaranteed Minimum Income is Fairyland Stuff

SOCIOLOGY
Many in Australia are calling for a guaranteed minimum wage whether a person earns it or not. If a low paid job for say 30 hours a week is below this minimum then the state will top it up. This sounds fair at first instance, but there is the problem of government income to pay for this and the world economic environment that thrives on low wages.
Guaranteed income in Australia
If every country in the world did it, the system would be viable. Unfortunately, humans are greed driven. We are nice to each other. This in only to a degree, however. Man is torn between egalitarianism and competition. The Star Trek world where only those who want to work abandon their sloth and actually go to work is far off in the future.

When I was young the dole was quite high. It was meant for times between jobs to maintain family income. Indeed, in England those who paid more tax got a higher rate of unemployment. This was definitely not egalitarian. The Australian benefit has fallen way behind the cost of living - the lowest in the OECD. It is only food money now. Forget putting a roof over you're head. It can't be done, unless you are female with eight dependent children.

The question has also been made about voting rights. If you have no abode you do not have the right to receive unemployment benefits nor can you vote in elections. The marginalized get more marginalized.

Paul Keating, ironically a Labor politician, brought in compulsory superannuation with the aim of virtually eliminating the old age pension. This concept has gone by the board now with a series of conservative governments messing around with the rules to reduce accumulation of capital for retirement. The idea of allowing drawing of superannuation to purchase houses was an idea to 'feel the waters". It was quietly dumped.

There has always been a pool of very poor people to fuel economic growth. They are essentially needed for manual or repetitive tasks to generate income for the already rich. The poor do drive the world economy even today. If this pool did not exist, consumers would have to pay a higher price for goods. It would make for a better world to live in.
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Glass Ceiling for Women in Medicine

You would think that the medical profession would be equal for both sexes in regard to career opportunities by now. Unfortunately, this it not the case in Australia. It occurs even though medical schools have reached gender parity for enrolments. In many schools women are in the majority.
Women female surgeons
Leadership positions are still dominated by men. This is more so specialty areas. Old cultural values have inertia: the US, UK and Canada have the same problem. In Sweden research has shown that women medicos seek high positions just as much as men. Yet even there men dominate leadership and specialties.

The average for women CEOs in Australian hospitals is only 12.5 percent. This is absurdly low. Female deans of medical schools and government chief medical officers average about 30 per cent. Women in specialty stands at 16 per cent: they are overwhelmingly in pathology, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology holding just over half of these positions nationally. Female surgeons number about 10 per cent.

"Experts" have put this down to self doubt about doing the job, difficult hours and more years of training. This is a load of hogwash. it is cultural inertia that keeps things the way they are and men want this to continue forever!
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