Vatican Hosts Climate Change Summit

 

 Earlier this week, the Vatican announced it's intention to organize a summit named "Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity. The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Development " via their website. This move on the part of the Vatican appears to be part of a recent line of decisions by Pope Francis to take a more progressive stance towards issues that have famously been points of sharp criticisms for the church.
     Climate change denial in particular, has been strongly tied to the Religious Right here in the United States, whom often been accused of being anti-science and 'behind the times'. From denial of evolutionary theory (which is surprisingly, only accepted by 40% of Americans) to presidential candidate's outright rejection of man made climate change, the Conservative bloc of American politics, which is intimately tied to the religious right, has taken a bad beating as a result of its progress arresting views.
The relatively politically progressive stance taken by the current Pope Francis is a breath of fresh air for a party that has been slowly losing credibility for its increased irrelevance. Though the majority of the United States Christian base is Protestant, and the views expressed by the Pope do not necessarily translate into American politics as a result, Pope Francis enjoys a cozy 90% acceptance rate among American Catholics and a 70% approval rating among the general American population. Such a sign couldn't be more obvious, if the GOP wants to survive Post- Baby Boomer, this may be a good indication of what needs to change.
As was put nicely by Recca Leber, a writer for the New Republic:


"That's certainly not the popular view of science and faith in America. On climate change, deniers like Senator James Inhofe have argued it's hubris to think humans can alter the atmosphere. Florida Governor Rick Scott has used religion to dodge a question on if he thinks humans have caused global warming. On evolution, Republicans like Senator Marco Rubio and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal have pled ignorance  in order to avoid offending creationists. Lately Republicans have been invoking the same excuse, over and over again: When asked a question that touches upon science, they dodge the question by saying “I’m not a scientist.”

Francis isn't a scientist either. If he can have some faith in it, can't the GOP, too?"

For our own sake, I certainly hope so.

Why Do Students Cheat?

     

Parents helping students cheat in Bihar, India

          This past month has been a strange time for education. In Atlanta, 11 educators were charged in what has been described as the largest cheating scandal in American history, while in Bihar, India, over a thousand people were detained (and 600 students expelled) for widespread cheating on state examinations.

         Some students feel the need to cheat, and it’s important to ask why. The Atlanta and Bihar cheating scandals have some important things to remind us and it likely isn’t about the education system. The problem, rather, may lie with the private sector. In an increasingly mechanized workforce over three billion strong, one has to ask, “what sort of chances do I have?”

They aren't good, here’s the proof.

         In a study conducted by the USA Today, an estimated 70% of low skilled jobs, those only requiring a high school diploma, are at risk of being completely replaced by automation in 10-20 years. An additional 46% percent of mid-level jobs, those requiring some training up to a Bachelor’s Degree, are also at risk of replacement. The safest bet seems to lie in the high skill job arena, which will experience the smallest shock, with 8% of jobs at risk. This of course does not consider jobs created as a result of automation, which, unsurprisingly, are generated mostly in the high-skill job sector as well.

Assuming you do manage to keep a mid or low skill job through the Robot Apocalypse, the numbers just don’t support the decision. The pay gap between those with no to some secondary education, and those with it, are rising. At $17,500 (as of 2013), the gap is the largest it has ever been, and it appears that the chasm will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.

Jobs requiring low levels of education are not only disappearing, but are becoming less and less lucrative with time. So it seems, to keep your prospects for any sort of tenable career, one’s best chances exist in obtaining a so called 'high skill job'.

All you need is a Bachelor’s Degree.

 Here is where the problem lies.
     
        With the cost a Bachelor's Degree looming around $23,410 for In-State students and $46,272 for those in private education, students from lower income background just can't afford the sticker price. Top schools are also getting more competitive, accepting less students overall, making scholarships more inaccessible for the average student. With such a dangerous combination of selectivity and inaffordability, the few available opportunities around are met with fierce competition. Students are forced to grapple with applicants both at home and internationally, fighting with the best and brightest globally for the scarce positions available.
       Domestic students may be able to alleviate the need for scholarships by attending schools in-state, but for International Students coming from impoverished backgrounds, scholarships are a must. These scholarships are often much more limited in numbers than those available domestically, and in higher demand, often giving priority to domestic applicants.

 All this, for a degree has the same scaled earning potential as it did in the 60s.

      All considered, cheating seems to be a highly rational choice. With such tremendous odds stacked against the average student right out of high school, following the rules at the expense of a secure future just doesn't make sense. Concepts like honor and responsibility begin to lose water when your limited chance of future success rests on a single exam, and sometimes, the academic pressure cooker demands sacrifices.

    Unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done to put out the fire. As competitive careers pull from applicants internationally and a the percentage of educated workers grows, the occupational vice will continue to demand more and more from the average worker. Educational attainment will inevitably lose value over time as supply grows from every corner of the globe. Job growth may be our only hope, and that can't even keep up with population growth (much less our robot overlords).


     As long as these conditions continue to exist, there is little doubt that cheating will continue, I mean, why shouldn't it? The demand on the average student is tremendous, and it's growing at a startling pace. I can't help but think back to that old joke they often tell Liberal Arts majors, "Would you like fries with that degree?", even that, it seems, isn't a guarantee anymore.

...and we haven't even considered the competition at the Masters and PhD level.


     

An Update on HSBC

Since I have such love and admiration for our old friend HSBC, I wanted to discuss a recent document released by the Justice Department on HSBC being 'too slow' in its promised reform since its 2012 deferred prosecution agreement for funding terrorist organizations. It seems, the same HSBC that is being charged with money laundering in its Swiss Branch has, to the surprise of many, been lazy in cleaning up its ethical activity. The stupidity that is required to think that this sort of display is having any effect on the bank's business behavior, and further, and any sort of serious investigation is being held, is tremendous. The cited article further discusses HSBC's main office's connection to the current Swiss Branch's investigation:

"The bank said the Swiss unit at the center of the tax-evasion allegations had a “different culture” that “was not fully integrated into HSBC,” being largely formed from acquisitions.

HSBC’s monitor said that top leaders at the bank are doing a good job of taking responsibility for the bank’s anti-money-laundering and sanctions compliance program, but criticized other staffers, the filing said. Senior managers at the U.S. unit’s global banking and markets business inappropriately pushed back against negative findings from internal auditors and others, the filing said. Individuals involved in this incident had their bonuses reduced."

Reassuringly enough, that other branch had nothing to do with them and we continue to keep our faith in HSBC in good order. What I really wanted to focus on is the heavy handed action taken by US Justice Department against those senior managers that pushed back against internal auditors, namely, the taking of their bonuses. Or rather, the reduction of their bonuses, so it seems that Bill in HR will not longer be able to afford the car of his dreams, and must now settle for a Porsche. There may still be hope though, it appears the Feds are having a difficult time accessing HSBC's computers:

"Mr. Cherkasky said the bank’s compliance technology remains “an area of material weakness,” the filing said. These systems are fragmented, which prevents bank investigators from easily reviewing customer records when evaluating suspicious activity. Mr. Cherkasky said these systems needed improvement in his initial report on the bank’s progress last year.

HSBC has good plans to improve these technology problems, but actually executing them will be “difficult, expensive and time consuming,” according to the filing."

Unfortunately, the burden once again falls on our friend to fund the upgrades required for their computers and how HSBC will manage to implement a task of such difficulty, time commitment and expense is beyond me.

Remember kids, crime doesn't pay.


P.S. Surprisingly, the kindly UK government appears to have forgiven many of the tax evaders in the HSBC laundering scandal.