The most profound new learning was regarding the social issue of poverty and inequality. Annually, this seems to be exacerbated, with a recent analysis showing that the levels of income inequality reach pre-Great Depression levels, suggesting that this social dynamic could be potentially devastating for the economy in the near future. The US Gini coefficient is at 41.5, and the ultrarich consisting of 0.1%, holds approximately 25% of the wealth. The new learning process was focused on how to address such overwhelming and divisive issues through social policy. Among many, there are programs that offer social protection in terms of food, education, and healthcare. However, it is important to improve their utilization while stimulating economic growth for those in poverty.
The key to future policy is to provide a ladder of opportunities for impoverished families and communities. Furthermore, it is necessary to adopt bipartisan solutions as one of the key barriers to policy is drastically different views on the issue. Learning to examine the issue of poverty from a variety of perspectives with policy-based realistic solutions was beneficial to personal decision-making skills. While the issue of inequality is mostly political and socio-economic, I believe this approach can apply to more divisive issues such as religion or constitutional rights. The key is to avoid ideological traps and use reason to approach situations.