wealth addiction

Is "greed good" as declared by Gordon Gekko? Sam Polk's article in yesterday's New York Times suggests otherwise. In fact, he gives a candid account of the problem he had, attributing his own drive for money to "wealth addiction." Although he amassed a sizable fortune as a Wall Street trader a few years ago, he never felt he had enough. Personal introspection, with assistance from psychotherapy, led him to understand that his greed, and that of others in the industry, is essentially the same as that with drugs or alcohol. Polk has since left Wall Street for social activism, starting Groceryships, an organization working to promote nutrition education among poor families.

the diploma divide

See associated New York Times article, For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall. On the diminishing ability of lower-income American youth to gain a college education, see the BBC article Downward Mobility Haunts U.S. Education. See also Education as the Great Equalizer? Or Class Enforcer?
Hear descriptions of a noteworthy attempt to turn around a high school in a low-income community: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/wealth-poverty/one-school-one-year.

the dragon children: what's behind the success of Chinese-Australian students

The Dragon Children is a rich-media project sponsored by the SBS that focuses on the generally high scholastic performance, as well as anxieties, of Chinese-Australian students. Topics include parenting ambitions and styles, children's reactions to parental pressures, programs in Australia attempting to train parents to temper their aspirations in order to make more well-rounded offspring, and comments by former Dragon Children, now adults. For arguments supporting the notion of American-style Dragon Children, see this excerpt from Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother; for a counter perspective, view Bending the Stereotypes of Chinese Parenting.