Do Online Petitions Work?, Reality of Extreme Poverty in America

Do Online Petitions Work? Guest: Jennifer Earl, PhD, Professor of Sociology, Government and Public Policy, University of Arizona; David Karpf, PhD, Professor of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University Slacktivism. That’s the belittling term critics use to describe the way it’s become so easy to sign an online petition, forward a Facebook post or Tweet a hashtag and feel like we’ve actually made a difference. Has the internet ruined activism? Are online campaigns as effective as old-school protests in bringing change? Take online petitions: There’s one on the White House website right now calling for President Trump to release his tax returns – it’s got over 1 million signatures. But so far no tax returns. Then again, people have marched in the streets making the same demand and got the same response. Realities of Extreme Poverty in America Guest: Kathryn Edin, PhD, co-author of “$2.00 a Day,” Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University Think about what you spend in a given day. Just start with the gas in your car and the bagel or beverage you grab for breakfast on your way to school or work - you’ve already maxed out the daily budget for the person we’re talking about today. One and a half million American households live on $2 per person per day. Those households include three million children. And that number has grown dramatically in just the last 20 years.