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Have you lived in two or more very different parts of the country?
Yes.
Have you moved from one side of town to another?
Yes.
If yes, what socioeconomic differences have you noticed along the way?
Economically, folks around my new neighborhood have jobs and consistant incomes that put them around middle class for the area whereas my previous location was full of students, only a fraction of whom had jobs and most of whom spent the majority of their money on school.
Are there specific differences you have noticed from one community to another?
Nothing important. People may espouse different political ideologies or a particular religious sect may be more prevalent in one location than the other, but really people are surprisingly similar. Most of the divides we talk about are imposed by things like the media and aren't real.
Do you feel that you are dissimilar from those living in the next town or neighborhood?
No.
What other divisions have you seen?
I've been to a few of the political rallies, I've been to a few town halls and I've been to a few churches. It seems like divisions are a lot easier to see when you seek out your own kind to establish community based on exclusion. Work and school, on the other hand, seem to do the opposite, at least in my experience. I found out I have a ton in common with Latino immigrants when I did landscaping in high school. I found out I had a ton in common with Japanese kids my age when I was in high school. I found out I have a lot in common with Germans and British when I got my first job out of college. I suppose if I concentrated I could see the differences, but they weren't readily apparent in friendships.
Do you think technology is deepening these differences, or smoothing them?
Both. Technology is a tool that can be used to bring people together or rip them apart. It's how people use it that determine its consequence.
How much change do you expect to see in regards to these inequalities within your lifetime?
More for a while, then less.
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