Lindsay Ross
Equinox Staff
As the fall weather comes in and the warm coats are starting to be worn, the country’s economy continues to spiral downward. Dr. Mark Jacobs made his way to the Alumni Centennial Hall at Keene State College, Monday, Oct. 3, to discuss just that: his speech entitled “Impression Management or Bad Faith? The Full Dimensions of Moral Evasion in the Financial Crisis,” outlined the financial situation the country is currently dealing with.
Each year, two colleges are selected to welcome a well-known sociologist to give a keynote address as part of the Eastern Sociological Society’s distinguished Robin L. Williams, Jr. Lecturer. Keene State College and University of Connecticut welcomed Jacobs to address students on what is going on financially in this day and age.
Jacobs, a cultural sociologist, examines current events by looking at their deeper meanings, rather than just looking at the surface of the issue.
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Sociology and students of other majors, as Jacobs touches on other fields as well, filled the Alumni Centennial Hall in anticipation of Jacobs’ speech to learn what is going on with our economy and how we can understand how more people are suffering daily.
“We are seeing outlooks on situation changes in the economy over years and the analysis about changes,” sophomore Kori White said.
Jacobs eased the audience into his lecture at the beginning of the discussion by showing two clips from Michael Moore’s movie “Capitalism: A Love Story.”
“Many students are interested in economics, political science, as well as sociology,” Margaret Walsh, sociology professor at KSC, said.
After the two videos Jacobs showed to kick off the lecture, he began discussing what the future holds for us financially, as well as comparing present day to what happened back when the Great Depression occurred.
Jacobs says that although people aren’t willing to admit it, the state of America is now in a financial crisis, and we are looking at a present day Great Depression.
Jacobs continued on not only to explain the deficit that the country currently holds, but to say that the banks play a major role in this financial meltdown.
Most families don’t purchase homes out-of-pocket, and thus take out bank loans. The so-called “start” of the financial crisis began when banks signed loans to families they knew wouldn’t be able to keep up with payments.
Jacobs said this type of irresponsible banking demonstrates the lack of morality and the legal issues the country has that allow this type of immorality because the law is written to place the burden of this type of default on the family who takes a loan.
“We haven’t prosecuted a single person for tens of million homes,” Jacobs said of these faulty loans.
Jacobs pointed out the fact that the fault falls to the consumer, and the banks took no responsibility for the financial crisis by claiming those who took out loans which they defaulted on knew the risk they were taking on.
In order to understand the financial crisis, Jacobs said it is essential to understand bad faith. He said laws and regulation are written so no scandal can come from how the banks handed out these loans.
According to Jacobs, the country is dealing with many issues in 2011 that are important for students to understand what is going on.
There may be some confusion as to what the country is dealing with on a daily basis, and Jacobs aimed to inform students that it is important to understand what Americans are currently struggling with.
“Dr. Jacobs applies an interdisciplinary lens to help us understand these issues,” Walsh said.
Sociology majors at KSC, along with students going into other professions may be interested in this for their careers in what they want to do, and Jacobs may be able to provide information to not only help them understand what is going on now in present day, but what may occur in the future.
Walsh said it may help them a couple years down the road.
“Hearing his perspective on future direction, on sociology and advice he may have for our graduates who are planning their profession.”
Jacobs touched upon many topics that dealt with the financial crisis in today’s society that students do not normally learn in some classes. He introduced another way of looking at the financial crisis that looks less at the laws and more at the bigger picture and the morality of those involved in the financial collapse in this country.
Professor of Sociology Marci Bornstein said that students were filled with knowledge that they would not have otherwise known.
“College students could learn more in a session like this than a week of classes,” Bornstein said.
Jacobs explained that the economy affects us throughout our everyday lives, it is becoming more part of our culture as well.
“The word economy is so much a part of our everyday language that image was basically a cultural invention,” Jacobs said.
Lindsay Ross can be contacted at lross1@ksc.mailcruiser.com