Activity 3 page 3
Unit 4: Section 1: Workbook 15: Market and Mixed Economies
individual identity: how a person sees himself or herself based on a set of characteristics and values
collective identity:
a common or shared identity within a group of people; includes common language, culture, and history
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Consider aspects of your identity such as being a teenager, a student, an Albertan, and a Canadian. Factors such as cultural background, language spoken, religion, family structure, income level, where you live, and your values and beliefs help determine your identity.
Answer the following questions in your notes.
- Who are you? Identify your individual identity in point-form notes. Consider the aspects of identity mentioned in the above paragraph as well as other factors that help you describe who you are.
Please note: Spend approximately five minutes on this task.
- What is your collective identity? To what groups do you belong? Identify your collective identity in point-form notes. Consider your family, school, community, and/or teams or organizations to which you belong. Please note: Spend
approximately five minutes on this task.
- In point-form notes, identify five goods and/or services that you have purchased recently or five goods and/or services that you purchase regularly. What do your consumer purchases reflect about your identity?
Save your notes in your Activities folder.
Read the example below to see how consumer actions may reflect individual and collective identities.
Example:
Lawrence is a 16-year-old who lives in Calgary, Alberta.
He lives with his parents and two older brothers. He attends school
full-time and takes a full load of academic courses to help him with his
future goal of attending college or entering a trade school. He is
considering becoming a welder like his father and brother. However, he
is also interested in owning his own business like his mother. He works
at his uncle's automotive repair shop part-time to earn spending money.
Lawrence loves sports and plays on the school basketball team. He
saves some of his spending money for his future education, but he also
spends his money on sports magazines, athletic footwear, and video
games.
How are Lawrence's purchases influenced by his identity?
You will demonstrate how your identity influences your role as a consumer in the assignment for this workbook.
Workbook Summary
In this workbook, you investigated the following questions.
How does my government and the government of the United States get involved in the market economies?
How has the emergence of labour unions impacted my quality of life and identity as a Canadian?
How do labour unions impact market and mixed economies?
What is my role as a consumer in market and mixed economies?
How does my role as a consumer reflect my individual and collective identities?
The governments in both countries participate in their economies. The United States government believes that its participation should remain minimal. Basically, the United States government ensures that the economy continues to function in
a positive manner (that is, in a way that ensures the public good).
In Canada, the government is more involved generally in the economy. It has been the role of government traditionally to support the economy and the people who work in it.
Workers' rights have not always been considered important. At various times in history, improving working conditions and pay, and providing job security were not attractive to employers or government. The introduction of labour unions has helped
to improve workers' rights.
Labour unions provide a stronger voice to represent workers' needs to employers. This increased power is used to improve working conditions, protect jobs, and increase wages.
As a result of labour unions in Canada, government has introduced labour laws that protect workers.
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