1. Discuss your reaction towards the article.

Based on the categories used to determine the well-being of Americans, I was not surprised to see that the cities with the highest overall well-being were amongst the most educated with incomes in excess of the national median, in better health conditions, and with less vices, while the most miserable cities had a significant smokers rates, health conditions, and lower incomes. These are all factors that are related to one another, a person with minimal education will be limited to getting whatever job they can get, most likely a labor intensive job, and in many cases more than one at a time, straining themselves and living under pressure and stress in order to make ends meet and living day to day, ultimately resorting to easy alternatives to cope with the stress such as smoking and alcohol, aiding to more health complications.

1a. Discuss how your reaction was influenced by being enrolled in this course.
The way that being enrolled in this course, attributed to my reactions is for the fact that what we have learned has helped me become more understanding of why less prominent areas are the way that they are and this is because it is hard for them to progress due to limited access to resources such as education and healthier food choices amongst many other factors.
2. Discuss your reaction towards the article.
This article has provided me with a better understanding of why “taxes” is such a controversial topic amongst the middle and lower class, and the wealthy. This article gave and exceptional explanation that clarified how the rich pay less money than they should, while the middle and lower class suffer the burden of higher taxes. Being that the rich own larger more expensive