Inequalities

Just went to an inequalities conference where Richard Wilkinson was the keynote speaker!

How do we live in such extreme forms of inequality, and not feel guilty or unsatisfied or uncomfortable?

Do we not feel uncomfortable? It is difficult to know that people stuggle, and just how they got to that point. We don’t really want to know about all the drugs, abuse and isolation that goes on in our communities- we reserve this type of lifestyle for people in gangs, bad relationships, and those who suffer from addictions- not people in our communities that we interact with on a daily basis. What constitutes interaction? We do not know how to be uncomfortable with inequalities because we do not know how to a. interpret the research around inequalities, b. the greater processes that underlie inequalities (historical).

Do you like Living in America?

In a heated moment away from America I wrote a few things that I did not like about the country. New Zealand is not my favorite country, but it is a good country- with its social problems like every where else. It’s just a matter of what social issues can I tolerate. Obnoxious overspending in America, or the agnosticism of New Zealand. Choices, choices.

It’s not so much the fact that they (Americans) have millions and millions, it’s the fact that their highest priority is to keep the millions and millions and make more millions and millions so that they can remodel their house, donate to charities (I bet they never meet the people who receive the aid- remote and removed charity, why is that giving?) and go on a killer vacations. All the while avoiding taxes, running through life and talking, talking, talking…never listening. Their children’s goals revolve around attaining- not creating, loving and understanding others or even themselves. They have not the slightest idea who (their goals, passions or hurts) they are surrounded by, or what this world is actually like. They live in America.

That is the greatest young 20's rant I will ever put over America.

How do you Locate Poverty?

Hunger, smoke, burning trash.

www.povertymap.net

Do People Migrate For A Better life?

Ethnic Diaspora- formed in foreign countries as a result of population migration

Today life is more expensive in the cities, jobs are harder to find and in general people in New Zealand report higher life satisfaction, quality of life, and happiness outside Auckland- New Zealand’s largest city. Perhaps in 2010’s we will see a slowing of migration to the cities?

Phil (my supervisor) has a PhD student working on this exact question, Phil has several articles on this particular topic.

Wanting vs. Liking

Can we want things want things that don’t make us happy?

“Neuroscientists have discovered that the parts of the brain that control wanting and the parts that control liking are separate; they operate independently of one another and involve different chemicals” (179, Weiner).

So wanting something and liking it may not necessarily be the same time.

How do we Measure Progress?

I’ve been thinking about this question since my last quarter at Seattle Pacific University, subsequently it is an underlying theme of my thesis. Progress is a tricky thing, although rich people can update cars, computers and styles, is that all really progress? I know buying thins stimulated the economy, but are things really getting “better” if big ticket items are being purchased? Should we really invest all out money into making more money? How much money is enough to make us satisfied with life? Can we stop making money, even if we wanted too?

Pictures of Food and Ideas about Food

“Nothing is more basic to the maintenance of all our lives than food. Nothing is more important to the continuance of our customs, crafts, religions, institutions- to our cultures and civilizations- than family. Mealtime is when we take on fuel and lay the foundations of our societies” (pg. 53 Hungry Planet, Alfred w. Crosby PhD. professor at the University of Texas)

“Fast Food restaurants have redefined the American family meal, yes, but they have by no means destroyed it. These restaurants offer safety, or the illusion of it, and comfort and familiarity. They also offer a sense belonging…It is community with people all over the world, eating identical food that betrays no connection to community of place” (pg.92, Essay by Corby Kummer, a senior editor at the Atlantic Monthly, Hungry Planet).

“Street food belongs to the era of market capitalism, which did not become widespread until the industrial revolution and the beginning of global trade. Long-distance trade had existed for centuries before, but mainly in the form of state tribute, payments exacted by kings and generals. Beginning in the 15th century, the private sector- merchants, traders, and speculators- began to predominate. As historians like Eric R. Wolf have pointed out, the private sector prefers to work with cash rather than barter, because money is portable and easily exchanged. Similarly, the year’s new workforce of dyers, weavers, miners, clerks, seamstresses, messengers, and the like paid in cash. Factory owners, merchants, and workers all had to be away from the home kitchen for long periods of time in an era in which the lack of refrigeration make bag lunches problematic. The result- an explosion in the number of hungry people traveling around the world with coins jingling in their pockets- opened up a new venue for small entrepreneurs: the street-food stall.”