Nobody's Talking About the Silver Bullet That Could Heal the Economy and Cure Most Social Ills

[marmar]

Nobody's Talking About the Silver Bullet That Could Heal the Economy and Cure Most Social Ills

By Jeff Ritterman, M.D., AlterNet. Posted July 31, 2009.

Fairer societies simply work better.



Imagine a guidebook on formulating social policy, with instructions on how to extend life expectancy, decrease infant mortality, improve child well-being, reduce obesity, lower homicide rates, decrease school dropout rates, lower teen pregnancy, increase levels of civic trust, improve voter turnout, decrease drug abuse, lower incarceration rates, decrease rates of mental illness, and improve social mobility based on merit.

There’s convincing evidence for all of this and more in The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (Allen Lane). To learn more, go to their Web site, www.equalitytrust.org.uk.

The core message is that the countries that distribute their incomes the most equally have the longest life expectancy and the highest quality of life.

The same is true for states within the U.S.; the more income equality, the longer the life span. Unfortunately, the United States is now the most unequal of the wealthy countries, with the exception of Singapore.



As income inequality increases, we trust one another less. For those concerned that I am confusing correlation with causality, I refer you to the thoughtful discussion of this in The Spirit Level. The authors review the extensive data on civic trust and make a convincing argument that causality is the best fit. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/workplace/141645/nobody%27s_talking_about_the_silver_bullet_that_could_heal_the_economy_and_cure_most_social_ills_/

[TexasObserver]

1. Recommend

[PA Democrat]

2. Another fascinating graph from your link. Thanks for posting.

[comtec]

5. Heh I think Holland's fudging it's numbers a little bit

I've never been sick as often as I am since I moved here (climate related im sure, im from CA)
but I also have no problems seeing my arts (social stigma aside) to get antibiotics. (imho over used but at least available)

When I had a bump (non-malignant mutant cluster of fat cells beginning with an L)I was operated on inside of 4 weeks (even they admitted that was fast). That 2 weeks to a consult with a surgeon, and 2 weeks to get operated on.

Sadly the back of my head was ugly as sin till the hair grew back XD. And there's no hope for the rest of me, as that's how I came.

I have 26 DAYS a year of vacation....and that's LOW for holland and Europe (American company, bare min days they can give me).\

I just signed a year contract, so I have currently 26 + 7 days till my next contract in August '10.

Yes I'm stressed like anyone else, but NOT having to worry about where my income will come from for the nest 12 months is a MASSIVE WEIGHT OFF my shoulders.

and lemmie tell you 5 day weekends are as relaxing as a 2 week holiday - and economical.

When I do need to see the doctor it's counted as medical time off, and NOT subtracted from my vacation time.

I have loads to complain about here, but that is not one of them.

[Raineyb]

3. Thom Hartmann discussed this recently.

Sorry can't say exactly when as I listen via podcast.

[armyowalgreens]

4. K&R. Bookmarking for later.

[baldguy]

6. And what do you do about those in the bottom 20%

Who enslave themselves to enrich the top 20%? "God, guns & gays" has a powerful influence, even if it allows greater inequalities. And people who are most in need of union representation & services tend to be those most opposed to them.

[JNelson6563]

7. Yes, it's very Orwellian, isn't it?

The 2-minute hate: Opiate to a swath of the masses.

Julie

[marmar]

18. Very true.

n/t

[Seldona]

29. Get the other 60% as together as we can, and kick their ass.

Much like we did in the last two elections. Their only chance is to keep us divided. Granted they are pretty good at fragmenting the rest of us.

[HughBeaumont]

8. Just kind of makes you wonder who exactly these people ARE that are content with the current system.

"I'm awesomely happy knowing that I can be fired any second without warning no matter HOW good a job I do and left in a deep hole with only a garden trowel to escape with!"

"I'm insanely content with the same wage for years and years and years while my cost of living skyrockets!"

"It's great to know I can be denied health care and then bankrupted if I have cancer based on the data of an insurance company risk analyst!"

"A CEO earning 350 times what I do, and they pay miniscule taxes in relation to their cost of living burden? NO PROBLEM! How can that possibly be a problem for the U.S.?"


:woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce:

[FiveGoodMen]

9. Stockholm syndrome

[HughBeaumont]

10. "I gotta feeling it's gonna be renamed"

:)

[Wednesdays]

17. They're not content

"I'm insanely content with the same wage for years and years and years while my cost of living skyrockets!"

They're not content, they're angry...and it's all the DAMN LIB'RULS fault!

[Grinchie]

24. I really happy that most of the food comes from Patented GMO plants!

I'm happy that most of the food is designed to resist Roundup!

I'm content knowing that I eat a registered pesticide every time I eat a processed corn substance.

I'm not worried that some pig isn't going to excrete some GMO papaya seeds on my property and cause me to violate some Patent held by a large Corporation and subject me to fines.

I'm glad that they determined that GMO is Substantially equivalent to a non GMO plant, even though they are patented.

I'm happy that the Government allows us to be used a human guinea pigs in regards to the long term health effects of GMO food. What possibly could go wrong?

Most of all, I am in total agreement that mandatory labeling of GMO product in food would restrict my ability to be ignorant of what goes into my body and reduce my blissful ignorance of the prevalance of GMO foods in the supermarket. It might frighten all the people that may have some prejusdice against GMO food, and it may cause Monsanto's stock to drop.

I think that Country of origin labeling on food is cumbersome, and might add a few cents to the insanely cheap food being imported from third world countries that aren't subject to onerous regulations from the EPA on pesticide residue on food.

Life couldn't be better!

[femrap]

25. I enjoy sarcasm....

gives me a reason to live and laugh. Keep it up.

edit for typo.

[bamacrat]

11. Good thing Singapore is there.

One fair thing that could easily be done and would help greatly would be removing the cap on Social Security taxes. Right now an individual is only taxed up to $108,000 for Social Security. So all these multimillion dollar athletes and CEOs get off only paying SS taxes on their first 108K. Completely Unfair.

[gleaner]

20. Another thing...

that could help would be Windfall Profit Taxes on the pharmaceutical companies, oil companies, health insurance companies, the credit industry and any other corporate entity who has profited disproportionately under Bush.

Windfall profit taxes would take a huge amount of the profit back, and it could be used to fund something useful like health care, housing for people who are homeless and food for people who are hungry. It is entirely doable. Do I expect to see it? No. Just like I don't expect to see Bush or Cheney prosecuted for war crimes.

[winyanstaz]

32. In a just society..that would be some very good ideas :)

[gleaner]

43. Thanks

I know it will never happen. A just society you say. I wonder what that would be like?;)

[femrap]

26. I agree 100%....

SS is insurance, right? So you pay for insurance on a car and a home, right? So when you sell the car or the house, do you get to demand a refund for the all the insurance you paid for? NO!

People should be SOOOOOOOOOO grateful that their lives worked out well and they DON'T need SS.

SS needs to be framed in this manner.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

12. How obtuse do you need to be...

...to require a graph to tell you that rich people live longer than poor people?

[muriel_volestrangler]

36. No-one has bothered showing a graph like that in this thread, though

So I don't know why you'd say that. This is about inequality, and about more than just health.

[GeorgeGist]

13. Do we really need a silver bullet ...

to kill the rich, when a simple axe would do?

[FiveGoodMen]

16. Well, the bullets are quicker (and they don't really have to be silver)

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. K&R

[SeekerBlue]

15. Thanks for posting!

Can't wait to explore this site!

[Sherman A1]

33. Agreed

[anonymous171]

19. K&R nt

[elleng]

21. Looking for the States!

WHERE shouold I live?

[Umbral]

22. Do you suppose Mexico is not on the list because 19 of the top 20% are still dirt poor? nt

[dflprincess]

23. "We all do better when we all do better"

Wellstone often said that and he was right

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

28. It's no use wishing, but....

Imagine if Wellstone were the Majority Leader in the Senate.

Such uninspired leadership we have in Congress right now.

[Enthusiast]

34. Uninspired leadership is

not an accident.

[Swede Atlanta]

27. But you have a faulty premise...

You assume that the opponents to liberal social policies whether they be in employment, health care, child care, etc. care a hill of beans about who is happiest and who lives the longest.

The Repuglicans are the party of MONEY. It is all about who has the the most money and power. They don't care if they live a day if they are the richest and most powerful.

I would love to live in a country where owning the latest HDTV wasn't the talk of the neighborhood. But that is not Amerikkka. I am hopeful that with this recession Americans are recognizing the value of friends, family, etc. that are not associated with pure commercial consumption. The Repukes and their friends in the business community hope this isn't so.

[pengillian101]

30. I would love to live in a country........ that is not Amerikkka

So, why stay???

[Greyhound]

31. You just say that as if there were a choice.

Like all you have to do is decide to leave. Believe me, it isn't easy to leave unless you've got a large pile of cash.

[NecklyTyler]

35. Kick and recommend

[slackmaster]

37. Disappointing. I was hoping for another "legalize marijuana" thread.

There is a limit to the extent to which wealth redistribution makes everyone better off. At the extreme, if you were to say everything gets distributed evenly regardless of how much or how little any individual contributed, the overall effect would be to remove the incentive for individuals to excel.

K&U

:kick:

[Greyhound]

40. What a very sad commentary on your perspective. n/t

[Swagman]

38. long live the memory of FDR who knew this by heart

[nightrain]

39. good. social science meets DU

[Greyhound]

41. Got the site in my bookmarks for further use, thank you. n/t

:kick:

[G_j]

42. Kick