"Les Cargill" wrote in message
A microwave oven, used car, TV cost *much much less* now. The
microwave is a net cost savings; if you use it right, you can spend
a lot less on food.
but yes- in absolute terms, the poor now live better than relatively
wealthy people fifty years ago.
A big problem is that we increasingly measure our wealth and welfare in
terms of material possessions and appearances, which usually involve
superfluous and unnecessary things that people are convinced they need for
happiness and success. This is largely due to the effectiveness of
advertising and peer pressure, which is often reinforced with promises of
sexual gratification, which of course appeals strongly to adolescents as
well as aging baby boomers going through late mid-life crises.
I know someone who works in truly poor neighborhoods in the Baltimore inner
city, and she knows people who really struggle to get by on income levels
that I might find perfectly adequate. As she puts it, some of these people
have poor problem solving skills, so they cannot avail themselves of simple
ways to reduce costs, or avoid getting caught under untenable mountains of
debt. They have little sense of how purchasing items on credit will result
in financial difficulties in the future, and they do not know how to
purchase and prepare inexpensive yet highly nutritious foods, in large
quantities, that can be easily stored, such as brown rice and dried beans.
Also, many of the bargains we are used to at large suburban supermarkets and
big lots stores are not as easily available to them at neighborhood grocery
stores.
With a paradigm shift from individualism and isolationism, to cooperation
and sharing of resources, it is possible to live comfortably and probably
healthier and happier. Much of the deplorable conditions and frustration
people complain about is because of their obsession with conspicuous
consumption, and electronic entertainment and communications which have
replaced normal human interactions. People have become slaves to the
technology which was supposed to have reduced our need to work so hard, and
has fostered isolation and dependency on frivolous things. Such conditions
also spawn mental illness and road rage and lack of civility, morality, and
ethics, which result in criminal behavior and need for extra security and
self-protection.
Paul
www.newkoinonia.com
Good for you, by the
