Post by kitkat on Jun 2, 2012 11:02:10 GMT -5
www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-hochschild-free-market-and-family-values-20120603,0,3450907.story
excerpts:
"...the highest ratings of well-being among children living in the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark — nations that, far more than we, tax the rich, regulate industry and provide such public services as paid parental leave, art subsidies and excellent public schools.
The lowest overall rank went to nations pursuing the strongest free-market agenda: the U.S. and Britain, "
and:
"...examined 29 different measures of the well-being of adults, including rates of violence, drug abuse, mental illness, levels of social trust, social mobility and overall health and life expectancy. They compared nations that had the widest financial gap between the richest and poorest 20% of the population with nations that had the narrowest gap between the two.
On almost all of these indicators, the highest-gap nations — the U.S., Britain and Portugal — reported the most distress. The per capita homicide rate in high-gap countries was 10 times that of low-gap ones, and high-gap nations had three times the rate of mental illness. Even middle-class people in high-gap societies felt less safe in their communities than did their counterparts in low-gap societies. They also suffered poorer physical and mental health and more obesity, and they died earlier from all causes."
and:
"In 1960... there was far less distance between Americans at the top of the socioeconomic ladder and those at the bottom. By 2010, the gap had grown dramatically, and Murray found that as the American class system "came apart," so too did the families he studied. Poor people in 2010 felt less trustful of others, less supported by others and less happy than poor people in 1960 — and so did rich people" (Italics mine. I have seen this reality in action a lot over the last few years...)
excerpts:
"...the highest ratings of well-being among children living in the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark — nations that, far more than we, tax the rich, regulate industry and provide such public services as paid parental leave, art subsidies and excellent public schools.
The lowest overall rank went to nations pursuing the strongest free-market agenda: the U.S. and Britain, "
and:
"...examined 29 different measures of the well-being of adults, including rates of violence, drug abuse, mental illness, levels of social trust, social mobility and overall health and life expectancy. They compared nations that had the widest financial gap between the richest and poorest 20% of the population with nations that had the narrowest gap between the two.
On almost all of these indicators, the highest-gap nations — the U.S., Britain and Portugal — reported the most distress. The per capita homicide rate in high-gap countries was 10 times that of low-gap ones, and high-gap nations had three times the rate of mental illness. Even middle-class people in high-gap societies felt less safe in their communities than did their counterparts in low-gap societies. They also suffered poorer physical and mental health and more obesity, and they died earlier from all causes."
and:
"In 1960... there was far less distance between Americans at the top of the socioeconomic ladder and those at the bottom. By 2010, the gap had grown dramatically, and Murray found that as the American class system "came apart," so too did the families he studied. Poor people in 2010 felt less trustful of others, less supported by others and less happy than poor people in 1960 — and so did rich people" (Italics mine. I have seen this reality in action a lot over the last few years...)
