Date: 2024-09-27 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00022887
LIVING LIFE
DOING WHAT IS REQUIRED
For most people on planet earth, life is a hard struggle.
DOING WHAT IS REQUIRED
For most people on planet earth, life is a hard struggle.
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY
I worked on many assignments with UNHCR ... the UN refugee agency ... during the 1980s and 90s starting with the follow up to ICARA I and II.
Working in a refugeee setting is very thought provoking at many levels, and this observation by George Mombiot is 1000% valid.
Too many people think that 'having stuff' is the key to quality of life and happiness, but the evidence seems to show that this is not the case. My experience with refugee support initiatives seems to show that quality of life is very much associated with whether quality of life is getting better or worse.
This idea goes a long way to explain why a rich country like the United States is so unhappy, because, while it is materially very wealthy, the majority of the population has experience a diminution of their quality of life during the past four decades and this has made them pretty upset.
While the 'top line' economic performance indicators for the United States have improved significantly over this forty year time period, it is the rather small 'top' of the socio-economic pyramid that has done very well, while the majority of the population has been experiencing multi-generation decline in their quality of life.
To my mind this explains why US politics is so dysfunctional with the populace frustrated and angry. The economy is working beautifully for a few, but not for the many ... and the few have not lifted a finger in a very long time to fix the problem. Much of this is because most people simply do not understand the issues and the media is less than helpful in explaining what is going on !!!!!!
Peter Burgess