Solutions?

Everyone wants to do well.
Everyone wants to have a place in the family, in the community.
Everyone wants to belong, to fit in and be part of the good things.

But what if our culture is imperfect.
What if the way we have organized things favors the wealthy and makes it harder for regular folks.

What if at the bottom of the wealth ladder, you could just fall off, with no escape.

Are there things we as a nation and culture might do differently?
How about our own life choices?

• Of the culture norms, do we know which are good and which are destructive?
• Have we chosen accordingly?

• What's our plan to be different and make a difference?

Pro-life? Perhaps.

The defense of 'life' by pro-life advocates is only one of many appropriate concerns regarding our country's commitment to its' citizens.  It's perhaps the first in ethical importance, but there are more.  Here's a quick list:

food - 
housing - 
education - 
opportunity - 
employment - 
healthcare - 
freedom - 
equality - 
security - 
safety - 

A February review by the National Poverty Center of poverty data since 1996

estimates that the number of households in extreme poverty - people living

on $2 or less daily,  - rose from 636,000 households in 1996 to 1.46 million

 households in 2011, including 2.55 million children.

 an increase of 130 percent.

"I do not believe that just because you're opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don't?  Because you don't want any tax money to go there. That's not pro-life. That's pro-birth.  We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is."
  ~Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B.

Republicans and Democrats each claim the moral  high ground.  Any chance they both need some severe correction? 

Our polarized rhetoric and our similarly polarized Congress are doing extraordinary harm to our nation and its' citizens.  It's as though the goal is winning rather than serving well.

Note:  Sister Joan is the author of 50 books and a lecturer. Holding a Ph.D. from Penn State University, she is also a research associate at Cambridge University. Other subjects of her writing includes women in the church and society, human rights, peace and justice, religious life and spirituality. She has appeared in the media on numerous shows including Meet the Press, 60 Minutes, Bill Moyers, BBC, NPR, and Oprah Winfrey. You can visit Joan Chittister's website at Joan Chittister.org.  Interesting lady.

INFO!

One of my favorite commercials, created by neuromarketers (modern psychology in advertising)

 who understand that cute dogs doing funny stuff will get our attention.  They give us, "dog tested
 and approved," as the closing line to help us think favorably about the brand name.

Why would a car maker use dogs in their ads?  Because everybody says, "Awwww," and watches the whole thing.

Commercials and infomercials -- those really long product shows -- are not information,  just attempts to influence where our money gets spent.  They are not objective or the solution to needs we might have.

Advertising by definition is strong persuasion, an attempt to talk us into buying something we wouldn't otherwise consider, to provoke a sense of need in us that their product will satisfy better than some other.

We need to regularly remind ourselves what it is about and explain it to our kids, commercials are not information.  They're after our money, our lifestyle, our priorities, and our self-image.  True?

One of the world's smallest countries, Sao Tome & Principe
-- poor, but a gracious culture.  They think differently than 
we do.  Their world is a bit more real than ours, perhaps.

Need a little clarity?  Leave the country for awhile, discover who you are in a world full of people like you and not.  See what it's like to live on $5 a day with one TV channel and no internet, to walk instead of drive, and do all your shopping at the street vendors instead of a store or online.  Such a reality check will help, but it's hard to really understand and adjust, of course.

Most important, make sure your kids understand.  The media is sponsored, the reality they present isn't real or reasonable, and letting such things taint your thinking (your life) is about the same as deliberately living in a sty, even if all the pigs love it.

Final Score: 331 to 1

CEOs Earn 331 Times More Than the Average Worker

(... and 774 Times As Much As Minimum Wage Earners)

An interesting proposal scheduled for a public vote in Switzerland, limiting CEO salaries to 12 times the worker average.  They can still be multi-millionaires, but the workforce would have to be paid fairly.  If the business is successful, the workers would be compensated with a reasonable share of that success.

Not a bad idea, although the regulatory details would be a nightmare.
(It was voted down.  The realization came that businesses would just reshape themselves in some fashion to escape the restrictions, and wages would be unchanged.)

The accelerating gap between the rich and everyone else is visible across the emerging globalized economy.  While the rich extract extraordinary wealth from the marketplace, the average citizen is losing ground.  The rich get quickly richer at the expense of everyone else ... in the world, literally.  Is that troublesome?

It is a particularly difficult concept to grasp unless you or someone you love has been the target.

Otherwise, we'll say, "Oh yes, so sad," and move on.

Want a better use for your money?

Why would someone want more wealth than they or their children could ever, ever, ever need?

The GAP - Part VIII: Competition

The list of differences between man and animal includes conscience and choice as perhaps most definitive.

We understand how the animal world is free to live by nature where only the strong survive and persist.  It's a competition for survival.

We hope for better from mankind, perhaps for nobility and courage, for meaningful relationships, for generosity and compassion.

At least, some of us do.

The increasing gap between rich and poor suggests an animalistic mind where little thought is given to the impact of our actions on others.  It's almost as though there were no conscience at play, no willingness to help, to share, to make a way for others.  It's the easier path, of course.

For each of us then, there remains the opportunity to respond to conscience and to choose.  We can each make the difference for another, perhaps even for many.


Want a better use for your money?

Selling Baby Parts

In case you were wondering, it is true and apparently somewhat legal.  This Snopes article like many others points out that what was revealed in CMP videos was/is in fact happening.  The laws governing such practices are ambiguous at best, and the industry's common practices are troubling.

George J. Annas, a law professor and bioethicist at Boston University, said, “What's going on now is probably legal, but Congress won't like it."

Regarding the companies, Mr. Annas said: "They won't be real happy that this is all out in the public. This threatens their business. Even if what they're doing is legal, the law can easily be changed."

Do they sell baby organs?  Yes.  

Do they profit?  Perhaps, perhaps not.  

Is it legal?  Perhaps.  

Are the mothers truly aware?  Is there full, appropriate consent from patients and under the highest ethical and legal standards?  Perhaps, some of the time.  

All that and the reality of the industry's practices are troubling when viewed and considered publically.

More on the subject at Life and Conscience Issues and at PolitiFact