As the US plummets into an economic recession, many bad side effects are being felt by all: the higher cost of gasoline and oil is translating to a higher cost of everything. This sucks. But, I can't help but wonder: is there a glaring positive side to this social issue for our culture and society, too? That might sound really unpatriotic, and I'm sure I'll be accused of being a countercultural traitor of some sort, but to me it rings true. We SHOULD be biking to work. We SHOULD be figuring out ways to cut our dependency on foreign oil, sinking resources into alternative, renewable, eco-friendly fuel sources. We SHOULD be sinking less money into other environmental, cultural, and social pollutants, like paper products, gossip magazines, and seven hundred dollar handbags. A recession will make us stop and think about where we dispose of our disposable income, since we'll have less of it. And we might just make a lot of choices that are better for our planet, for our culture, for our global status. No one likes us anymore, America: so maybe we need this economic time-out to figure out why. So now, go ahead: call me a big fat traitor. I'm used to taking the abuse. Let me know your two cents on this social issue. [More] [Less] |
Reduce, Re-use and Re-cycle...
Why consuming more than you will ever need when you can afford to live just about properly and enjoy life?
The hardest part of it is people being thrown on the streets... Here you can find 10m² flats for 800€ in Paris, I pay 600€ for a 36m² bungalow right outside Marseille, 20 kms away from work... When the minimum salary earns you about 1000€ after taxes are gone, how can you afford to keep a roof on top of your head?
And we do have social network... I can't imagine what it would be like out there in the US... But scoial network has its drawbacks. There are not enough social housings in the country, demand grows by the day, and some do abuse the system, getting money from the government that even gives them a roof and pays for their electricity, taking the money from people that are actually working... Call it fair? I d'ont... But then again, I'm one of the guys who pay for the others...
Question is not about communism. But can you assist people for their whole life, or do they have to give it back at some point, one way or another? Shall you give them a shock to put them back on tracks or continue assisting them when they are (for some of them) not interested in getting a job for they won't get as much as they do while not working...
An idea that had emerged and then sunk and been long forgotten was to ask people on social aids for long and not able to get a job to do some stuff for the other, giving for receiving (having paths cleared of bushes, beach cleaned up, helping the elders), but hey, guess what? Syndicates shouted as if this was a crime! You can't make the people work for the community if they don't want to! You just gotta pay for them and shut your mouth up for you have choosen to work and not depend on social aid...