January 1, 2063: We live in such a wonderful era

2062 was another happy and peaceful year. Surely this will enter the history books as a time of widespread prosperity, love and happiness for all in this world. The continuing social improvements each year have meant so much; like the recent one hour reduction in the work week to 20 hours. This has helped personally in our expansion of the blueberries section of our garden, and of course there's more time for hiking, crafting, and other interesting stress less hobbies.
 
The new World Order with a just and central government has accomplished so much.

• Dictatorships are non-existent with a new democratic model that is true to all people.
• Management of local and global affairs is completely free of the corporate influences.
• With the peace structure now in place the possibility of future wars appears remote.
• The elimination of poverty, prejudice and human injustices has been accomplished.
• Today's friendly, happy and relaxed lifestyle is so much kinder to people and planet.

What a difference life is from the days of my grandparents early in this century. Researching online news databases turns up some surprising facts about the ills of society then. So many were so consumed with doing so many of the wrong things. There was great wasting of precious days while working excessively to accumulate more possessions. It was only to buy so many useless things that polluted badly and had no true value or wholesome or natural pleasures attached to them.

What were they thinking?
Society had become too fast, too nervous and nasty. In the age of too much, they gobbled up natural resources and competed frantically with fellow creatures for more of everything. They strived so hard to acquire that next thing, always pushed on by the big free enterprise marketing machines. In their efforts, family, friends and nature were often neglected and the world's unfortunate poor were all but forgotten by most.

There were so many conveniences and automatics in their world that they barely needed to lift a finger to do anything. Yet people stressed long and frantically to acquire the money to live this way. The majority were fixed on this 'achievement' of obtaining more goods and services. It does not make any sense but it was their lifestyle, even while so many starved and millions of newborns on the other side had virtually no chance of survival beyond a few painful years.

Corporations ran the show.
Commerce had attained the power to influence government in many ways and very convincingly (and profitably) shaped citizens' habits. Business received preferences from government to the citizens' disadvantage and social displeasure continued to grow.

Commercial interests designed consumers' life styles; the clothes, cars, homes and other products they bought, and even how they should interact socially and as a family. The tool used was advertising which had increased in volume and intensity for so many years that it was virtually everywhere - on TV, telephone, internet, junk mail, buses, arenas, public buildings... Citizens were subjected to 1000's of ads each day. There were even advertisements on people's clothing which the wearers were proud to display for the manufacturer.

Great advances in medical technologies extended life spans even though they were increasingly plagued with sicknesses such as obesity, cancer and diabetes. Flashy ads for unhealthy food products received much of the blame as it extended to children through immense advertising with cute logos and fun attractions.

Real fun was disappearing.
Family time had taken on a new meaning with extra work and shopping hours. In the home there were separate TV's for parents and children and viewed in separate rooms. Healthy exposure to nature, outdoor games and exercise practically disappeared and were not included at all in many families' lives.

The production and disposal of unnecessities was devastating the environment. Consuming was the thing and there was so much to buy, much of it so flashy and so grand. Imagine owning a 6000 pound automobile and never walking several blocks to a store or riding public transit. Family homes sometimes had 10 or more huge, beautifully furnished rooms that took so much time to maintain, and so much of life to earn the money to pay for it.

Competition to appear better than average became a social 'value' for so many, often occupying their lives and diluting values in the process. Corporate marketing encouraged this and was mean as they had set their sights on children for a life long conscription. Morally wrong, but the young would supply a continuation of profits for another generation. But product design and marketing creativity would eventually peak when lifestyles become too tiring and people wanted something better.

Ethics abandoned.
Corporations became monstrous and the competition vicious as they scrambled for sales. Moral principles were abandoned at an increasing rate as there were inadequate government restrictions or they were not enforced. In some industries the extent of marketing deception was unbelievable according to today's standards. Some very strange and disturbing ways of doing business became popular and were used across industries. Cunning and devious methods to trick consumers out of their money proliferated.

Fine print was only one popular way to hide true costs, to sell inferior products or trap buyers into regrettable contracts; "The warranty only..." "Assumes no responsibility..." "Some conditions apply..." Ads and agreements required careful study, word by word, and then you had to take your chances because it was too difficult to understand.

Deceitful ads were everywhere; it was hard to believe any of it anymore. The worst was food packaging - a serious health issue. The label's bold lettering did not indicate contents like excess saturated fat, salt, sugar, preservatives, taste enhancers, and insecticides. That was in faded, small and hard to read print.

Getting scammed by a sly marketing scheme or trapped in an agreement was no longer a big deal, it happened all the time. Almost nobody complained, because if they did the response was usually fluff, perhaps delivered by a fast talking customer relations mouthpiece. Buyers might even feel embarrassed for getting tricked again.

The credit business was big and profitable and mean. Enticements and offers were in the mailbox regularly. Gouging with excessive rates and lending to those who could not afford it trapped so many causing personal bankruptcies.

Sports were real big but suggestions were that they were made big for viewing, for advertising, for business. Pro athletes were paid many millions as average sports loving families could not afford game tickets. Companies bought season tickets to pass out as 'gifts'. Weirder yet - while dog and bird fighting were cruel and strictly against the law, arenas were packed with 25000 people who came to watch hockey players administer black eyes and teeth removal on the opponent players.

Gambling was illegal except for government as they profited from lotteries and casinos through out the country. It was done with intense advertising campaigns encouraging citizens to "GET RICH". The results included broken families, suicides and profit in the name of the taxpayer. But they did caution; "Gambling can lead to financial and legal problems, loss of career and family, and other serious issues." No kidding!

The rich-poor gap in an unjust world. The inequality in revenue between the wealthiest and poorest citizens widened out of proportion. It was just too easy to acquire more when at the top and too difficult when struggling to survive at the bottom. Coverage of poverty issues was overwhelmed by reports on entertainment, sports and rich lifestyles. The globalization of trade did not always significantly improve the lives of workers in developing countries. Desperately needing income they often worked excessive hours, in difficult and unhealthy conditions, at very low pay to deliver low cost products to big enterprise for huge markups.

10 million children were dying every year of hunger and easily preventable diseases while over here millions suffered from obesity.

Natural areas of fields and forests, rivers and oceans were gradually turning into mammoth garbage deposits from the great consumption binge. So much stuff became completely obsolete in just a few years. Environmental destruction had become a popular topic as the globe got warmer, and yet junk marketing of unneeded stuff marched on, and they kept on buying. 'Free' enterprise's drive for greater sales and profits resulted in continually expanding wasteful consumption.

A big problem: Which corporations would cut back profits for the good of people and the world?

There was increasing interest in bringing more attention to these worldly ailments and to make things better. But the voices for positive change had been extremely week compared to the massively funded corporate promotions, denial campaigns and consumer marketing. Private broadcasting media kept things moving wrongly. Governments were apparently content with the bad ways of business as many wealthy politicians were benefiting in some way. The false prosperity had created a merry-go-round run amok and a degradation of true social well being.

Peace in paradise.
Then much as trends sometimes take hold and spread through a nation and then around the world, so did the desire for peace, simplicity and truer life values. People were saying; "There is a better way!" Conscience and good sense were affecting a new generation as never before as people's main interest became justice and happiness, for themselves and for all others.  

The internet was given credit as the tool used to initiate, discuss and bring about real positive change in society. The personal generosity and persistence of a relative few had spread to very many as the idea that good for others was better for you, and that simple was a most satisfying way to live.

And today we are so grateful to all those people who demanded social improvement. They should see democracy now; citizens telling the corporations what they can and cannot do, with government making it work - for the people.

Thank you for bringing us to this garden of enchantment and plenty for all.


Related posts - Short url to this article    http://goo.gl/d8klL
CC - To copy - link to this source. Bookmark or share also.

The Work-Family Life Balance

With all the advances and innovations made in production, technology and commerce, we in the world's most prosperous societies should all be living the easy life, satisfied and very happy.

Not so! Lifestyles today are commonly filled with overwork, anxieties and stress with daily routines that take up just too much of our days. There is an ongoing personal struggle to allocate hours between money related tasks, leisure, home and family. The hours are too often allocated in that order as we work harder for more money allocating the time left over for relationships and fun. These hours may be few or perhaps non existent.

While we have certainly come a long way and do seem to be accomplished with a standard of living that has reached astonishing heights, we may not have made great advances in the quality of our lives.

Corporate marketing has infected our desire for natural enjoyments. Society is being herded in a commercial and artificial direction. Many may tend to fit in with the life styles of others at work, in the neighborhood and in public; and they with us. And there are those popular TV personalities promoting this trend. The requirement placed upon us, if we have been conscripted to the consumption style of existence, is the need to acquire more money to keep up. Others may need to keep up with us and we may feel required to keep up with them, all to the joy of the corporate marketers.

The tendency for some types to insist on outdoing their fellow consumers dictates that they must make earning money their #1 life interest. And so make a dedication to long hours and hard work, obtaining new job heights and bigger pay checks.

We can easily be caught up in this living routine unless we are willing to make a stand. To be sure there are very many of us who would like to get off this senseless merry-go-round even if we are only partially taken up, but not if we are alone.

In trying for a better balance in our lives we can make a plan for having less wasteful and more enjoyable days. A good start is made making up and printing a list of amounts of time typically spent on various daily events. Then create and print a list of a new schedule with the following actions up for changes that will increase fun and decrease stress.

The work day; total hours, effort, transportation choices.
Interaction and discussions with co-workers, friends and family.
Relaxation with enjoyable hobbies, pet projects and just doing nothing.
Playing and exercising, especially outdoors and with others.
Sleep, lots of sleep - it knits up the raveled sleeve of care.

Review your plans and discuss them with others now and again, and make further positive adjustments.

In The Small Business Blog Stefan Töpfer writes

In the past twenty years the term “work-life balance” has come to symbolize the problem many face with increasing work pressures and the neglect of family, friends and their hobbies. This has created not only many health problems like cardiovascular disease, a weaker immune system, frequent headaches, backache to name but a few, but also social problems in areas like child-care, care for relatives, increase in divorces and other symptoms of a social fabric breakdown.

For women the situation is even worse, not only do they have all of the above mentioned problems, but by making the conscious decision to raise a family they also have to pay a penalty when the return to work. However well qualified, after only 3 to 5 years on parent leave, they find it very hard to get even close to the positions they held before. They are penalized for having a family and this causes additional stress and anxiety.

In the last ten years I have watched an encouraging trend, people opting out of the corporate treadmill, with much success. Many are starting small businesses or home businesses, freelancers, self-employed, contractors, professionals in all small business areas setting up shop.

. . . In this new established work-life environment, family - especially children, health, environment and personal fulfillment are beginning to transform the way we all think about work. I foresee long needed changes in the social fabric of our society and the reversal of detrimental trends which have started in some cases over 150 years ago.

Read more: Work-Life Balance 2.0 and Small Business

Another good article 11 Creative Ways to Avoid Becoming a Workaholic - by Tammy Strobel in ZenHabits.

Related articles on this site. Short link to this page: http://goo.gl/hmkkC

* You may excerpt with a link back, bookmark or share it also.

Oversized Homes Costly and Wasteful

The wasteful production and consumption of oversized houses, cars, meals, services... have created over-sized headaches for society and the world.

The big roomy house requiring comfortable transportation to and from the suburbs has been one of the costliest detriments to sensible social development.

There is an increase in life stresses to earn more to obtain products and services that are more than we comfortably need. There is also waste and the environment to consider. As concern about nature and our social well-being are becoming more topical each year, we are beginning to realize this frantic consumer anxiety needs to be reigned in.

No more, please!

There are those huge meals that we get in restaurants that we cannot finish and are garbaged, or are unhealthy if we do manage to cram them down. Hardly a day passes where we are not coaxed to come in for more.

Downsizing our cars finally appears to be in our future but strong corporate marketing continues to dictate otherwise.

Now the scaling down of the consumer's most costly purchase, a home, may be in line for a sizable reduction in size and cost. Yet with so many making money in this business and with the encouragement to possess a 'Luxury Home You Deserve' change will be very difficult.

The 2008 US financial and housing crisis and environmental considerations have many thinking smaller. It's about time; in many areas homes have dramatically doubled or tripled in size in several decades.

There is so much to be said for reversing the grander is better trend in home ownership, as it has been a strain on society and nature. But will the corporations allow it?

Can this long trend to oversized homes be stopped and reversed?

The consumer motive: acquiring status; impressing friends, neighbors and anyone else who might be impressed or look on with envy.

The basic purpose: an ongoing need to increase business profits and using strong advertising to accomplish the task.

A difficult problem: which corporations will relinquish sales and profits for the good of citizens and mother nature?

While a larger house might display status and success, real or borrowed, there is a heavy cost in resources, both natural and personal. Besides the higher original financial cost there are greater expenditures on taxes, heating, maintenance and repair. Big houses cost!

Overly consuming citizens really need to reconsider their purposes and increase their interest in the environment, the world as a whole, and their own well being. And government needs to do the job that governments are supposed to do.

So now and again lets review what is important in life, like stress free living with simple but fun, relaxed lifestyles. A conservative simple home containing a contented loving family sounds good.

Smaller Homes for Sustainable
Living a simpler, more earth-friendly life begins with the kind of home you wake up in every morning. If contributing to a sustainable future is important to you, one single change in your lifestyle can make the biggest difference of all: living in a smaller house. Just as any motorcycle is more energy-efficient than any car, small is beautiful when it comes to houses too.

The Benefits of Small Home Living

There is a plethora of purely personal advantages to living in a smaller home:

• There is less to clean, less to maintain.
• Small homes are inherently energy-efficient.
• Smaller homes are cheaper to buy and cheaper to build.

Housing is almost always the largest expense most people will ever face. Imagine living comfortably in your small house with your small or even non-existent mortgage, and the idea of small being beautiful takes on new meaning:

If you are building new, your upfront costs will be far less.
Because you won’t have large expanses to cover, you’ll be able to use finer materials and employ superior craftsmanship for your home: quality over quantity.
With limited space, you’ll be less apt to accumulate unneeded objects and useless clutter.
In a nicely designed small house, everything is cozy and convenient, helping life to run more smoothly. With the savings in time and money, you can devote more of your leisure to your social life and hobbies.

Source: From an earlier article in Green Living Ideas website published by Important Media. This is a decentralized, niche blog network, dedicated to covering those issues which are important to our collective and individual well-being, from humanity’s survival to human happiness.

Related posts

* You may excerpt this post with a link back. Bookmark or share it also, if you wish.

TV Addiction Wasteful and Harmful

Television viewers might best be called consumers.

At one time television in the living room was a place for the family to get together to watch a family program, and the choices were quite limited. Since then it has 'progressed' in such a way that huge amounts of programming are now directed at different segments of the family. As a result most of it is not watched as a group and may be viewed separately at different hours or in separate rooms.

Over the years TV has brought into the home entertainment, news and commercials. Lots of continuous and persuasive commercials. To increase their marketing effect the news and entertainment are stretched, exaggerated and designed to grab viewers' attention. Shock topics and vivid attention grabbing presentations are continually increasing while wholesome, friendly and cultural productions are fewer.

Television today is an overbearing medium for the corporate promotion of products and services. Massive amounts of commercials are sent to family members daily directing them towards different, sometimes conflicting markets. In their efforts to gain attention to their promotions marketers will use intense, noisy, provocative and offensive material in the programming. And there is constant repetition in the advertisements until the messages take hold; to sell stuff which so often is not needed or which may even be harmful to society and planet.

For individuals and families there is a steep cost in watching television, financially and in the loss of valuable communications and true healthy values. All or part of so many families are addicted to this way of life - gazing at the 'idiot box' and absorbing its messages. It can be very difficult to ease back on watching television in favor of unpolluted pastimes. How are you going to break a deeply ingrained habit of so many years?

First you must want to change, then use your imagination just a wee bit, and read up. Think outside the BOX and list other things to do that will be fun, more relaxing and have less negative influence on you and yours.

A few suggestions.
A new hobby indoors or outdoors can be a lot of fun and very satisfying.
Work on a photo album or scrapbook, one you can touch and feel and show.
Go for a walk around town, in the park, or to the library.
Read a magazine article, a book or learn a new skill.
Visit with neighbors, and why not discuss the effects of television with them.
Check off another chore on your To-Do List, or start a To-Do Chore List.

Get the kids involved.
How TV Affects Your Child at Kidshealth.org has some very useful information for the family: Teaching Good TV habits, Risky Behaviors, Practical ways to make TV-viewing more productive in your home, and talks about violence, obesity, commercials and a TV ratings guide.

"The first 2 years of life are considered a critical time for brain development. TV and other electronic media can get in the way of exploring, playing, and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and healthy physical and social development."

Katherine Westphal at Trash Your TV asks; "WHAT?!? GIVE UP MY TV?!?!"
Katherine suggests turning OFF your TV for a happier, healthier life and offers a Free Ebook 'The Awful Truth About Television'. She puts all of TV's negative effects into perspective and suggests that giving up TV may sound preposterous at first. That little box in your home looks so innocent. So entertaining. So relaxing . . .

Unfortunately, an ever-growing body of scientific evidence indicates that TV viewing has become an unhealthy addiction for millions of people with emphasis on sex and violence.

Visit Trash Your TV and learn more about Television and the family and life values.

A phrase borrowed from the computer programmer's repertoire might depict the effect of television in our lives; "garbage in - garbage out."

And an unknown author; "I wish there were a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence. There's a knob called "brightness", but that doesn't work."

* A revision and extension of an earlier post as per Article Blogs and Re-posting.

Related articles

* You may excerpt this post with a link back. Bookmark or share it also, if you wish.

A Simple Happy Life in a Just and Sensible Society

At some time in the future the world's bloated affluent societies
will be much simpler and a more enjoyable place to exist.

Social 'progress' today relies primarily on commercial growth and consumer over-consumption to expand. So many of us are totally tuned in to this continuing socio-economic routine and the young appear lined up for a life of the same. In the richer regions of the world it is what we are. Materialism is firmly entrenched as we work and live uneasily, anticipating ownership of that next thing. Often friends and family will take a back seat as we toil away.

How many of our recent conversations have been about new products like clothing and cars, new tech gadgets...? Interesting but usually introducing a bit of competition, perhaps unconsciously to the discussions. And advertising is always present in our lives heightening the desire for the need for something new or better.

This long running consuming binge will falter as the negative effects that wasteful living has on the planet and it's habitants becomes totally obvious to all. But change will come. It will be gradual through a shift in social values; or by economic shock with massive corporate failures and crippled government operations. The continual feverish competition for profits with the bottoming of corporate ethics will reach a limit.

People will finally demand change, with truly democratic governments whose first priorities are their people. They will want the elimination of grave injustices such as poverty and starvation, and environmental destruction. Isn't it time now for that change to a fairer, more satisfying and simpler existence?



What Is Simple Living?
According to Duane Elgin author, speaker, educator, consultant, and media activist it is "Living in a way that is outwardly simple and inwardly rich."

That sounds very refreshing compared to our fast-paced 'I need more money, I need more things' daily existence. It is much easier said than to do when all others seem actively participating in the race to acquire. Yet as interest in our natural world and in other people increases, and as the idea of a peaceful satisfying wholesome lifestyle becomes more appealing, a change in social values is entirely possible .

Why Choose Simplicity? asks The Simple Living Network
"In these difficult economic times of broken government, corporate bailouts, failing health care, a widening gap between the rich and poor, unemployment, and soaring debt, just about everyone is looking for smart ways to do more with less. For many, consciously choosing to live more simply is a practical, down-to-earth option that really works.

There are just about as many definitions as there are individuals who practice it. Simple living is not about living in poverty or self-inflicted deprivation. Rather, it is about living an examined life — one in which you have determined what is important, or "enough," for you, discarding the rest."

There is a wealth of information on the Simple Living website including articles, resources, tools, examples and contacts for conscious, simple, healthy and restorative living. It also has discussion forums where you can share your simple living experiences, ask and answer questions, post messages and communicate directly with others. Topics are in a wide variety of categories: Consumerism & The Media, Creating Community, Environmental Issues, Family Matters & Relationships, Food & Recipes, Frugality & Tightwading and more. Check in on the forums.

Wikipedia on Voluntary Simplicity
"Simple living (or voluntary simplicity) is a lifestyle individuals choose to minimize the 'more-is-better' pursuit of wealth and consumption. Adherents choose simple living for a variety of reasons, such as spirituality, health, increase in 'quality time' for family and friends, stress reduction, conservation, social justice or anti-consumerism. Others choose it for personal taste, personal economy or as participating in sustainable development.

Simple living as a concept is distinguished from those living in forced poverty, as it is a voluntary lifestyle choice. Although asceticism may resemble voluntary simplicity, proponents of simple living are not all ascetics. The term "downshifting" is often used to describe the act of moving from a lifestyle of greater consumption towards a lifestyle based on voluntary simplicity."

This article is a revision and extension of an earlier post as per Article Blogs and Re-posting.

Related posts
* You may excerpt from this post but please link back. Bookmark this article too, if you wish.

TV Commercials Annoy and Upset

Loud, repetitious and invasive television advertising is altering family life and society in a very negative way. Irritating and disturbing, or simply attention grabbing, TV commercials blast messages into the home about what we need to buy, much of which is wasteful or unhealthy. Every day morning, afternoon and evening it loudly states the terms of reference that we as a society should live by.

Television is saturated with continuous promotions that are very persuasive and have an enormous influence on the family and how we should behave.

It is difficult to resist the magnetism of this powerful media marketing monster, unless you have become a rare 'idiot box' abstainer.

How much advertising can be put into a program until viewers will no longer watch? Lots it seems as ad length and frequency increase yearly. There is so much programming that contains excessive amounts of commercials and often the same ad will be seen repeatedly throughout the broadcast, and all year long.

Local morning news carries reports of accidents, robberies, murders, repeated weather and traffic, and plenty of useless chatter, and great amounts of advertising. Often after a string of commercials a glimpse of the news desk appears, catches your attention, and then continues with commercials. Or "We'll tell you the results after the break." A 'break' used to be called a commercial or a message from the sponsor but this is the language of marketing.

TV series and movies are saturated with consumer persuasions that are shrewdly crafted to get maximum attention. Again, it may appear that the story is about to continue, and it does but not just yet; more enticements. Many movies will begin with a reasonable amount of advertising and then swamp the captured viewer towards the end.

Station and product logos during a story are appearing at the bottom of the screen more frequently and I have seen these appear throughout an entire movie. Watch for this to extend to more programming and perhaps through an entire broadcast.

Where there has been the occasional boisterous commercial the majority of these are now above program intensity or booming with a verbal message and background music. "I can't read this, turn that stupid thing down!" occasionally pops up during an evening movie. MUTE button to the rescue! In answer to a consumer concern about this, a station technician had explained to the broadcaster that the sound was not louder but it was enhanced to sound louder.

The TV commercial scenario which I find most unreasonable and annoying is our TV program listing channel. A long while back this was just that, a continuous program listing. Now loud ads take up about 2/3 of the screen while the programs are quickly scrolled through the lower 1/3. In recent months the 1/3 sized listing begins with two more ads in that congested space. If you want to see what's coming up you must watch big loud endorsements. I find this in-your-face marketing example to be totally ignorant.

A sad aspect about this heavy TV commercial onslaught is that so much of it is to promote the sale of goods and services that we do not need or may not be good for us. Some of the biggest advertisers are large successful companies that have lowered their standards to targeting these promotions at children. Bombarding kids and teens who watch 4 or more hours per day with persuasions to want stuff is sick and unacceptable marketing.

Why do consumers put up with the intrusiveness and extent of annoyance in today's TV viewing?

There is not much one can do against the monumental power house of big business. If politicians can't or won't fix this how can moms and dads? They can of course refuse to participate and turn the television OFF and get busy on tasks and play, indoors and out. Which is really not such a bad idea is it?

"The television, that insidious beast, that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." - Ray Bradbury, The Golden Apples of the Sun


Related posts
* You may excerpt this post with a link back. Bookmark or share it also, if you wish.

Mom as Corporate CEO?

Senior Management Position: Experienced mothers only need apply.

What a great task lies ahead for the woman as she bears her child, establishing that special bond for life.

So many challenges, pains and stresses are included in the demanding job description of motherhood. In this fast paced social tempest she will try her hardest and handle the difficult issues to the best of her ability, always with that deep inbred devotion, and with the needed support and love of her family.

What is stronger than a mother's love?

As a child you walked before me, to lead by example. As a teenager you walked behind me looking out for my back and being there when I needed you. As an adult you walk beside me so that, as two friends, we can enjoy life together. Love of Poems.


Washington Irving, "A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts."

In a sad country song Hank Snow pays honor to his parting mom.
There are friends who'll want you but just for a day
There are pals you think true but they'll cast you away
But there's one loving soul boys I'll sure recommend
Through this old world of sorrow she'll be true till the end. Mother.

If the capabilities required of motherhood were a prerequisite for top corporate management positions wouldn't this be a kinder and happier society?

A bit of history.
Mother's Day holiday, in the United States and Canada, celebrates motherhood generally and the positive contributions of mothers to society. It falls on the second Sunday of each May. It is the result of a campaign by Anna Marie Jarvis (1864–1948), who, following the death of her mother on May 9, 1905, devoted her life to establishing Mother's Day as a national, and later an international, holiday. More from Wikipedia.

Mothers' Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe
Boston, 1870. A tribute to mothers and women who had lost their sons in war.

Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or tears!

Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have taught them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of the devastated earth, a voice goes up with our own. It says, "Disarm, Disarm!"

The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail & commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesars but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.

Related family posts
* You may excerpt this post with a link back. Bookmark or share it also, if you wish.

Selling Bad Health to Kids

Only in a mean society.

The marketing of cheaply produced, unhealthy junk food to kids is another blight on our prosperous society. It does not make sense: advertising and selling food products that are known to cause health problems later in life - directly to children.

How is this acceptable to caring people?
Where has the corporate friendship and ethic gone?
Why aren't governments more concerned about kid's lives?

I do not believe that the fault lies entirely with parents. Partly because they may have been brainwashed too, after many years of being subject to the massive corporate persuasion efforts. But the finger is commonly pointed to moms and dads, especially by business when confronted about their crude marketing tactics. Parents should know all about unhealthy food choices and the grief that can follow later in life, and they should educate their kids. But there are armies of advertisers with a wide ranging supply of tricks to conscript tots and teens to a life of poorer health with such as diabetes and stroke.

This is free enterprise but it is a flawed and cruel system if it can be used in this way. Allowing big business to reap profits from promoting product sales that knowingly cause personal harm should be severely restricted or made unlawful. But the will of politicians does not seem to be there. There is always the commercial connection popping up when there is discussion about troubling situations and government's lack of positive action on an issue.

Governments and corporations of this era will not be looked upon favorably in the history books.

Picture the big juicy burger with added cheese and dressing, or a tall, icy, sugar laden refreshment - appearing repeateadly during youth and child TV programming.

How about the cereal aisle in the supermarket, cartoon alley easily gets the attention of the little ones.

The continuous efforts of marketers are coming through strongly to kids and adolescents via many hours of watching TV or surfing the internet. The cleverly designed ads also show up in print, on buses, food packages, clothes, toys, and wherever it will get good exposure to children. The young will eat it all up; they don't have the experience to know better. They are ripe picking!

With all the finely tuned slick methods marketers use how easy can it be for parents to compete with the onslaught on their young loved ones? Even with good intentions there is peer influence, all the other kids are into it. Yes it is possible but difficult, and requires serious effort.

The emphasis and pressures that corporations put on kids for current and future sales revenue is by far a most lucrative selling technique that many companies now rely on. Catch the kids young and hold them for life. Establishing brands for food, clothing and tech gadgets at an early age can last a lifetime - very profitable and increasingly popular with the big manufacturers.

Sugar, salt and fat, the big bad three in food, they taste good and bring in lots of money. These ingredients and other additives can be very unhealthy when consumed in excessive amounts, yet they are very commonly over used in packaged foods and in restaurants, especially fast food outlets. They can be there to preserve product or simply to enhance taste.

The junk food industry has produced an epidemic of childhood obesity and other serious ailments. Even with food related health problems now well known they keep rising as the greedy efforts to market and sell more continues. It is the most 'rewarding' strategy used for increasing profits now and well into the future. But why isn't this a crime?

And where is there a balance? Campaigns for healthy eating exist but big money is not behind them, it is directed to the merchandising strategies that make the quickest profit. One suggestion is make unhealthy food costlier through taxing, and good food cheaper with subsidies. But why is there no action?

Free enterprise needs adjustments to fix this and provide our kids, future parents, a life free of avoidable sickness.

Speak of it when you can.

A few resources.
There are numerous related posts on this site.

The FCIC has a nice site with informative articles: The Road to a Healthy Life. These are the basic guidelines for eating a healthy diet and being physically active and may be viewed online and downloaded from the Internet. Topics include:
Go back to your roots: Eat all types of healthful food each day!
Food groups, using the Nutrition Facts label.
Nutrition and calories count! How many calories do you need?
Physical activity, food safety, and more.

A Scripps Research Study Shows Compulsive Eating Shares Same Addictive Biochemical Mechanism with Cocaine, Heroin Abuse.

Short url to this page http://goo.gl/Qe0Et
* You may excerpt this post with a link back. Bookmark or share it also, if you wish.

Nature, Kids and Family Losing

The world's resources are being used up at an accelerating pace resulting in great waste and massive garbage accumulation. It lies in huge dump sites and is also scattered throughout the globe on land and in seas. It spreads out as a disease, eating away at our natural surroundings.

Much of the globe remains a beautiful, calming and healthy system of natural resources. The enjoyment of this however is no longer easily accessible to many of us, and sadly to today's children who may be missing out altogether. But it is there for so many who have the desire and make the effort. There are simple outdoor activities like hikes in local parks to extended day treks, weekend camping and sports, casual and formal. But it gets more difficult as the social trends back away from nature's fresh and clean outdoor air.

We are being lured down the wrong path with continuing temptations towards lifestyles of eating unhealthy food and avoiding exercise. Negative health effects such as obesity and diabetes have been on a steady increase for many years, brought on by consuming junk food and poor quality packaged products.

There is also the trend to spending free hours indoors, sitting, without fresh air and health building exercise.

It is a serious condition of our times.

Technology is interesting and enjoyable; I know very well having owned a personal computer for 25 years. During an earlier time I found that when I was employed with outside work I would spend considerable after hours inside on my Radio Shack 32K Color Computer. And when working in an office free after hours were spent on home and yard improvements, outdoor sports and gardening.

Good balanced living is so important yet it is not there for much of youth as they arrive home from school and switch on the television or computer, or play video games. Lucky the family where the parents and children get outdoors together and are involved in active sports. With tots, an after dinner walk to the park or to a neighbor's yard for play sets a nice pattern for their future preferences going forward in life. An early introduction to the outdoors, and pastimes like hikes and gardening, will be such a long term benefit to a child in developing a healthful lifestyle. The alternative, with such as the excessive absorption of TV commercials is unfortunate.

Economics has brought about a popular in-the-home lifestyle. It is the result of the always strong business requirement to increase revenue in the home entertainment area, and also with the tremendous advancements in technology. Just as there is greater profit in food containing preservatives, growth hormones and other additives so goes the marketing of widely varied hi-tech gadgets. Much of these latest cool gizmos will be outdated in just a few short years.

There are profits to be made with the promotion of activities that include fresh air and exercise, but this has taken a back seat to the easier and lucrative merchandising of domesticated entertainment.

For so many it isn't easy to change this inactive lifestyle when parent's days are crammed and the kids are surrounded by persuasions and peer influence. It wasn't an issue 70 years ago when there was only radio, cards and board games to play together. Backyards, neighborhoods, parks and playgrounds were busy. And I was there.

The environment has some critical challenges lying ahead but there is still a great and wonderful nature out there that is both healthy and free. Getting children interested in the outdoors with both passive and active activities, starting from when they are first learning to walk, is a lifetime benefit to them. They learn about life from their moms and dads and they will be so thankful.

Related posts
Google: kids outdoor activity ideas

* You may excerpt from this post but please link back. Bookmark this article too, if you wish.

Kids: Commercial Scapegoats?

Is trapping children the guarantee to future business expansion?

What an easy mark kids are for the big corporation when focusing on sales and profits extending into future years. Especially at an early age when they can be so easily swayed towards corporate choices of lifestyles of consumerism and the buying of certain products.

Of all the unethical happenings that are transpiring to further contaminate the commercial enterprise system, marketing to children is the most upsetting.

This cannot have been restrained much by government intervention or public demand because it is continually more invasive. There are intense commercials that brainwash the young innocent minds. Product displays like food packaging are specifically directed at kids. There are toys and giveaways to attract their attention to a product. It is all so well established and far-reaching that it is somewhat of a conquest of child, and family.

The competition amongst marketers to sell childhood products is very competitive and so the game play becomes more excessive. Trapping the little ones towards each marketer's product is the reward for clever marketing.

It's scary to imagine how far this can be taken. If children are allowed to be brainwashed in any way it should be towards living a healthier and happier life. This would include topics like honesty, nature, charity, friendship, healthy food and lifestyles.

Children are in the learning years of their lives and will absorb much of what is put to them, at home, school and elsewhere. In the classroom they are presumably taught the required educational basics for communicating and earning a living, and some values for living happily. This is also the object of parents whose most precious assets are their children.

Here the problem becomes more difficult and the results less desirable since many parents have already succumbed to this materialistic lifestyle to some degree. They may be just too busy or unaware of what is happening to a whole generation.

Have we lost the battle and the war against the commercial mega-machines? Have many of us not already lost some of our truest values to big business? Do we want our children to travel down this path?

Parents should not be left alone to fight the huge tide of marketing that promotes and persuades children in an artificial direction. Government for the people should be for the people, and that includes kids! Solid support by our politicians in the form of strict legislation favoring families over commerce is sorely required, long overdue, and yes, a monumental task at this point in time.

But they will only act effectively and in favor of the little citizens when it is demanded of them. So let's get interested and turn this around. Check out the advocacy websites, post on family and social change forums and blogs. Discuss your concerns with your co-workers, friends and neighbors. Web search the topics that most concern you.

Examples of resources dealing with marketing to kids.

Monitor on Psychology - Advertising to children: Is it ethical?
Some psychologists cry foul as peers help advertisers target young consumers.

The New American Dream reviews a book by consumer expert Juliet Schor on this very disturbing trend.

The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture by consumer expert Juliet Schor, explores the damaging effects advertising and marketing have on children. According to this breakthrough research, the advertising-saturated culture our children are exposed to is causing an array of psychosomatic symptoms.

Expenditures for advertising and marketing aimed specifically at children have risen to over $15 billion a year. This amount is likely to grow with the increase in children’s buying power, now estimated at more than $30 billion a year in direct purchases. Children influence an additional $670 billion worth of parental spending, making them a prime advertising target. It’s estimated that the average child watches more than 40,000 television commercials per year. According to a recent poll released by the Center for a New American Dream nearly 8 in 10 of Americans (79%) think there should be more limits on advertising to children. The majority of Americans (87%) think that our current consumer culture makes it harder to instill positive values in our children.

The review cites the book's six tips to help parents reduce a child’s exposure to advertising. This is really worth reading if you have kids.
The full review at The New American Dream.

Amy Jussel's Shaping Youth blog is a heart warming big effort devoted to media and marketing's influence on kids. Nice work Amy!

Grampa Ken ~ Author of 32 KEYS About Life and Blogger at Social-Fix

Other posts about kids here at Social Fix

Live and Learn Like Kids

Live, laugh, work, and learn - like children.

Small kids could teach us a bit about living and enjoying each day to the fullest, if we have forgotten how.

Children know how to apply determination to do what they want to do. Watch a baby learn to walk. And children know how to laugh and have fun, when some of us have lost much of humor over the past decade or more.

For so many, living on a merry-go-round of doing things that must be done, as well as doing things which do not need to be done, has not left much time for the simple pleasures of life.

Many of us have forgotten how to take a real break, to rest and refresh our thoughts and to have a bit of fun, even though it's so very important. Our daily life includes responsibilities concerning work, family, other people, and dealing with various problems. To have a fulfilling day in the process try to not take on too many different things. Review regularly your lifestyle, pleasures, principles, conduct and goals, because it is so easy to go off track.

We are what we think according to Buddha so we ought to think happiness as we start each day. We can reflect about things that can improve our feelings like pleasant and relaxing experiences and words. Memories and incidents can bring a smile and a positive change of thought, if we will take the time.

Some remembrances of how kids see things differently just make me feel good.

Salesmanship
We were eating dinner a long while back when our kids' 4 yr old friend from across the backyard came to call them outside. I answered the door and told Billy they couldn't just now, they were eating dinner. By this time he had his foot inside the door. "Can I come in?" - "No, come back a bit later." - "But my Dad said I could!"

Learning
Kids usually like to talk and ask a lot of questions and increase their knowledge about everything. When our daughter was 4 years old she watched as I washed the car on a cool fall day. She never stopped talking all the while and asked dozens of questions, one right after the other. It slowed up the wash job very pleasantly and painted a permanent picture in my mind.

Our 3 year old son was interested in medicine at the time and once crossed from the back yard with a beet root strung over the back of his neck; "Me the doctor!" Another time he referred to a bulrush as a wiener flower but immediately learned its true name.

Management career intentions
Then there's our grandson, now he has a mind of his own, even at 3. Attempting to get him to do it my way, I told him I was the boss here. He said he was the boss. I said that he was the small boss and I was the big boss. So he stood on his toes, stretched and very seriously said: "I'm the biggest boss!"

More learning
Last year I was entering the library as a young man and his 3-4 yr old daughter were leaving. Dad was saying: "No that's not a store. It's a library. That's where they keep all the books." Libraries may never have the same influence on her that corporate marketing and the media will, but then that depends . . . .

Honesty and milking the system
I was about 4 and living where I had not yet started school. It was Halloween night and I was making my 3rd trip around the block with my 2 year older brother. When the lady asked, "Haven't you been here before?" I answered yes, two times.

In raising a family there are so many precious words spoken by kids that are mostly forgotten. I would advise anyone starting out to keep a small notepad and a diary to record it all for later years.

And maybe we can learn a thing or two once again.

Related posts on children

This Creative Commons article is free to copy with the following hyperlinked byline.
Grampa Ken - Author of 32 Keys About Life - and blogger for change at Social-Fix.

Simple Living Neighborhoods

A better family life environment.

What can be done to stop the frantic unfriendly, unfamily social storm that so many of our lives are centered in? Too much work, too many wants and stresses, and too little peace, pleasure and family time. The persuasions to live this way seem to dominate as pressures to acquire more are thrust at us daily. More people would live simpler and happier lives if others were doing so, if they would not stick out from the crowd. But it is difficult to resist purchases, for example, when families nearby are buying the latest branded products.

The social family neighborhood.
From an existing location imagine an emerging neighborhood that develops containing families with similar, uncomplicated, sensible lifestyles. With enough interest a small interactive group of like minded residents is formed. Interests would be such as outdoor evening and weekend play, pot-lucks, multi-family projects, TV guidelines, etc. Keeping up with or ahead of others would not be an issue here. As an internet group ideas could be freely exchanged and a set of suggested guidelines established.

Successfully started such a community would expand in size. By example, where you now see a landscaped and tidy neighborhood adjacent to a totally unkept neighborhood of the same era and original home values. New buyers are attracted to either neighborhood based values as well as on similar interests such as the landscaping and house appearance.

So imagine: Well kept home for sale. 'This is a simple living, family oriented social neighborhood.'

With a bit of research it turns out that there are a variety of well established communities with just those similar, sensible family lifestyles. However these appear to be pre-designed rather than evolving occurrences in spotty areas.

An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and are often part of the alternative society. They also share responsibilities and resources. Intentional communities include cohousing communities, residential land trusts, ecovillages, communes, survivalist retreats, kibbutzim, ashrams and housing cooperatives.

Types of communities
Some communities are secular; others have a spiritual basis. One common practice, particularly in spiritual communities, is eating communal meals. Commonly there is a focus on egalitarian values. Other themes are voluntary simplicity, interpersonal growth and self-reliance. Some communities provide services to disadvantaged populations, for example, war refugees, the homeless, or people with developmental disabilities. Some communities operate learning or health centers.
Read more at Wikipedia . . .

The Intentional Communities Website came online in 1994 and has information and resources needed to find, create, maintain and support intentional communities of all kinds. There is a wiki and a magazine.

Cohousing communities are old-fashioned neighborhoods created with a little ingenuity. They bring together the value of private homes with the benefits of more sustainable living. That means common facilities and good connections with neighbors. All in all, they stand as innovative answers to today's environmental and social problems
More on Cohousing "Building a better society, one neighborhood at a time." Articles, resources, and news.

The Community Page of Planetfriendly has a comprehensive introduction, overview and directory of links to a wide variety of ideas and projects that help create stronger, healthier community. They review a number of alternative and experimental forms of community, including ecovillages, cohousing, intentional community, cooperatives, related topics and links.

Related posts on simple living

Children, Life and Happiness

How can you help a child towards a life of peace and contentment?

There are so many daily influences in our lives directing us towards unhealthy and unhappy lifestyles. We are constantly faced with pressures and persuasions to consume bad food and to live stressful lives with diminishing values.

Sickness, worry, anger, fear or depression can take over and dominate our existence, often because we have taken the wrong paths.

If you think you have anxiety, worries and troubles what are your kids going to have?

There are various ways to help a child to live a happier life such as getting kids involved in physical or mental, mind occupying interests. Home hobbies and activities like crafts or gardening, learning and partaking of nature with hiking, camping, or visiting city parks. Friendly and healthy sports.

These all help immensely and there is a lot of good information before us, on healthy eating and exercising habits for example.

Mental well being and happiness information is not so prominent yet is one of the best all-round general advantages in providing for a content and fulfilling life. Learning and practicing self-help and self-improvement could be the best time investment made for self or family.

A good place to start is the self-improvement or self-help section of the public library or bookstore. If you think that this is an odd place to be, think again. There are very many big selling self-help titles to choose from. These books are popular reading. These inspirational ideas are easy enough to understand, but more difficult to practice. But it just takes practice. Start with the most popular books on various self-help topics. Reread the better ones, highlight the best phrases, and take notes. Try to devote a few minutes a day to help make good thinking and happy, satisfied feelings a way of life.

Just a few examples of the ideas and little positive gems
that can be collected for pleasant travels into a positive future.

Poor self esteem?
"The finest lives, in my opinion, are those who rank in the common model, and with the human race, but without miracle, without extravagance." - Michel de Montaigne

Worry is only a worry if you worry about it.
"If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying? If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying?" - Shantideva

Had some bad luck?
"Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out." - Art Linkletter

Trying too hard? Just where were you going?
"Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." - Nathaniel Hawthorne

So what do you really need?
"Whether in favor or in humiliation, be not dismayed. Let your eyes leisurely look at the flowers blooming and falling in your courtyard. Whether you leave or retain your position, take no care. Let your mind wander with the clouds folding and unfolding beyond the horizon." - Hung Tzu-ch'eng

How much living are you willing to pay for that?
"The cost of a thing is the amount of what I call life, which is required to be exchanged for it immediately or in the long run." - Henry Thoreau

Got a tough problem that needs solving?
Get all the facts. Describe the problem in detail. List all the possible solutions. List the advantages and disadvantages of each. Detail what you will do. Follow through.

Relationship problems - a viewpoint.
Joseph Addison puts it quite nicely this way: "Two persons who have chosen each other out of all the species with a design to be each other's mutual comfort and entertainment have, in that action, bound themselves to be good-humored, affable, discreet, forgiving, patient, and joyful, with respect to each other's frailties and perfections, to the end of their lives."

Take a break and appreciate.
"Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies." - Erich Fromm

Change your thoughts - change your feelings.
"Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission." - Arnold Bennett

These are some of the helpful reminders that are in my treasure chest of life tips. You should at least check out to see what's out there and what could be valuable and suitable to you and yours. There is so much practical life enhancing self-help information in print.

There are also many internet resources and again, there are very popular high-volume sites and blogs and some should suit your tastes. You can do a search of topics that concern you. Here are a few related resources.

A collection of Self-Help Websites and a list of 100 of the Best Self Help Blogs.
Other Self-help posts here, and my website 32 Keys About Life since 1999.

Relax, smile, take awhile. - Grampa Ken

Internet Safety Tips

We know that parents are concerned as the internet has introduced a whole new way for the young to interact. Where once it was word-of-mouth exchanges with friends and acquaintances in a school environment this has now been broadened astronomically. It now includes a much wider and looser definition of 'friends' locally and afar. And 'friends' who might not be friends but masked characters bringing unacceptable or repulsive interactions.

The net is an enormous communications advantage over previous generations. It is so valuable in exchanging information and knowledge that is accessible with the click of a few keys. But it has some very scary and socially unhealthy disadvantages that parents and kids should be aware of. Shrewdly camouflaged friendly and helpful temptations can turn out to be very harmful experiences.

From Instructify: Archive for the ‘Internet safety’ Category
At school access to the internet is monitored, there are often black lists of inappropriate sites, filtering systems and supervision by teachers and staff. But when the students get home this changes. The parents do not have access to the extensive resources and tools available to schools. So to help the parents we recommend that a simple three step rule, the 3 i's of internet safety. Read more . . .

FBI's Internet Safety Tips For the kids:
There are some very important things that you need to keep in mind when you're on your computer at home or at school.

• First, remember never to give out personal information such as your name, home address, school name, or telephone number in a chat room or on bulletin boards. Also, never send a picture of yourself to someone you chat with on the computer without your parent's permission.
• Never write to someone who has made you feel uncomfortable or scared.
• Do not meet someone or have them visit you without the permission of your parents.
• Tell your parents right away if you read anything on the Internet that makes you feel uncomfortable.
• Remember that people online may not be who they say they are. Someone who says that "she" is a "12-year-old girl" could really be an older man.

Lots of information and resources at the FCIC Internet Safety and Social Networks
Thanks to the Internet, you can order books, clothes, or appliances online; reserve a hotel room across the ocean; download music and games; check your bank balance 24 hours a day; or access your workplace from thousands of miles away. The flip-side, however, is that the Internet, and the anonymity it affords, can give online scammers, hackers, and identity thieves access to your computer, personal information, finances, and more. But with awareness as your safety net, you can minimize the chance of an Internet mishap. To be safer and more secure online, adopt these seven practices:

• Protect your personal information. It's valuable.
• Know whom you're dealing with.
• Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, as well as a firewall, and update them all regularly.
• Make sure your operating system and web browser are set up properly and update them regularly.
• Protect your passwords.
• Back up important files.
• Learn who to contact if something goes wrong online

Social Networking Online
Social networking sites are the hippest new "meet markets," especially among tween, teens and 20-somethings. While these sites can increase a person's circle of friends, they also increase exposure to people with less-than-friendly intentions, including sexual predators.
Much more at the FCIC . . .

Society and Family Stressed

There has been a social trend in the richer parts of the world towards acquiring material assets over happiness. By way of media we are encouraged towards self-interest over interest in others and the spirit of the community, at least in the friendliest ways. As we increasingly devote our life efforts to acquiring more goods and services we are often in competition with friends, fellow workers and neighbors, wishing and striving for something new or better. We may want to be cool in the eyes of all that will regard us, and they might have similar aspirations.

If we struggle to earn more to acquire more we may be depriving ourselves of sufficient casual fun time with friends and most importantly, family. Along with this desire for more and better things comes more stress into our lives and into the lives of those around us. The family may become more fractured as we work long hours and the kids watch more TV programs and play video games. In this environment they will become even more commercialized than their parents, as marketing whets their appetites for more stuff.

Are we too busy doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons?

There are tremendous influences to continue along this path as it generates more corporate and personal profits which society has become so accustomed to 'need'. So we strive and stress on for new false achievements losing out on some true basic and pleasant experiences in life.

If we are in this endless routine we should consider what Marcus Aurelius had to say 1800 years ago, "Think of what you have rather than of what you lack. Of the things you have, select the best and then reflect how eagerly you would have sought them if you did not have them."

In other words it's a merry-go-round that we do not need to be on and should consider jumping from.

Geela Author at "The American Dream" asks
"From environmental pollution to spiritual pollution, from artificial food to artificial joy - these are the side effects of the pursuit of materialism (a by-product of the American Dream, as we know it). Today, everything is fair game in the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain and personal responsibility, not to mention the absence of morality and a wholesome values system.?"

Tackling this problem as a whole society seems rather hopeless at this point in time as it is so entrenched, but there are ways. One suggestion is directing the young towards achieving happiness in lieu of buying more.

In Battling the roots of materialism by focusing on happiness Penny Nickel cites a study which "appears to suggest that even though many young people think having consumer goods is what makes them happy, if they start to feel better about themselves their focus will shift to non-materialistic priorities like friends and family. In other words, if a teen you know is begging for pricey items, you may be better off spending more quality time with them-- boosting their self-esteem, and thus increasing their relative appreciation of your company compared to the material goods-- rather than spending that extra time earning the money to buy them what they want."

The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Short url to this page  http://goo.gl/VvvlA

Affluenza: Consumed, consuming

Societies in the developed countries of the world today are continually engrossed with buying more goods and services. They have been strongly encouraged and pressured to do so for many years, so much so that there is never enough.

Autos have become prominent status symbols along with luxurious homes. Styles are an arena of social competition - buy to keep up with what's 'in' - or feel inferior.

We desire and acquire as much as we can afford, and often more. Much of this brings no personal achievement or lasting happiness and often is unnecessary, useless, and wasteful.

This all affects our lives badly as we stress to earn more money to buy more stuff. Our health and family life may take a back seat as we work to gain purchasing power.

And this delirium is not going away soon when BUY is before our eyes at our every turn in our daily lives.

We have affluenza.

From Wikipedia: Affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.

Proponents of the term consider the costs of prizing material wealth vastly outweigh the benefits. They claim those who become wealthy will find the economic success leaving them unfulfilled and hungry for more wealth. The condition is considered particularly acute amongst those with inherited wealth, who are often said to experience guilt, lack of purpose and dissolute behavior, as well as obsession with holding on to the wealth (John Levy's Coping with Inherited Wealth)

British psychologist Oliver James asserts that there is a correlation between the increasing nature of affluenza and the resulting increase in material inequality: the more unequal a society, the greater the unhappiness of its citizens. Referring to Vance Packard's thesis (The Hidden Persuaders) on the manipulative methods used by the advertising industry, James relates the stimulation of artificial needs to the rise in affluenza. To highlight the spread of affluenza in societies with varied levels of inequality, James interviewed people in several cities including Sydney, Singapore, Moscow, Shanghai, Copenhagen and New York.
Read more about affluenza at Wikipedia.

"He who buys what he does not need steals from himself." - Unknown

Competition and Kids

The Cost of Competition on Kids
by Rae Pica

The subject of competition is one that provokes some pretty strong feelings in the United States. In fact, even hinting that competition might not be such a great thing can cause one to be labeled un-American.

The prevailing belief is that competition is good for everyone – that someone without a strong competitive nature is just a wimp. That being competitive is human nature and to be noncompetitive is to have been born without a necessary gene.

But is it human nature, or is it learned behavior? The research shows that, given a choice, most preschoolers prefer cooperative to competitive activities. This would seem to indicate that dog-eat-dog is not a natural inclination. And in a New York Times essay, Nicholas Kristof told a hilarious story about trying to teach the game of musical chairs to a group of five-year-old Japanese children, who kept politely stepping out of the way so others could sit in their chairs. This would certainly seem to indicate “dog-eat-dog” is taught in some societies – and not taught in others.

In America we play musical chairs in child-care centers, during play dates, and at almost every preschooler’s birthday party. The rules say that a chair is removed with every round – and one more child gets to sit against the wall and watch everybody else continue to have fun. The game is over when there remains one winner – and lots of losers.

In case you don’t recall from your own childhood (or maybe you were always the one winner among many losers), being eliminated feels lousy, as does feeling like a loser. And those other kids you’re playing with? For the duration of the game they’re not your friends; they’re what’s standing in your way. Children only have to play this game once to know that, if they’re not going to be labeled losers, they have to do whatever it takes to win. And we’ve all seen what that means: punching, poking, kicking, scratching, screaming, and shoving. It’s no wonder the research shows that competition fosters antisocial behaviors.

When parents consistently place their children in situations where winning is the ultimate goal – where the winners are considered heroes and the losers “losers” – winning is what they come to value. They learn that only the end result counts, not the process involved in getting there. Further, when parents themselves fail to conduct themselves with character, their actions speak much louder than any words preached about good sportsmanship and the value of teamwork and cooperation. While the goal of many parents is to give their children a running start on the development of sports skills (because success in sports certainly must equal success in life!), the research shows that competition is actually detrimental to skill development. One reason is fear of failure and its resulting stress, which isn’t conducive to either learning or performance. Young children, in particular, are susceptible to this problem because pleasing their parents means so much to them. And when their parents focus on winning – either through action (screaming on the sidelines) or words (asking “Who won?” instead of “Did you have fun?”) – winning becomes the children’s goal as well.

Of course, you may think the goal of winning would be enough to propel children into performing their best. But young children aren’t cognitively ready to make that connection. They attribute winning or losing to ability, not effort. Nor are they emotionally ready to handle the pressure of playing mistake-free games. And they’re not physically ready to play without making mistakes!

Finally, when product (winning) is emphasized over process (making an effort), extrinsic reward is granted more validity than intrinsic reward. As a result, trophies and championships become the whole point of participation. And while this may not seem like such a bad thing in a goal-oriented society, we’re back to the issue of the young child’s stage of development. Children under the age of eight are motivated by pleasure. And, yes, winning feels good when everyone around you is making a big deal out of it. But does that feeling last? And what about the children who aren’t winning?

Dare I say it? Winning isn’t everything. And if we want our children to grow up to be self-assured, character-driven adults – who also happen to have positive feelings about physical activity – then it really shouldn’t be.

Rae Pica is a children’s physical activity specialist and the author of Your Active Child: How to Boost Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive Development through Age-Appropriate Activity (McGraw-Hill, 2003). Rae speaks to parent and education groups throughout North America.

Visit her and read more articles at Moving and Learning. ~ ~ ~ Article Source