Electric car free charging station roll out

[dcarrigg]

Re: Electric car free charging station roll out

Perhaps it is a bit too subjective for empirical determination, and with a good deal of propaganda and advertising we can all be pacified to some extent; of course a poor person alive today likely has a higher standard of living than and emperor of 1000 BC.

How about wealth inequality growth/gradient as a better objective measure? Throw some opportunity fo upward mobility and some freedom, rule of law and coarsenss of culture/crime in there for some subjective measure.

My point is that per rising per capita growth does not readily translate to "a rising tide lifts all boats", and is therefore and inappropriate measure of "economic sucess" of a culture.

What does it matter if GDP triples if me and mine don't see a dime?

I wonder how many people out there are asking themselves that question...

For now, it's easy enough to say just use the median instead of per capita. It gets to the heart of most matters on the street.

[littleshark]

Re: Electric car free charging station roll out

Perhaps it is a bit too subjective for empirical determination, and with a good deal of propaganda and advertising we can all be pacified to some extent; of course a poor person alive today likely has a higher standard of living than and emperor of 1000 BC.

How about wealth inequality growth/gradient as a better objective measure? Throw some opportunity fo upward mobility and some freedom, rule of law and coarsenss of culture/crime in there for some subjective measure.

My point is that per rising per capita growth does not readily translate to "a rising tide lifts all boats", and is therefore and inappropriate measure of "economic sucess" of a culture.

Good point. It seems that the higher the base level standard of living goes, the further wealth inequality can be stretched.

If the poor/middle class can still have a roof over their head/food/tv/phone that a combination of tech innovation and govt help provides them, along with the desensitization of their minds by the media, revolt is further away than most think and the inequality of the 99 vs 1, or the 99.9 vs .1, becomes just political volleyball for the left vs right meme.

[shiny!]

Re: Electric car free charging station roll out

Good point. It seems that the higher the base level standard of living goes, the further wealth inequality can be stretched.

If the poor/middle class can still have a roof over their head/food/tv/phone that a combination of tech innovation and govt help provides them, along with the desensitization of their minds by the media, revolt is further away than most think and the inequality of the 99 vs 1, or the 99.9 vs .1, becomes just political volleyball for the left vs right meme.

Add to this the fact that "One in 10 Americans now takes an antidepressant medication; among women in their 40s and 50s, the figure is one in four," and the gilded cage is nearly complete.

People drowning in debt and living paycheck to paycheck are too afraid (and too tired) to protest in demonstrations because if they get arrested they could lose their jobs, and consequently their homes, cars and credit rating. The endless barrage of propaganda telling people that they should aspire to own their own home and purchase new cars (and everything else) on credit is a great trick for keeping the populace docile.

If we only take into account possessions, gadgets and creature comforts like hot running water, electricity, etc. we have a great standard of living. But in fifty years we've gone from a production economy when one working parent could support a family and save for college and retirement, to a credit/debt driven consumerist society where both parents working multiple low-wage jobs can barely make ends meet. Families have no safety margin if one parent loses their job or becomes ill- no parent to pick up the slack because there is no slack. For single-parent families poverty is generally the rule.

If we only measure by "things" we have the highest standard of living the world has ever seen. But when we calculate quality of life we must also factor in the toll of stress-related illnesses (depression, anxiety, alcoholism and drug addiction, domestic violence, malnourishment, obesity, diabetes, suicide) that this protracted and worsening inequality is taking on the health of the lower and middle classes.

[GRG55]

Re: Electric car free charging station roll out

Add to this the fact that "One in 10 Americans now takes an antidepressant medication; among women in their 40s and 50s, the figure is one in four," and the gilded cage is nearly complete.

...

This isn't really something new and shocking, is it?

What a drag it is getting old.

"Things are different today,"
I hear ev'ry mother say
Mother needs something today to calm her down
And though she's not really ill
There's a little yellow pill
She goes running for the shelter of her mother's little helper
And it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day.

"Things are different today,"
I hear ev'ry mother say
Cooking fresh food for a husband's just a drag
So she buys an instant cake and she buys a frozen steak
And goes running for the shelter of her mother's little helper
And to help her on her way, get her through her busy day.

Doctor, please, some more of these
Outside the door, she took four more
What a drag it is getting old.

"Men just aren't the same today,"
I hear ev'ry mother say
They just don't appreciate that you get tired
They're so hard to satisfy. You can tranquilise your mind
So go running for the shelter of your mother's little helper
And four help you through the night, help to minimise your plight.

Doctor, please, some more of these
Outside the door, she took four more
What a drag it is getting old.

Life's just much too hard today,"
I hear ev'ry mother say
The pursuit of happiness just seems a bore
And if you take more of those, you will get an overdose
No more running for the shelter of a mother's little helper
They just helped you on your way through your busy dying day.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; "Mother's Little Helper" from the 1966 album "Aftermath"
[with one of the most recognizable guitar riffs by Brian Jones]

[jk]

Re: Electric car free charging station roll out

Add to this the fact that "One in 10 Americans now takes an antidepressant medication; among women in their 40s and 50s, the figure is one in four," and the gilded cage is nearly complete.

And though she's not really ill
There's a little yellow pill

we evolved to live as hunter-gatherers in smallish troops [baboon troops =5-250, usually around 50] or communities [chimpanzee communities=15-120]. our culture - both technology and social structure - is evolving MUCH faster than our poor dna and brain structures can adapt. we are not designed to live comfortably in the fast-paced and enormously complicated world we've created.

so these days we often turn to antidepressants, while back in the 60's-70's it was sedatives [theories of "yellow pill" include quaaludes, valium, nembutol- all sedative hypnotics]. the most popular antidepressants are the ssri's- prozac, zoloft, lexapro, et al. they are not only effective for depression and anxiety disorders, they really have an anti-stress effect: people come back and say "the same things bother me, but they don't GET TO ME the way they used to."

perhaps the genomic research conducted at places like the cognitive research lab of the beijing genomics institute [see this interesting article in a recent new yorker] will lead to the design of a more resilient population. though a little breath-taking and worrisome to contemplate, i suppose it's a step up from the application of pharmacological tech.

[Chomsky]

Re: Electric car free charging station roll out

perhaps the genomic research conducted at places like the cognitive research lab of the beijing genomics institute [see this interesting article in a recent new yorker] will lead to the design of a more resilient population. though a little breath-taking and worrisome to contemplate, i suppose it's a step up from the application of pharmacological tech.

Or maybe people can just learn to take a breath and relax -- meditate, take some down time, etc. Works wonders.

[jk]

Re: Electric car free charging station roll out

Or maybe people can just learn to take a breath and relax -- meditate, take some down time, etc. Works wonders.

yes, but about as likely as following advice about healthy nutrition, exercise, and so on.

[DSpencer]

Re: Electric car free charging station roll out

Aren't most measures of "standard of living" highly ephemeral? Even a Gen Y'er is unlikely to measure their standard of living (and "quality of life") using many of the same criteria as their parents...and that is in the same society, not across an ocean as Japan and the USA are. Methinks it's impossible to avoid apples and oranges comparisons...and thus not generally particularly useful.

I suppose some criteria such as lifespan, infant mortality rates and so forth can truly be objectively compared across populations, countries, time periods. But once again I am not convinced most people would factor those into their own measure of standard of living for themselves...

I agree that it's an impossible thing to standardize. It's sort of like asking whether living in the country or city offers a better quality of life. Or the beach or the mountains. It depends on who you ask and what their priorities are.

Not to say the various means of trying to measure quality of life aren't useful at all, but certainly there are limitations.

[photon555]

Re: Electric car free charging station roll out

I dont know. Even if they charged commercial rates, it would be like $20 dollars to go 400 miles with electricity versus $100 for gasoline. And most people here dont care because bus and train passes for everyone to go to work are paid for by the employer. Even someone who works at MacDonalds would get a pass to go to and from work paid for by the employer.

Is that benefit taxed?

[lektrode]

Re: Electric car free charging station roll out

toll booths, if it isnt.