It’s time again for Link-O-Rama Mama, where I lazily link to other people well written and thoroughly researched articles!
Income Inequality and The Pursuit of Un-Happiness
Though provoking short piece from Marketplace:
“First, many people (especially low- and middle-income earners) are likely to perceive the world to be unfair only if “the rich get richer.” It is possible, then, that people will perceive less fairness in the years with greater income disparity, and this perception in turn could lower those individuals’ overall happiness in such years.
Second, income disparity could disjoint and divide community members (Putnam, 2000), and as a result, it could make people trust others less (Ichida et al., 2009). To the extent that trust is positively associated with happiness (Inglehart, 1999), lowered general trust could explain why people are in general less happy in times of income inequality. ”
Things My Grandmother Taught Me
Wonderful essay from Cara at Sunnyside Sis about growing up next door to her grandmother:
“When we went over to her house to see her, we did not have the distractions my children have today when visiting with their Grandparents. We didn’t turn on the TV . We didn’t carry over our ipads, laptops, or choose from hundreds of shows to watch on-demand or stream movies through Netflix. We actually spent time together. We followed her around the house and did things with her. ”
A practical protest against Fast Fashion:
“From August 1, 2013- Augst 1, 2014 I’ve committed to a fast-fashion fast. As part of my journey to resist the fast-fashion industry– and it’s unethical labor and ecological practices– I will focus on making my own clothing, shopping for thrifted, vintage, and/ or used clothing, and learning the disappearing crafts of mending, darning, preserving and making garments. I will take this investigation one step further by aiming to buy used clothing that is made of natural materials (cotton, linen, wool, hemp, silk, etc) to reduce the petrochemicals in my closet. I will share my process on this website.”
Do you have links to share? Please put them in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, as for grandparents, all I can remember about visiting my grandparents in the 50’s is the smell of cigar smoke and my grandfather watching baseball and golf on one of the first TV sets ever!
http://coffeeteabooksandme.blogspot.com/2009/08/beauty-of-forced-frugality.html
This is one of my go to reads when things are difficult. It says a lot about the contentment in limiting circumstances.
And that is the type of grandmother I aspire to be. My own grandmother had no interest in her grandchildren. I believe she had 20 or so. She was not a very happy woman, though I was told she was when she was younger.
I am grandmother to a wonderful 8 yr old girl. She has been with us every other weekend, since she was two. She does get cross with me, because I don’t care to let her bring her kindle or video games here. We live in the country and have goats and chickens. I believe our job as her grandparents is to teach her new things. She has plenty of time at home which is an apartment,to play video games.She is learning to cook which she loves, and the hours outside with a stick making forts are priceless!
Hi Marie,
I am the author of that blog post you are referring to. Sounds like you are doing exactly the right thing. Your granddaughter will look back at all of the things you have exposed her to and never once regret it. Thanks for reading!
I definitely get what the first article was talking about. In our home state of AZ, it seemed like were more people in the middle to lower income brackets. It may have been because our area was hit tremendously hard by the recession or our high percentage of immigrants, but either way I felt like there were fewer really rich people around. And I felt happier in that way. Now in Austin, it feels like everyone around us is “rich” (to me, this means they can afford a $350+k house), and it’s hard to not feel that it’s unfair. With home prices going insanely up, it makes it even harder to think there are more in our income bracket. Even though my hubby is now making significantly more at his new job, it feels like we are the poor ones compared to the people we now hang out with.
I just left a post on Cara’s website. That post was so spot on with my own childhood memories of my grandmother. She was a fantastic lady – funny, gracious, proper, caring, and so incredibly present and there for us. I miss her so much, and she passed away 25 years ago. There are so many things that trigger my memory of her – Dove soap, fruit slices (that sugary candy), chocolate eclairs, and how she would always offer a quarter to my sister and me if we wouldn’t argue. She was wonderful. Thank you so much for making me think about her this morning. 🙂
I love Cara’s article on her grandmother. She sounds just like mine! My grandmother passed away 25 years ago, and I still miss her. It’s funny what small triggers make me think of her; the smell of Dove soap, fruit slices (those sugary ones), cooked carrots. She was elegant, funny, silly, and so incredibly present for us. She used to always offer my sister and me a quarter if we’d stop arguing. Never wore pants, always a skirt or dress. She was a truly wonderful lady. Thanks for the great feelings – that made my day. Katy, I love you too – read you faithfully and love all that you write.
oops – don’t know why it posted 2x – forgive me!
I like them both!
Katy