Tag Archive for economy

We’re Getting Hungrier

September 24, 2018 Comments Off on We’re Getting Hungrier

Droughts, floods, conflicts, and economic slowdowns: they, according to a U.N. report, are the major causes of people going hungry. They all adversely affect food production. The result is that an increasing number of human beings on our Earth are going hungry. In fact, the report says, the number of malnourished people worldwide has increased from 815 million in 2015 to 821 million in 2017, and the numbers keep rising.

What can we do? Take better care of our planet so there are fewer and less intense floods and droughts, work through groups and pressure our lawmakers to work toward peace, and help each other rebound from financial crises.

And, it goes without saying, feed the hungry, at home and abroad.

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How to Add $513 Billion to Our Economy

April 4, 2017 Comments Off on How to Add $513 Billion to Our Economy

$513 B could flow into our economy if women earned as much pay as men, says the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.  That’s a number that should stick in the minds even of CEOs who hire women because, as one of them (Evan Thornley, multimillionaire and co-founder of online advertising company LookSmart) says, “Women [are] like men, only cheaper.”

Today is Equal Pay Day.  True, the actual day is a projected guess, since it’s based on averages from the census data, which isn’t available soon enough to set a specific real date.  Also true, the amount is based on average earnings of all full-time workers, not comparing specific  job to specific job.  So it isn’t perfect statistically.

However, it’s a symbol that points up a problem in our economy: women overall earn less than men.  If CEOs paid their women workers the same as they do men for the same job, if women didn’t get only 79.6 cents for every dollar a man makes, if working mothers weren’t limited in their hiring possibilities because of employer fears of their taking off too much time for family, if men didn’t dominate corporate Boards, if, if, if….

The answer to those “ifs” is less poverty among women and children and a more vibrant economy for us all.

By the way, if you support  equal pay, the American Association of University Women asks you to wear red today.

 

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Stock Market Make-Believe

January 8, 2016 Comments Off on Stock Market Make-Believe

While listening to the news of the bad effects the weak stock markets are having on the major countries of the world and our own economy, I got to thinking: all it is is electronic messages zipping through the ether, trading make-believe money that appears only as figures in those messages and on reports. How is it that all this stuff that doesn’t really exist determines real people’s lives and causes so much anguish?

Just wondering….

 

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Fence out those Immigrants!

November 20, 2015 4 comments

I live in California, a state that has a large population of immigrants coming in illegally.  I should, I suppose, jump on the bandwagon of the Presidential candidates who insist on building a fence to keep them out.  It’s expensive, they all agree, but worth it, say some, or will be paid for by Mexico, claims one.

I don’t understand.  Aren’t those candidates aware that many people come in through Canada, too?  Or overstay their visa or HB work permits?  What about them?  A fence won’t help.  Also, haven’t they seen the statistics that show that  2009-2014 more Mexican immigrants have been choosing, on their own, to return to their families in Mexico than have come into the U.S.?  In addition, those reports show that the theory that they’ve been returning because of our bad economy is false–it has always been better economically here than where they came from.

Come on, candidates, make that bandwagon actually count for something–like plans to solve poverty, under-education, discrimination, bigotry, and violence in our nation.

 

 

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Kids are Graduating!

May 7, 2014 Comments Off on Kids are Graduating!

Great news!  We’re closing in on a 90% graduation rate. The National Center for Education Statics has reported that we’re at a never-before-reached 81% and climbing, with 90% quite attainable by 2020. Some states are already there.  Read more about this in the article at Time.com.

I’m excited because of my belief that education is the cornerstone for building a healthy, vibrant society.  Education parts the forbidding seas of lack of employment opportunities, ignorant discrimination, inequality, and poverty.  It puts otherwise wasted brain-power and creativity to work in ways that benefit the whole society.  It opens individual lives to the wonder of the world.  Education can’t actually save our country or the world, but it’s certainly a giant step in that direction.

 

 

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Where are the Homeless?

December 3, 2013 Comments Off on Where are the Homeless?

I thought it a good sign when the homeless hanging around Snell and Blossom Hill Road near my home were disappearing, that maybe the improving economy meant many of them were being able to make better lives for themselves and their families.  Not so.  They’re just trying to find better shelter for the winter. Despite a healthier economy, homelessness has increased.  A good example is San Jose–smack dab in the middle of bustling Silicon Valley–where homelessness has increased 18% over last year.  In other words, the fight isn’t over for many men, women, and children who are on our streets because they have no place else to go.

It’s very, very important that we don’t forget these vulnerable people–those on the streets and those who are on the edge and ready to fall off into homelessness.  Especially in this season of open hearts.

Help these people by contributing time, goods, and money to shelters, food banks, church food pantries, kitchens that serve meals, clothes closets (for basics and for clothes appropriate for job interviews), and other organizations that serve the homeless and other poor. Watch out for friends, neighbors, or co-workers on the brink of losing their jobs or homes–or who would benefit greatly by being invited to dinner at your house.

If you’re a member of a religion, your faith calls you to do this.  If you’re an agnostic or atheist, your humanity demands it.

 

 

 

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