The Locker Lesson

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Guest Contribution

“The Locker Lesson” By Debbie Friedman

My 13-year-old son had started at one of the most prestigious private schools in the nation – an honor that we were paying $20,000 a year for and at a school that had 100 applications for each spot! When he came home the second month with a horrified look on his face, telling me that he’d done something awful, I was more than a little concerned. He explained that, as a prank, he had given a boy’s locker combination to someone else. That person had opened the locker and trashed all the books and belongings inside. He didn’t know what to do, so he asked for my advice.

Here’s what I guided him to do: He called the boy whose locker was trashed, told him that he was responsible and that he would do whatever it took to make things right. He called the boy’s parents, told them he was sorry, and would do whatever it took to make things right. Even though the mother was yelling at him and calling him names, I stood by his side, and he continued to apologize. The next morning, he went to the Dean’s office before his first class, told the Dean what he had done, and said he would do whatever it took to make things right.

The Trashed Locker

This was one of the most terrifying moments of my son’s life up until that time. I can remember the look of horror on his face as his mother cursed him and called him names. I also remember that he was able to stand up tall, with dignity and with self-esteem, as he went to school the next morning to talk with the Dean. He felt good about himself, not because he had made a mistake (as everyone is going to do in life!), but because he had the courage to stand up and admit it. He had the integrity to take responsibility for his actions and the inner strength to do whatever it took to make things right.

Now, you may be wondering what happened in all of this. My son had to pay for a new lock for the boy’s locker. The Dean called me to tell me he had never in his entire career seen a student carry himself with such dignity and such integrity. He was truly impressed and thanked me for the guidance I’d given him, and for raising such an incredible son with clear values.

The boy whose locker had been trashed barely talked to my son for four years. And yet, when they were graduating from high school and went to their elementary school reunion, it was as if nothing had ever happened. Yes, it took some time for the wounds to heal, but in the end, everything turned out fine.

What happened to the boy who actually opened the locker and trashed it? He refused to apologize and his parents refused to make him apologize. He was put in detention for weeks and was asked to leave the school at the end of the year.

The Mistake Is Always The Lesson

We all make mistakes, some of them are big ones, and some of them are small. My son made a mistake, and in the process got to learn a very valuable lesson.

Honesty is always the best policy. Taking responsibility for what you say and do is essential if you want to feel good about yourself. It’s important to be willing to go to any length to make things right when you breach your integrity. It may not be easy. It may feel crummy and uncomfortable. You may get yelled at. In the end, though, you’ll be able to walk with your head held high, you will be able to go to sleep in peace at night, and you will be respected.

Most important, you will respect yourself. That may be the greatest gift of all.

Credits

Author Bio
Debbie Friedman, M.S., C.Ht., is the Manifesting Maven who helps people consciously create the life they love to live. She is the creator of the popular Cleaning Out the Closet of Your Mind for Wealth series. www.CleaningOutTheCloset.com

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Self-Definition: Is Yours Up To Date?

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Michael H. Ballard

Hello: How is your month going? Spring is starting to show up in Toronto Canada. Cool days warm days, with a hint of snow (Brrrr), and spring flowers starting to show in the flower beds. I hope that summer arrives sooner than later.

Self-Definition And Resiliency

I mentioned in previous articles what I have discovered in the research about the power of resilience. I know first hand it can be learned and practiced. My challenges dealing with three brushes with death during two bouts of cancer and six major treatments were lessened due to the gifts that a resiliency practice brings into our lives. The benefits can be very large and uplifting.

So, no guilt here yet a friendly reminder to start, restart or boost your resilience. Here are some key first steps to boost your resilience.

How have you let life define you to date?

If there was an invisible dictionary that only you can see, what are the words, phrases, pictures, audio, and video clips you have allowed to live in your memories and define you?

Some build you up, some tear you down and some confuse you! Ensure you do housekeeping to acknowledge each of them. Then do what the database people might call a merge purge.

Out with those that are negative and nasty, confuse and or no longer define you. Be intentional and on purpose and on time creating more memories that acknowledge you in the present moment and in your future. A healthy self-definition is vital for our safety, happiness, and better outcomes.

Let me leave you with the question: “What are you doing currently to develop, deepen and or expand your resilience?” Your self-definition is a powerful place to start.

So until next time Imagine Yourself with more Resiliency for Life.

 

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How Large Corporations Make Huge Profits At The Expense Of Consumers

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Guest Contribution

“How large corporations make huge profits from hidden markups at the expense of consumers” by  Constantin Colonescu, MacEwan University

Inflation, followed by poverty and social inequality are the most pressing issues worrying people around the world right now. Canada has not been immune from the rising cost of living and is still fighting an inflation rate above the two percent target preferred by the Bank of Canada.

Canada’s inflation rate hit 8.1 percent in June — the highest it had been in over 40 years. While the rate dropped slightly afterward, it was still 6.8 percent in November, easing to 6.3 percent in December.

High prices funnel wealth from consumers to owners of large companies and widen the wage gap between CEOs and workers. My research shows consumer prices are higher than they should be. This is even without considering inflation, because of a less studied phenomenon: compound markup.

Less Competition Than You Think

Many economists rely on philosopher Adam Smith’s metaphor of the invisible hand to understand how the market economy works. According to Smith, the invisible hand is the natural force that drives individuals to unknowingly make economic decisions that are best for society.

Statue of the Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland.

This economic philosophy maintains the view that competition is ubiquitous in market economies such as North America and western Europe. Competition makes producers undercut other producers’ prices until prices become low enough to just compensate producers for their costs and time.

But, as my research shows, low prices are the exception, rather than the rule. Such news should surprise those who believe in the power of the invisible hand to bring prices down to their lowest possible level.

While still advocating for the principles of the free market, including for the invisible hand, Adam Smith was aware that monopolies, which would prevent competition and inflate product prices, could emerge.

Prices Much Higher Than Production Costs

The concept of markup, which is how many times a price is higher than the cost of production, is not new. Government organizations dedicated to watching the markets already exist to prevent large companies from conspiring against consumers by artificially maintaining high prices.

Economic literature considers only one product at a time or a few slightly differentiated products, such as Adidas and Nike when measuring markups. Existing theories and estimations ignore that markups multiply when raw materials, ingredients and components travel from one company to another down the production chain.

A company sells an overpriced component to a second company, that second company incorporates it into their yet unfinished product, then sells it at a profit to a third company, and so on. By the time the finished product reaches the consumer, its price has been successively inflated several times.

Take the bread market. My research implies that the price of bread includes substantial profit margins that go to a handful of large corporations. To produce bread, one needs wheat, which is also sold in competitive markets because all wheat is the same and there are many wheat producers.

consumers

Each extra step in the bread production process adds another layer of profit to the final product’s price — hence, the compound markup.

To produce wheat, however, one needs fertilizers, mostly sold in highly non-competitive markets by large corporations such as Nutrien Ltd., heavy machinery sold by large corporations such as John Deere, pesticides, seeds, and other inputs from markets dominated by large corporations.

Tractors need computer chips, steel, aluminum, and tires that also come from large corporations. Batteries need rare earth elements, which come from just a few world producers. Each extra step in the production chain adds another layer of profit to the final product’s price — hence, the compound markup.

Consumer Price Markups Are Abnormally High

To determine the markups of different industries compared to the costs of production, I compared the market price of products with the “natural” cost of production. This natural cost is neighborhood-specific and takes into account the average cost of rent, profits, and wages for certain areas.

My notion of compound markup compares market prices to this concept of natural cost because a fair price would equal this cost in a monopoly-free economy.

To do this, I measured the overpricing of complex final products such as electronics and transportation services, considering all the overpriced components that the final product incorporates. For data, I used input-output tables, which give flows of sales of intermediate goods from one industry to another. The results of this calculation are compound markups.

A compound markup of three means the price of the final product is three times greater than the natural cost, considering all the intermediate phases. In contrast, the conventional markup only considers the last phase of production, where the finished good is assembled and sold to a consumer.

A table that shows compound markups are substantially greater than the conventional cost of production
Table showing compound markups compared to conventional markups in a few industries. The compound markups are substantially greater than the conventional ones.
(Constantin Colonescu), Author provided

These results indicate that prices are, for many of the goods and services we all need, up to five times higher than the natural costs of production. The owners of large corporations make abnormally high profits at the expense of consumers.

Re-thinking Market Competition

An invisible hand is indeed at work in the supermarket, but it is one that Adam Smith would not recognize. The real invisible hand is there to benefit the producer, not the consumer, contrary to Smith’s belief. Concerned groups have identified fair trade as a goal in international markets for years, but not so much in our daily lives and not in the context of compound pricing.

Governments, consumers, and consumer organizations could use research like this to promote more competition in markets, advocate fair trade within a country, and re-think income inequality policies.

Large corporations tend to monopolize intermediate markets even more than they do in final goods markets. Because of this, antitrust government agencies like Canada’s Competition Bureau should supervise markets for intermediate goods such as fertilizers, agricultural machinery, and rare earth elements — not just the markets for final consumer goods.The Conversation

Credits

Constantin Colonescu, Associate Professor of Economics, MacEwan University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Jacinda Ardern: The ‘Politics of Kindness’ is a Lasting Legacy

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Guest Contribution

“Jacinda Ardern: the ‘politics of kindness’ is a lasting legacy,” by Hilde Coffe, University of Bath

Jacinda Ardern became prime minister of New Zealand in 2017, the same year Donald Trump took power in the US. They could not have been more different: in age and sex, politics, and in style. Where Trump’s brash, shoot-from-the-hip tweets sparked outrage, Ardern’s human and empathetic approach sought to strike a conciliatory tone. Nowhere was this more evident than with her response to the Christchurch terrorist attacks when she said, “they are us”, embracing the immigrant and refugee communities targeted.

Ardern showed the power of a different kind of leadership, but what will her legacy be? When we talk about leadership in my gender politics classes at the University of Bath one name above all others comes up in discussions: Jacinda Ardern. Ask my students which inspirational political leaders they see in the world today, and Ardern always tops the polls. Ask if they can remember any of New Zealand’s former prime ministers before her and there’s silence.

ardern

Arden And The Politics Of Kindness

Ardern embodied a new kind of politics, one that has been nicknamed a “politics of kindness”. At the press conference announcing New Zealand’s first lockdown in the face of COVID, she said: “Be strong, and be kind.” During her time in office, these words would become synonymous with her politics and style. She even mentioned the word kindness in her resignation speech.

Such has been Ardern’s political power over the past six years, that the news that she will resign with almost immediate effect was met with widespread surprise as much within New Zealand as it was internationally. I was in New Zealand in 2017 and witnessed first-hand the rise of her leadership – nicknamed “Jacindamania” – and saw how it resonated so strongly with the public.

As a world leader who faced one crisis after another, and balanced the demands of working life for young families, she expressed how she “no longer had enough in the tank” to keep going. Of course, there are some who will claim she stood down before she was pushed, and it is true that Labour in New Zealand is struggling in the polls, although she was still the most popular candidate for prime minister. Compare and contrast Ardern’s departure with Trump being wrestled out of the White House. How many (male) politicians would call time on their own leadership in the way Ardern has done?

Stepping Down

Her decision to step down is as groundbreaking as the way in which she shaped the job and her leadership style. In times when populist leaders with a hyper-masculine leadership styles took control from Brazil to Hungary, she brought compassion, kindness, and empathy to politics.

Her leadership style, and more generally her leadership, inspired many, and in particular women. While gender equality is growing in politics, there are still not many women leading a country, and being the youngest woman prime minister ever, she was an exception in what is generally still seen as a “man’s world”.

In the academic literature on gender and political representation, a distinction is made between descriptive, substantive, and symbolic representation. The first concentrates on the number of women in positions of power. The second is concerned with the effect women’s representation has on policy outcomes, that is: do we get different kinds of policy decisions because women are making them? And the third suggests that women politicians are role models for women in society, inspiring them to engage in political activity and discussion and serving to increase political trust.

Being New Zealand’s youngest female prime minister and only the second in the world to become a mother while in office, Ardern inspired many women and showed how young women can take up leadership roles and do it in their own way. As she said when announcing her resignation: “I hope I leave New Zealand with a belief that you can be kind but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focused, and that you can be your own kind of leader, one who knows when it’s time to go.”

What is her legacy?

With this message, she highlighted how there is no particular style of doing politics, but how everyone can do it in their own way, including in a connecting and empathetic way with a strong human touch – a style not commonly associated with politics. Hearing of Ardern’s resignation, US vice president Kamala Harris said she had “inspired millions around the world” and had offered a new way of doing politics.

Equally important has been how she has called out gender inequalities. A well-known, and widely shared on social media, example was when she met with the prime minister of Finland, Sanna Marin – also a woman and relatively young – last year and was asked by a journalist whether they were just meeting because they were both young (women). Ardern quickly queried whether former US president Barack Obama and John Key (the previous New Zealand prime minister) would have been asked the same question when they met; clearly stating that they were not only meeting because of their gender but were there to talk about substance and politics.

Overall, with her refreshing and dignified leadership, her brand of politics, combined with a call for greater gender equity in general and in politics in particular, Ardern has served as an inspiration for many women. And even in the style of her resignation, Ardern is again changing the course and setting standards for a kind and authentic political leadership; a strong legacy that will be remembered for decades.The Conversation

Credits

Hilde Coffe, Professor of politics, University of Bath

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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A Simple Question: “Why?”

Posted on January 18, 2023 by ClaudetteE

Why? That is the question we are proposing that you ask yourself to understand why you do what you do. Why are you in a particular job or relationship?

Have you ever gone to bed feeling completely overwhelmed by the tentacles of another?

That drowning feeling overcame me every now and again. Having been through the tumultuous ride called depression years ago, I knew what to do. The signs of slipping into the deep murky end of the emotional sea are now well known to me.

As any drowning person would do, I cried out for help. Well, actually, I Facebook messaged for a ring buoy.

Why, Why, Why?

Eight years ago, this rude awakening happened and it was one of those turning points. One of my tools is reaching out to another wounded healer. This time it was my cousin.

Stunned and bloated with tears though I was, my mind was still racing with questions. As my lifeguard, my cousin, used her shepherd’s crook to pull me in, I asked her, “Why will she not leave me the @$%* alone?” 

There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else has a responsibility to give your life meaning and point… The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it.” ― Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion

Simple Question

Such a simple yet profound and oftentimes unanswerable question. Posing it, most of the time we really do not anticipate a satisfying response. Yet, asking “Why” can start a conversation that eventually lights a path to follow.

My cousin could not give me a definitive answer and I did not expect one. Her Australian candor and wit, however, sliced my pain like Spanish machetes in the mangroves.  Sleep came soon after logging off from her.

I arose the following morning with a throbbing headache but was certain of what needed to be done.

The Answer

“Be the question,” was what Bishop John Shelby Spong told me two decades ago as I sought his direction regarding my calling.

So, today I am “Why?”

Blessings and have a peace-filled day. Namaste

 

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How The Distortion Of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s Words Enables More, Not Less, Racial Division

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Guest Contribution

“How the distortion of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s words enables more, not less, racial division within American society” by Hajar Yazdiha, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas is just the latest conservative lawmaker to misuse the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to judge a person on character and not race.

In the protracted battle to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House, Roy, a Republican, nominated a Black man, Byron Donalds, a two-term representative from Florida who had little chance of winning the seat. Considered a rising star in the GOP, Donalds has opposed the very things that King fought for and ultimately was assassinated for – nonviolent demonstrations and voting rights protections.

Calling Donalds a “dear friend,” Roy noted the selection by Democrats of another Black man, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, and invoked King’s words.

“For the first time in history, there have been two Black Americans placed into nomination for speaker of the House,” Roy said. “However, we do not seek to judge people by the color of their skin, but rather, the content of their character.”

As a scholar who researches social movements, racial politics, and democracy, I have seen the consequences of the misuse of King’s words play out everywhere from the halls of Congress to corporate diversity training sessions to local school board meetings.

In Roy’s case, the invocation of King’s legacy was an attempt to hide Donalds’ outspoken right-wing political views, including his vote with 146 others to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Roy’s speech also omits Donald’s support for voting reform laws in Florida that many Black civil rights leaders understood as efforts to disenfranchise minority voters.

As scholars, civil rights activists, and King’s own children have long pointed out, uses of King’s words, especially by right-wing conservatives, are too often attempts to weaponize his memory against the multicultural democracy of which King could only dream.

martin luther kingA Sanitized MLK

As every Martin Luther King Jr. Day nears on the third Monday in January, politicians across the political spectrum – including those who opposed establishing the national holiday in 1983 – issue their heartfelt dedications to King or quote him in their own speeches.

Yet January is also a month that commemorates a darker, more recent memory of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists.

The two issues – misuses of King’s memory and the Jan. 6 attacks – may seem like unrelated phenomena.

Yet in my book, “The Struggle for the People’s King: How Politics Transforms the Memory of the Civil Rights Movement,” I show how there is a direct line from distortions of King’s words and legacy to right-wing attacks on multicultural democracy and contemporary politics.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s,  sanitized version of King was part of a conservative political strategy for swaying white moderates to support President Ronald Reagan’s reelection by making King’s birthday a national holiday.

Even after Reagan finally signed the King holiday into law in 1983, he would write letters of assurance to angry political allies that only a selective version of King would be commemorated.

That version was free of not only the racial politics that shaped the civil rights movement but also of the vision of systemic change that King envisioned. In addition, Reagan’s version left out the views that King held against the Vietnam War.

Instead, the GOP’s sanitized version only comprises King’s vision of a colorblind society – at the expense of the deep, systemic change that King believed was needed to achieve a society in which character was more important than race.

Weaponizing America’s Racist Past

This interpretation of King’s memory would become a powerful political tool.

Increasingly through the 1980s, right-wing social movements – from the gun rights and family values coalitions to nativists and white supremacists – deployed King’s memory to claim they were the new minorities fighting for their own rights.

These groups claimed that white Christians were the real victims of multicultural democracy and in fact, were “the new Blacks.”

This false version of social reality eventually evolved into the “great replacement theory,” the far-right conspiracy theory, espoused by public figures like Tucker Carlson on Fox News, that white people are being demographically and culturally replaced with nonwhite people and that white existence is under threat.

In these distortions, gun rights activists called themselves the new Rosa Parks, anti-abortion activists declared themselves freedom riders, and anti-gay groups claimed themselves protectors of King’s Christian vision.

These distortions of the past were not just rhetorical.

Over time, these political strategies had powerful effects and generated what appears in my view as an alternative social reality that, for many white Americans, began to feel like the only reality.

racismMisinformation Threatens Democracy

Through the making of these alternative histories, right-wing strategists such as Steve Bannon could stir up white right-wing voters to “reclaim” and “take back” America.

Such was the politics that led to Donald Trump’s 2016 election and shaped a presidential administration that rolled back civil rights, emboldened white supremacists, and banned anti-racism training.

Through the misrepresentation of the racial past, this alternate social reality hardened.

Ultimately, these revisionist narratives have fractured the collective understanding of who we are, how we got here, and where we go next. In my view, moving forward means honestly confronting the often ugly past and the deep roots of white supremacy that shaped it then and now.

It is only by facing, rather than ignoring, the complexity of America’s history that the “beloved community” that King once envisioned can be realized.

This article was updated to correct the year of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and to correctly identify people in the photo caption of the holiday signing.The Conversation

Credits

Hajar Yazdiha, Assistant Professor of Sociology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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A 4-day Week Feels Like A World Without Cars For The Climate

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Guest Contribution

A comprehensive review of studies from Great Britain shows shorter working hours—in the form of a 4-day week—bring relief for the people and the climate. Because not only are we less burdened, but so is the environment. In the UK, switching to a four-day week with full wage compensation would save as much CO₂ as taking all private cars off the roads.

Climate awareness in society has probably never been as high as it is now. At least when it comes to the urgency of counteracting climate collapse. According to a survey by the Austrian Climate Ministry, 8 out of 10 are convinced that we have to change our daily behavior in order to stop the climate crisis. The open question that remains is: how? Because small reforms are not enough. We know that here and in other countries.

A review of international studies now shows that a real turnaround in climate policy could be achieved in an area that many people do not even suspect—our working hours. Specifically, if we shorten them. This would achieve several goals at once: it would make the distribution of time more equitable, employees would stay healthy longer, and CO₂-intensive private car use would decline rapidly.

The 4-day week in the UK could save over a fifth of CO₂ consumption

UK environmental scientist: Laurie Mompelat, together with economist Mika Minio-Paluello, has broken down that if the entire UK switched to a 4-day week, the country’s CO₂ footprint could be reduced by 127 million tons per year. That’s a reduction of more than a fifth (21.3 percent overall)—so it’s a very big deal. It would thus have the same effect as taking all private cars (roughly 27 million cars) off the road.

The 4-day week as a tool for more climate protection could make up for much that has been missed or simply not achieved so far. Between 1990 and 2016, the UK managed to reduce emissions within its borders by 41 percent, but emissions resulting from the consumption of goods and services fell by only 15 percent. The latter CO₂ emissions are released abroad—through the production of clothing, electronics, or processed food, for example—but are attributed to the British footprint. And consumption issues in particular would have to be addressed individually—which is considered difficult and slow.

Sociologist Juliet Schor: longer working hours cause more emissions

Reducing overall working hours, however, could play a central role in decarbonizing the country. One day less work per week also means one day less commuting, less energy consumption in many businesses—including offices—and fewer CO₂-intensive activities in private households due to the increase in time prosperity. So people also simply have more time for activities and activities that are slower and more time-intensive, but more environmentally friendly.

Sociologist Juliet Schor summarizes the relationship succinctly: “Longer working hours mean more emissions. Fewer hours mean fewer emissions. This relationship is called the scale effect, concerning the size of the economy. So: more work means a bigger economy, which means more production. And more production is associated with more emissions.” Schor is studying the 4-day-Work-Week in several countries.

Even away from the workplace, a decrease in emissions is evident when we have more free time. German technology researcher Philipp Frey explains:

“IN FACT, AT LEAST IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA, USING SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS, A POSITIVE CORRELATION CAN BE OBSERVED BETWEEN WORK DAYS, WHERE MORE IS EMITTED, AND WEEKEND DAYS, WHICH TEND TO BE DAYS OFF, WHERE LESS IS EMITTED. EMISSIONS ON A WORK DAY ARE ALMOST TWICE AS HIGH AS ON THE WEEKEND.”

When it comes to the climate, we can’t just talk about doing without, but about how we reorganize work

When we have more free time—and therefore less stress—we are more likely to decide to do things on foot, by public transport, or by bike. We go shopping instead of shopping online, we cook ourselves instead of resorting to frozen and convenience foods. The positive consequences for our climate cannot be overstated, according to Philipp Frey of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Research:

“ON THE ONE HAND, REDUCTIONS IN WORKING HOURS CAN MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TO COMBATING THE CLIMATE CATASTROPHE, AND AT THE SAME TIME THEY ARE ATTRACTIVE FOR EMPLOYEES. ON THE OTHER HAND, THEY ARE ATTRACTIVE FOR EMPLOYEES. THIS GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET OUT OF A DISCOURSE ABOUT DOING WITHOUT—AND INTO A DEBATE ABOUT HOW WE CAN INCREASE OUR PROSPERITY IN TERMS OF TIME. AND FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE, IT’S ALSO A GOOD SIGN THAT THE LATEST REPORT OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE EXPLICITLY MENTIONS WORKING TIME REDUCTION AS A POSSIBLE CLIMATE PROTECTION MEASURE.”

Laurie Mompelat and Mika Minio-Paluello also cite the potential savings in CO₂ consumption through a general reduction in working hours—and also summarize other studies conducted internationally.

Effect 1: Electricity consumption decreases—less heating, fewer electronics

Studies show that a reduction in weekly working hours is generally accompanied by a significant reduction in energy consumption. This is because you save electricity that would otherwise be consumed at the workplace. This is because many devices that are typical in offices, for example, are then in use less. Lighting, heating, elevators, computers, canteens. Energy consumption also drops in the manufacturing sector.

In a large-scale experiment conducted between 2008 and 2009 in the U.S. state of Utah, 17,000 public employees were switched to a four-day week. There, it was shown that enormous energy savings were possible as a result of a work-free Friday. 6,000 tons a year could be saved in Utah by a 4-day week, an interim report on the experiment noted. 12,000 tons of commuting savings are added.

In 2020, Autonomy published a report that concluded: a 3-day weekend could reduce CO₂ emissions by 117,000 tons in the UK—per week.

Effect 2: Commuting decreases

A shorter working week also means less CO₂ caused by cars due to less commuting. In a study by the University of Reading, 2,000 employees and entrepreneurs were surveyed on commuting behavior. Two out of three companies that offered a 4-day week said their employees now drove less. If you extrapolate this to the population, the potential for savings is huge: after all, one in two employed people in the UK currently either drive themselves to work or are passengers. In rural areas, three out of four employees travel to work by car.

4-day week

If everyone worked one day less per week, millions of cars would disappear from the road

Effect 3: Private consumption becomes more climate-friendly

A number of studies have examined the impact of working hours on individual household consumption and energy-intensive behavior. One U.S. study combined calculations of the CO₂ impact of goods with data from consumer spending and concluded that households with longer working hours have a significantly larger CO₂ footprint.

In the University of Reading study, two out of three respondents said they would spend the extra day off with family and friends. One in two would cook more at home, and one in four would volunteer in the local area. As a rule, these are activities that are not only fulfilling, but also climate-friendly and good for social coexistence.

Effect 4: Our leisure activities slow down

More free time creates space for more CO₂-poor activities: reading, playing, sports, and time with the family. Watching a movie for a change, more walking, more continuing education—in short, deceleration, and self-actualization. Research into the impact of the reduction in working hours in France has demonstrated clear trends toward more domestic and lower-carbon activities. The introduction of the 35-hour work week in France has greatly changed the daily routines of employees.

Contrary to what many feared, people did not use their time off to consume more. Instead, they took care of themselves and lived more relaxed lives.

Effect 5: Shorter working hours are good for our health—even saving CO₂

With a three-day weekend—and more free time—we can spend more time outdoors, complete trips on foot, and be less stressed. Long work hours are associated with stress and an increased risk of burnout, musculoskeletal complaints, and mental illness. Treating all of this costs money—and consumes resources: medications have long delivery routes, healthcare facilities need energy, and patients and family members as well as staff have to travel distances.

In summary, it is clear that we should think about and shape climate protection and our working hours in a networked way. Productivity has always increased in recent decades. And in the areas where no classic leaps in productivity are possible—health care, nursing, elementary education, education—employees already rarely work full time because the workload of these jobs is high. The path toward shorter working hours would therefore be clear. All that’s missing is the political will.

Credits:

This work is licensed under the Creative Common License.

 Kathrin Glösel is the original source/author and was published on Scoop.me. 

The rights to the content remain with the original publisher.

 

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Level Up Your Life: Take Full Responsibility For It!

Posted on January 9, 2023 by ClaudetteE

Responsibility is another of those hard words for many people. They behave that not every action taken by them is theirs to own.

Wrong.

Learning Responsibility From A Young Age

My childhood was not idyllic. Far from it. 

There are moments, granted few, that hold memories of untainted pleasure. 

When I became a mother, one of my silent prayers was a request that I would know how best to raise my daughter. She was especially important to me after having a stillborn son. I really did not want to make any or too many mistakes. 

From the early months of her life, I knew that Abigail would be the one that broke the cycle of abuse, neglect, low self-esteem, poverty, and greed. 

The stories that I heard about my own mother’s upbringing were not ones for fairytale books. As the years of my life passed and my intuition improved, something told me that history was not only repeating itself in too many ways but was becoming seriously horrific. 

By the time I was twelve years of age, I knew to escape or die spiritually and mentally were my only options. At barely 17, I physically escaped – went to live with friends before being awarded a scholarship that would take me even further away – to Ukraine.

chase

Claudette Esterine-Campbell

A Whole New World

 It was not until the late 1990s that my escape route started opening on a mental/spiritual level. By 2007, the vista burst open and I started to soar. Slowly at first but gradually picking up speed, detouring into some shady places, gathering momentum as I dipped into contrasts and greater knowledge of Who and Whose I am. 

The 1990s was the “blame the parents, especially the mother,” period for many.  Yes, early psychologists, namely Freud with his Oedipus theory, started the trend but it took on greater magnitude then. Personal responsibility went through the door and I admittedly followed it.

Through the teachings of the church that I then attended, I learned to stop looking externally for either a cause or person to blame for the trajectory of my life. I also began to learn that there was no Messiah or Satan coming to rescue or destroy me.

I learned it was ALL Me!

The Older I Get

Weeks away from my 50th birthday was when I took full responsibility for the choices that I made throughout my conscious years. Yes, my parents either through their absence (father) or abuse (mother) modeled behaviors. However, I chose my responses.

Innately, I knew what felt right, not so right, and outright awful.

For almost a decade now, every day is one of conscious choice-making. Some days are more challenging than others. Some issues, conversations, or situations that I ought to simply walk away from still call my name.

Yet, I know that it is my choice AND my responsibility to myself to:

1. Respect me
2. Love me
3. Be happy

No one can or will offer or do any of this on my behalf. I also know that unless I respect and love myself wholeheartedly, no one else can or will.  There is not a person in this Universe who can be happy for me or holds the key to my happiness no matter how romantic that sounds.

So, there are my three greatest responsibilities to myself: Self-Respect, Self-Love, and Happiness.

Blessings,

2017

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Create A Powerful Vision

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Guest Contribution

“Create A Powerful Vision” By Alicia Forest

In the Client Abundance coaching programs, we work on implementing several strategies that are designed to PULL your business forward, almost effortlessly. One of those strategies is creating a powerful vision for your business. My private clients have found this exercise to be both motivating and inspiring, and I’m certain you will too.

Once a year, I take a short retreat to work on revising my vision for my business (and my life). This is an annual break I take away from my business (but with my family, although some of my clients prefer to go it alone, which is perfectly fine) to really think about and decide what I want the next 1 to 3 years to look like. I write my vision and I create a whole bunch of goals for my business. I also use this time to talk with my husband about my vision and goals. He is a great sounding board for all the ideas I come up with… and we usually have this conversation while hanging out on the beach… 🙂

Being near the water definitely has some powerful positive effects on my brain, and I always come away from this retreat with a renewed sense of energy and passion for my work. (Here I am on last year’s retreat in the Turks and Caicos.)

A Powerful Vision Is The First Step

Creating a powerful vision is your first step on your path to achieving your own business success. Knowing where you are going will make the journey that much easier and faster, as well as simply more enjoyable. So, let’s get started…

Step 1: Book your retreat
Book a 2-3 day retreat so that you can work intensively on your detailed 1 to 3-year vision. Get a very clear picture of where you intend to be 3 years from now. Book the time to do this. Make the commitment.

I have booked the following dates for my vision retreat:________________.

Step 2: While on your retreat, answer the following questions:
What do you want your life to look like in 3 years?
What is your inspiring and compelling vision for the future?
For your business? For your personal life?

visionYou Can Design It!

The truth is: You CAN design the perfect life and you CAN design the perfect business. How does it sound to you to be earning 6 figures a year, working 40 weeks a year, 3-4 days a week? Inviting? This is not a dream – it is achievable. It won’t happen overnight, but – with some planning and hard work – it can be a reality sooner than you think.

So, the ultimate question is: “If we were meeting here in 3 years’ time, and looking back over the previous 36 months, what would have to have happened to you both personally and professionally for you to be satisfied with your progress?”

A few notes:

You don’t have to go (far) away to go on your retreat. Go wherever you feel most creative and inspired, and where you are least likely to be interrupted.

Some people think and write better in silence, while others think and write better when there is a lot going on around them. Choose whatever works for you.

Close Your Eyes And Vision

Before you begin to write, close your eyes and really see in your mind’s eye how you want your entire life to be. For example, see your dream home. Is it a large home or something cozier? Do you live on the ocean or near the mountains? Or are you in a fantastic apartment in the middle of NYC? Write about it in detail – and don’t hold back! Do the same for your business:

Do you want a waiting list of clients? Or do you want to stop working one-on-one and move to work with groups only? Do you want to implement at least three new streams of income? Do you want to write your first print book? Do this for all the other parts of your life as well – from the tangible things (like your home, your car, your vacations, etc.) to the intangible (like who you want in your life, how you will give back, etc.).

Get the picture? Once you have written your vision, I promise you’ll be really excited and motivated towards making that vision your reality!

Credits

Author Bio
Alicia Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Licensed Coach, & Founder of www.ClientAbundance.com, helps coaches and other solo service professionals to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately make more money. For FREE tips on how to create your own Client Abundance, visit www.ClientAbundance.com.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content

 

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5 Elections To Watch In 2023 – What’s At Stake

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Guest Contribution

“5 elections to watch in 2023 – what’s at stake as millions head to the ballot box around the globe.” by Blessing-Miles Tendi, University of Oxford; Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University; Ayesha Jalal, Tufts University; Carl LeVan, American University, and Eduardo Gamarra, Florida International University

Predicting the outcome of national elections can be a mug’s game. Polls are often wrong, and second-guessing how people will vote months down the line can leave even the savviest election specialist with egg on their face.

In short, there are too many unknowns – the state of the economy, late political shocks, and even the weather on election day. What is known is that 2023 has its fair share of consequential races. Democracy is on the ballot in a number of nations, while common themes – such as the handling of inflation and corruption – may determine how incumbent governments and presidents fare as the ballot box

The Conversation asked five experts to provide the lowdown on what is at stake in key national votes in 2023.

Here are their psephological pearls of wisdom:

Elections in Nigeria (Feb. 25)

Carl LeVan, professor of comparative and regional studies at American University

Some of the campaign dynamics heading into the Nigerian presidential election will seem familiar to those who follow the country, with politics still deeply entwined with the country’s geographic-religious divide between a predominantly Muslim north and its Christian south. And after eight years of a northerner – Muhammadu Buhari – holding the presidency, the debate revolves around whether power should “shift” to the south.

Buhari, in line with the constitution, is stepping down after serving two four-year terms – and that changes the electoral landscape. For only the second time since the transition to civilian rule in 1999, there’s no incumbent presidential candidate.

Having no incumbent seeking reelection has historically increased the chances of opposition party victory in Africa. Arguably for the first time since the 1980s, each of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria has produced a serious presidential contender: Atiku Abubakar who is of Hausa-Fulani descent, the Yoruba former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu and former Anambra governor Peter Obi, a member of the Igbo.elections

While this might seem like progress – and has advanced inter-ethnic cooperation in the presidential campaign – it also dramatically increases the risk of no clear winner under the constitution’s formula that requires both a plurality of votes and a geographical distribution of support. A runoff has never before taken place, and the electoral commission would have only a week to organize it.

Security and poverty are key electoral themes. Buhari won in 2015 by prioritizing economic growth, anti-corruption, and the defeat of the world’s deadliest insurgency, Boko Haram. Yet today, more than 80 million Nigerians remain in poverty, while insecurity ravages the country. The scale of violence plaguing Nigeria has not been seen since the civil war ended in 1970, while the geographical scope is unprecedented. Meanwhile, only 15% of Nigerians feel more loyalty to their nation than to their ethnic group.

This raises the specter of electoral violence and voter intimidation in the run-up to the Feb. 23 vote. Political violence, both between and within political parties, increased in 2022. Despite this, candidates have been largely running on hopeful messages about economic diversification, anti-corruption, and opportunities for Nigeria’s youth.

Elections in Turkey (June 18)

Ahmet Kuru, professor of political science at San Diego State University

People in Turkey tend to call every presidential election historic – but the June 2023 election will truly be historic. It will determine whether the increasingly autocratic rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will continue to dominate the country’s politics or not. What’s at stake is not simply “politics” in the narrow sense of the term, but also the direction in economic policy, religion, education, and many other fields.

If Erdogan wins, it could portend a further erosion of the remaining opposition in Turkish public life, especially given his past record of authoritarianism and vengefulness. Indeed, there is already a suspicion that potential presidential candidates are being targeted, with the popular mayor of Istanbul being sentenced to prison in December – a conviction that if held up on appeal would bar him from running for any political office.

The danger is the Turkish opposition will lose hope for the future. It could also exacerbate the country’s “brain drain” problem – as well-educated people, including medical doctors, academics, and businesspeople, migrate to Western countries, weakening the opposition at home.elections

An Erdogan loss would be hugely consequential. Those who have been silenced under his rule will be able to speak up again. Over a hundred thousand people have been jailed as part of Erdogan’s political purge. It would not surprise me that in the event of an Erdogan loss, legal action is taken against him and his civil servants over alleged abuses and against his crony capitalists over alleged corruption.

The outcome of the election will also determine the future of religion-state relations. Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs, which controls 80,000 mosques, is a major ally of Erdogan. Any change in the administration is likely to result in curtailing of the directorate’s powers.

The 2023 presidential election will be fought over politics, economics, and religion. If Erdogan wins, he will frame himself as the second founder of Turkey, after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. If he loses, his political, business and religious allies will face the risk of being expunged.

Elections in Zimbabwe (likely July-August)

Miles Tendi, associate professor of politics at the University of Oxford

The 2023 election in Zimbabwe will be the second national vote to take place after the downfall of the country’s former leader Robert Mugabe.

The country’s last election, in 2018, occurred a year after a military coup ended Robert Mugabe’s oppressive 37-year-long leadership. But contrary to the hopes of many Zimbabweans and foreign governments, that ballot did not prove to be a momentous break from the country’s extensive history of disputed and violent elections – underlining that powerful systemic problems, such as the conflation of the ruling ZANU PF party and the state, generate flawed elections in Zimbabwe.

Whether Zimbabwe can finally stage an election that is universally accepted as credible is one of the key issues in 2023. A credible election in itself will not bring about consequential political, economic, and social reforms. But Western states and international donors such as the International Monetary Fund will be looking for an unblemished national vote as a prerequisite to earnest economic and diplomatic re-engagement with Zimbabwe after years of strained relations.

elections

Observers will also be hoping for improvements in women’s political rights. The gendered nature of political leadership, violence, election campaigns, and voting behavior have precluded equal representation for women in Zimbabwean politics. Only 26 of the 210 constituencies in the 2018 parliamentary election were won by women candidates. Although four women ran for president in 2018, none managed more than 4% of the vote share.

The future of opposition politics is also on the ballot. Since 2018, the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party has had to contend with state repression, internal splits, and underfunding. In the intervening years, it has failed to get large numbers of new voters onto the electoral register.

If the ruling ZANU PF party pulls off the overwhelming election victory it is working towards, it is likely that the opposition will be further saddled with division and disillusionment, posing an existential threat to the kind of vibrant opposition politics led by the MDC in the past two decades. And with no strong opposition to challenge and keep a check on ZANU PF, the danger is authoritarian rule will be solidified.

Argentina (October 29)

Eduardo Gamarra, professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University

Even with a World Cup to savor, many Argentinians are pretty gloomy going into the 2023 election year – for good reason. The nation’s economy has been on the skids for a long time and it has one of the highest per capita debts in Latin America. On top of this, there are sky-high inflation, low wages, and poor growth – all worsened by the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not all of these problems are the sole making of President Alberto Fernández and his powerful vice president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner – both from the center-left Peronist faction. In fact, former President Mauricio Macri racked up massive levels of debt to the IMF before being voted out in 2019. But it is fair to say that Fernández and Fernández de Kirchner have been unable to solve the country’s economic problems.

elections

Moreover, the pair have been plagued by other problems, notably corruption – both old-style political patronage and modern corruption based on drug trafficking throughout the country.

Indeed on Dec. 6, 2022, Fernández de Kirchner was sentenced to six years in jail in a scandal over a kickback scheme that saw public contracts go to a friend in return for bribes.

Some are even predicting that the combination of mishandling the economy and the corruption scandal could bring an end to Peronism, the political philosophy that has governed Argentina for much of the last 70 years. Indeed the Peronists appear to be struggling with unifying around a candidate to contest the elections.

Meanwhile, the party of Mauricio Macri is similarly split, with the former president facing strong challenges from within his own party.

These political and economic circumstances may favor a third contended: Javier Milei, a populist libertarian who has been rising in the polls and whose brusque style has drawn comparisons with Donald Trump.

Pakistan (by end of 2023)

Ayesha Jalal, professor of history at Tufts University

Pakistani elections are all about power. In particular, this one will be all about whether ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan can get the two-thirds majority he says he wants to govern Pakistan. Anything less will not satisfy the former national cricket star.

A big question is when the elections will take place. In Pakistan, general elections are not held under an incumbent government. Instead, an interim government – typically made up of technocrats – takes over with an election having to take place within 90 days.

But with the ruling coalition seemingly intent on holding on to power for as long as possible while the country faces an economic crisis, environmental disaster, and credibility crisis it is unclear when the national assembly will dissolve and an interim government take over. And that could mean pushing the election toward the end of the year.

Either way, it will be a consequential election. It remains to be seen if the current coalition government – which ousted Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party last year – will hold together, as it consists of a number of parties.

Khan has said he wants a two-thirds majority to bring about the constitutional changes he would like. So if he fails to get that, will he still be satisfied?

elections

Either way, the 2023 election is unlikely to be the answer to Pakistan’s woes. Whoever is in charge after will need to paper over the economic cracks with the help of the International Monetary Fund; without a further bailout, Pakistan won’t have the liquidity it needs to function.

You can never rule out electoral violence. Pakistan is awash with guns and is very polarized. Violence marred the election in 2013 and there has been recent violence in northern Pakistan as well as the shooting of Khan at a rally.

That said, the hope is the nation’s security forces can keep a lid on violence during these elections.The Conversation

Credits

Blessing-Miles Tendi, Associate Professor in the Politics of Africa, University of Oxford; Ahmet T. Kuru, Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University; Ayesha Jalal, Professor of History, Tufts University; Carl LeVan, Professor of Comparative and Regional Studies, American University, and Eduardo Gamarra, Professor of Politics and International Relations, Florida International University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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