Monday, November 15, 2004
Weekend Discussions
I'm back from Oregon after a 6 day adventure with Dori to visit relatives and friends. Besides good food and company a lot of interesting discussions were shared. In particular a some Rep vs. Dem spectulation came about.
One day I was curious and searched google - why do urban centers vote democrat? I came across a republican message board where someone posted the question. First couple of posts were quite benign, like, "I don't know, but I would like to know." Slowly the posts grew more offensive and accusatory, like, "Urbanites live off our hard work" and "People from the city think meat comes from plastic". It was clear that these Working Republicans felt that the current system of taxation and spending was the fault of democrats in the city.
So Dori and I were talking about this and what is on our wishlist. Our "wishlist" is those things that we're about to buy because we "need" them. For example, my CD player died and so I "need" to get a new one for my pickup. In contrast to Dori's grandmother in Oregon who is 89 years old and will probably qualify again this year to have her heating bills paid for three months this winter. I wonder what's on her wishlist? I think she was talking about needing a knife sharpener. As we left she wished she could offer us some money, but "I only have $10 in my purse."
I'm just going to suggest that the difference between "perception" and "reality" are two different things. While the perception may be that we "never" have enough, let's stop and look at what we really have. We have so much more than we ever have in the past. In a strictly material sense, we are more wealthy than we have ever been, despite taxation and other percieved drains on our money. However, our Quality of Life (QOL) has only changed slightly and possible even dropped in the last fifty years. The last statement was easy to make, because I haven't defined QOL and furthermore, I haven't lived fifty years. But I stand by it anyway.
So you tell me. What is QOL? I'm sure it smells a bit like wealth, but definitely something more than that alone. Probably some family connections, maybe some cultural enrichment. If we quantify QOL, what's the scale, 1 to 10? What is your QOL?
One day I was curious and searched google - why do urban centers vote democrat? I came across a republican message board where someone posted the question. First couple of posts were quite benign, like, "I don't know, but I would like to know." Slowly the posts grew more offensive and accusatory, like, "Urbanites live off our hard work" and "People from the city think meat comes from plastic". It was clear that these Working Republicans felt that the current system of taxation and spending was the fault of democrats in the city.
So Dori and I were talking about this and what is on our wishlist. Our "wishlist" is those things that we're about to buy because we "need" them. For example, my CD player died and so I "need" to get a new one for my pickup. In contrast to Dori's grandmother in Oregon who is 89 years old and will probably qualify again this year to have her heating bills paid for three months this winter. I wonder what's on her wishlist? I think she was talking about needing a knife sharpener. As we left she wished she could offer us some money, but "I only have $10 in my purse."
I'm just going to suggest that the difference between "perception" and "reality" are two different things. While the perception may be that we "never" have enough, let's stop and look at what we really have. We have so much more than we ever have in the past. In a strictly material sense, we are more wealthy than we have ever been, despite taxation and other percieved drains on our money. However, our Quality of Life (QOL) has only changed slightly and possible even dropped in the last fifty years. The last statement was easy to make, because I haven't defined QOL and furthermore, I haven't lived fifty years. But I stand by it anyway.
So you tell me. What is QOL? I'm sure it smells a bit like wealth, but definitely something more than that alone. Probably some family connections, maybe some cultural enrichment. If we quantify QOL, what's the scale, 1 to 10? What is your QOL?
