Can’t Buy Me Love (or a Long Life) (TreeHugger)
On average, Chileans can expect to live longer than the average American, even though GDP per person is about a quarter of America’s. A Cuban male has a better chance of surviving until 65 than an American male, even though GDP per capita in the US is about eight times Cuba’s.
And this is also despite the US spending 15% of its GDP on health. Cuba, for, example averages around $623 USD, per person a year, while the US manages $5,711, even though Cuba has the world’s highest proportion of doctors, per capita. So ain’t it odd that we’re raping forests, digging vast holes in the ground, polluting our air and water, etc, so we can chase more ‘stuff’ that will neither make our lives happier nor longer? Maybe, just maybe, this is a merry-go-round ride from which we need to dismount.
(Via Treehugger)
Maybe not odd at all.
A couple of years ago your IN journal had an entry regarding a book related to this topic: http://www.injournals.org/ottmar/archives/000321.html . I really enjoyed the book, it explains how human biology is not equipped to continually chase after more stuff and the lifestyle that goes along with such behavior. The author’s website is http://www.peterwhybrow.com/ .