“The rich developed societies have reached a turning point in human history. Politics should now be about the quality of social relations and how we can develop harmonious and sustainable societies.” The Equality Trust, based on the work of Professors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, reached this summary after analyzing data showing that societies with greater inequality between rich and poor are far more unhealthy than societies with a more equal income distribution. More Unequal = More Problems The study shows that: More unequal societies have more problems with general health, mental illness, infant mortality, drug use, obesity, imprisonment rates, teenage pregnancies and homicides. More equal societies have better education and general health, more innovation, higher social mobility and more trust. The Spirit Level – slides from The Equality Trust View more presentations from The Equality Trust The slides and their titles (some listed below) show in more detail how societies with bigger gaps between rich and poor are generally more unhealthy societies than more equal societies: Health and social problems are worse in more unequal countries Health and social problems are not related to income in rich countries Health and social problems are worse in unequal US states Health and social problems are only weakly related to average income in US states Child well-being is better in more equal rich countries Child well-being is unrelated to average incomes in rich countries Levels of trust are higher in more equal rich countries Levels of trust are higher in more equal US states The prevalence of mental illness is higher in more unequal rich countries Drug use is more common in more unequal countries Life expectancy...
Through the voices of scientists, Zeitgeist: Moving Forward stresses the central, vast role social and environmental influence plays in shaping people’s lives, how today’s Western society’s influence leads individuals and society as a whole deeper into crisis, and the need to change the values permeating society in order to set the conditions for a healthy, balanced society. Social Influence Makes Or Breaks You Zeitgeist: Moving Forward raises current scientific views that challenge age-old views that diseases of all kinds – mental, heart, cancer, strokes, rheumatoid, autoimmune, addictions – and inclinations toward violence, are not genetically determined, but acquired through the social and environmental influences a person experiences, from as early as one’s fetal development, emphasizing the considerable sensitivity toward a person’s development through fetal stages, infancy and childhood. Social Influence Of Self-Interest Values Breaks You Zeitgeist: Moving Forward thus uses this basis to show how the values that shape Western society – self-interest values that measure people and countries’ well-being based on how much money and assets they have – create an unsustainable feedback loop that continues leading the world deeper into myriad crises. If Social Influence Of Self-Interest Values Breaks You, What Kind Of Social Influence Would Be Needed To Remake You? Zeitgeist: Moving Forward very clearly brings the problem and its approach to the surface: People are products of their societies Society’s current self-interest values lead individuals and society as a whole deeper into crisis To undergo a positive change, each person individually and society as a whole, needs to perpetuate different values into the society that would bring about personal and social well-being It’s clear that we’re on the...
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