Does inequality cause suicide, drug abuse and mental illness?
https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2018/06/14/does-inequality-cause-suicide-drug-abuse-and-mental-illness?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/doesinequalitycausesuicidedrugabuseandmentalillnessthecrackup"SNIP.......
And so people compensate. They take pills, to steel their nerves or dull the pain. Some cut themselves. Some adopt a more submissive posture, avoiding contact with others. Yet such withdrawal can feed on itself, depriving recluses of the social interaction that is important to mental health, undermining relationships and careers and contributing to economic hardship.
Others respond in the opposite way, by behaving more aggressively and egotistically. Studies of narcissistic tendencies showed a steep increase between 1982 and 2006, the authors report; 30% more Americans displayed narcissistic characteristics at the end of the period than at the beginning. Scrutiny of successive American cohorts found a progressive rise in those listing wealth and fame as important goals (above fulfilment and community). Over time, more people cited money as the main motivation for attending college (rather than intellectual enrichment).
Domineering responses to anxiety are associated with loss of empathy and delusions of grandeur. Thus highly successful people often display narcissistic or even psychopathic behaviour. In surveys, the rich are generally less empathetic and more likely to think they deserve special treatment than others. Modern capitalism, the authors suggest, selects for assertiveness, for a lack of sentimentality in business and comfort in sacking underlings, and for showy displays of economic strength. From the top to the bottom of the income spectrum, people use conspicuous consumption and other means of enhancing their image to project status.
The least secure are often the most likely to exaggerate their qualities. For example, countries with lower average life-expectancy tend to do better on measures of self-reported health; 54% of Japanese say they are in good health compared with 80% of Americans, though the Japanese live five years longer on average. Whereas 70% of Swedes consider themselves to be above-average drivers, 90% of Americans do. Such figures cast declamations of America’s greatness, and the politicians who make them, in a new light.
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= new reply since forum marked as read
I can tell you that without reading a word...I've lived it.
Seen it in people I know, people I have been unfortunate enough to associate with, people I've loved and had to let go...and in my own family.
I was just catching myself talking shit about the "richies" across the street. I don't mean to be a class-warrior, but yeah, I think most people who have $$ don't have the slightest idea of what struggle means. Also, if you have someone "do" all your house-work, gardening, re-modeling, etc...how much of your heart and self are in it? Part of my joy in my yard is that I have dug the holes for the flowers and spread the grass... these guys just had a landscaper come in and do the whole spiel... and plant more trees ...after cutting down trees when they first bought the house! I know it's petty, and I would like to know what it's like to just go into a store and not worry about how much I spend or what my balance will be after. I feel guilty for spending $50 on a nice dinner w/family for the first time in months... ugh...the stress of poverty is REAL.