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How do we grade ourselves? GDP is the total value (monetary) of everything produced by all the people and companies in the country. What about quality of life? |
The commander likes to brag about his impact on GDP and predicts higher growth without any supporting facts or theory. His two dimensional thinking misses important contributions from innovation such as advances in preventive medicine, free access to knowledge through tools like Wikipedia, affordable healthcare and a protected environment and also masks social problems like income disparity and unsustainability
What about being able to go to school without getting murdered?
It is common sense and supported by the facts that more guns mean more murders. What prevents us from fixing this problem? Is it the gun lobby or the Second Amendment: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”? Individual Rights theory or Collective Rights theory? With either legal interpretation, we have a tragic problem that needs serious and immediate attention.
Tempus fugit as we continue to judge ourselves with GDP while needless murders continue – let’s wake up from this nightmare and do something.
Excellent, thoughtful essay. Thank you.
We talked about GDP vs quality of life in the early 1970s when talking about sustainable development. Sad that we are still at the same state in the US while other countries have taken steps to measure human welfare much more accurately.
Even the economist who is credited with creating the current GDP, Simon Kuznets, warned in the 1930’s about using GDP as a measure of the welfare of a country.
Gun Control & Universal Healthcare must become a reality in America!