There is a common theme out there these days. Or perhaps 2 themes would be more accurate.
There are the "anyone else have a panic attack just thinking about going out in public right now," and the "why is anyone staying home or wearing a mask when they leave, the pansies".
These two groups are pretty much in hate with each other.
These two groups are not the answer to anything.
I've been living in a binary world for most of my adult life.
It prevents panic attacks
AND
It prevents stupid choices.
You just have to ask the right questions.
Such as:
If I don't have to go out in public?
a. I can stay home--I have plenty of projects, entertaining tech and chores, not to mention food.
b. I can go out in public for whatever I don't have.
If I go out in public wearing a mask, what is the worst that can happen?
a. Somebody makes fun of me.
b. Nothing happens.
If I go out in public without a mask, what is the worst that can happen?
a. I catch the new novel SARS virus.
b. Nothing happens.
If I catch Covid-19, what is the worst that can happen?
a. I get sick and unwittingly expose my family to the virus during the incubation period.
b. I don't get sick, but unwittingly expose my family to the virus during the incubation period.
If I get so sick I need a ventilator?
a. I die.
b. I don't die but have all the side effects of being on a ventilator for a while plus a huge bill.
If I Die?
a. I've already paid for the cremation and niche so no worries.
b. Even if it isn't all handled, I'm dead and we all die sometime.
I've used this method of self-talk for years to keep from suffering escalating anxiety and panic attacks.
It works great.
It also makes it obvious that the social distancing and wearing a mask is the cheapest and easiest choice.
Neither the people with new-onset agoraphobia or the folks making fun of anyone taking any precautions are exhibiting good thinking skills.
Choices!!!!
They are what we have.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Positive effects of sheltering at home
While I know a few people that are ignoring all instructions, and a few people that are fighting it with all their being while recognizing that if the store says mask, wear a mask or if work said to work from home, do so.
I've also met a few that are loving it. Perhaps that is too strong.
They are recognizing the effects of increased family time.
They are getting to know their kids and spouse.
They are having family movie times and board games and hikes as a family with instructions to not get into other people's spaces.
They are teaching tweens to cook and do lawn care.
They are interacting more and running around less.
It's rather nice.
As long as they still have income and food and utilities and a place to live, it's nice.
I've also met a few that are loving it. Perhaps that is too strong.
They are recognizing the effects of increased family time.
They are getting to know their kids and spouse.
They are having family movie times and board games and hikes as a family with instructions to not get into other people's spaces.
They are teaching tweens to cook and do lawn care.
They are interacting more and running around less.
It's rather nice.
As long as they still have income and food and utilities and a place to live, it's nice.
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Conspicuous Consumption
I live in a state where an Oil boom came right on the coat tails of a land run and statehood.
This created a large number of OIL BARONS at a time when the industrial age was changing us from a agrarian nation to one of industries, factories, and Laissez-faire capitalism. We had steel barons and mining barons and cotton and cattle and lumber barons. And in each place that a single man or family dominated that industry in a place, we ended up with a monstrous, castle-like home and a group of larger and more ornate homes that belonged to any others profiting well from parts of that particular area's natural resources and a whole bunch of worker homes--houses both smaller and plainer and and more cheaply made.
The neighborhood in the city where this oil boom centered (oil capital of the world for years) was a absolutely beautiful area of well-made homes, that between 1912 and 1932 was the home of the richest of the oil and banking world that grew up from the oil boom.
It contained 700 homes.
Today, they are protected as an historical area and range from 1,000 square feet for a couple of hundred thousand dollars to 10,000 square feet for several million dollars. Not bad in the USA, but, a house in this area that is the the same age is closer to $50 to $150 thousand if in a traditional worker neighborhood about 5 miles away--depending on size ranging from 1000 to 2000 square foot and how badly it is falling apart.
One thing has always been true---people buy the best house they can, but if they don't stay healthy and working, they can't pay to maintain it.
The old Barons of industry have now become Wall Street warlords and Bankers and retail magnates and Tech billionaires and in my state at least , still quite a few oil men. (don't scoff--it's keeping Saudi Arabian royals richer than god.
The newer neighborhoods they have created are even more opulent than the old.
The people working for them that are making better money have enough for cookie cutter McMansions on postage stamp lots. Their homes costing a quarter of million to get a lot and put up a house (in about a month) that has a lot of covenants and a mandatory home owners association to prevent the rapid decline of the area---or not. These neighborhoods, planned and thrown up tend to start looking dated and deteriorating in less than 20 years.
The less well paid get to go buy or rent the worker homes constructed over the last hundred years and either live in it till it falls down or spend their spare time trying to maintain it. Workers are people too.
So why does a family of four need to get a 3 bedroom home unless they are rich, in which case they need multiple homes with enough rooms that they might never make it into some of those rooms during a week, or a month, or a year. Why do some people have to have a car that cost $100,000 dollars or more when most people drive everywhere they need to go in a car that cost less than $30,000. Why are there $10 t-shirts and $1,000 dollar t-shirts, $20 dollar shoes and $10,000 dollar shoes, and diamond rings from a few hundred to millions.
Why?
We know that the value of a thing is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it.
I prefer an economical car to an economy car, well made jeans to badly made jeans, shoes with good support more than shoes so flimsy they fall apart.
But truly, explain conspicuous consumption. Explain buying something because everyone knows its higher than it should be just be, so most can't afford it.
How tragically superficially can we be.
This created a large number of OIL BARONS at a time when the industrial age was changing us from a agrarian nation to one of industries, factories, and Laissez-faire capitalism. We had steel barons and mining barons and cotton and cattle and lumber barons. And in each place that a single man or family dominated that industry in a place, we ended up with a monstrous, castle-like home and a group of larger and more ornate homes that belonged to any others profiting well from parts of that particular area's natural resources and a whole bunch of worker homes--houses both smaller and plainer and and more cheaply made.
The neighborhood in the city where this oil boom centered (oil capital of the world for years) was a absolutely beautiful area of well-made homes, that between 1912 and 1932 was the home of the richest of the oil and banking world that grew up from the oil boom.
It contained 700 homes.
Today, they are protected as an historical area and range from 1,000 square feet for a couple of hundred thousand dollars to 10,000 square feet for several million dollars. Not bad in the USA, but, a house in this area that is the the same age is closer to $50 to $150 thousand if in a traditional worker neighborhood about 5 miles away--depending on size ranging from 1000 to 2000 square foot and how badly it is falling apart.
One thing has always been true---people buy the best house they can, but if they don't stay healthy and working, they can't pay to maintain it.
The old Barons of industry have now become Wall Street warlords and Bankers and retail magnates and Tech billionaires and in my state at least , still quite a few oil men. (don't scoff--it's keeping Saudi Arabian royals richer than god.
The newer neighborhoods they have created are even more opulent than the old.
The people working for them that are making better money have enough for cookie cutter McMansions on postage stamp lots. Their homes costing a quarter of million to get a lot and put up a house (in about a month) that has a lot of covenants and a mandatory home owners association to prevent the rapid decline of the area---or not. These neighborhoods, planned and thrown up tend to start looking dated and deteriorating in less than 20 years.
The less well paid get to go buy or rent the worker homes constructed over the last hundred years and either live in it till it falls down or spend their spare time trying to maintain it. Workers are people too.
So why does a family of four need to get a 3 bedroom home unless they are rich, in which case they need multiple homes with enough rooms that they might never make it into some of those rooms during a week, or a month, or a year. Why do some people have to have a car that cost $100,000 dollars or more when most people drive everywhere they need to go in a car that cost less than $30,000. Why are there $10 t-shirts and $1,000 dollar t-shirts, $20 dollar shoes and $10,000 dollar shoes, and diamond rings from a few hundred to millions.
Why?
We know that the value of a thing is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it.
I prefer an economical car to an economy car, well made jeans to badly made jeans, shoes with good support more than shoes so flimsy they fall apart.
But truly, explain conspicuous consumption. Explain buying something because everyone knows its higher than it should be just be, so most can't afford it.
How tragically superficially can we be.
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Nimiety!!!ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
If you don't know this word, neither did I. I've been saving cool words on pinterest for multiple reasons, and this one means excess: overabundance.
SYNONYMS FOR nimiety
- plethora
- glut
- overflow
- overkill
- overmuch
- oversupply
- profusion
- superabundance
- superfluity
- surfeit
- surplus
- surplusage
I immediately thought of billionaires.
I also thought of income inequality.
https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/ is a good site to peruse for who is and isn't a billionaire. If you aren't on it, well, welcome to the world most of us live in.
Right now, you have to have at least 4.72 billion to be on the Fortune 400 list.
Donald Trump is now about 700 down on the list, so not even in the top 500 which you need over 3 billion to be on. He is worth about 2 billion now.
A billion is 1,000,000,000. Just 9 little zeros. A billion doesn't even get you one the lists.
Our current deficit is over 984,000,000,000. 9 little zeros again, but so much bigger a number.
1.426 trillion is our current budget for the year.
327.17 million is our current population.
That is $435,859.03 per man, woman, and child in this country.
The average male annual salary is over 90,000/year. The average female annual salary is under 70,000/year. That is average. Average being you take all the salaries in the USA, add them together and divide by the total number of salaries paid out.
The median US salary is under $65,000/year. The median is the number in which 50% make more and 50% make less.
The difference between those two has to do with how much a very few people make while a whole lot of people make very little.
While less than 12% of the population lives under the poverty level, only 8% makes over $200,000/year.
For many couples making $100,000 to $200,000 a year, they know how far from unlimited wealth they have.
But, if you are a couple where both have minimum wage jobs, that couple with $150,000/year seems rich.
That minimum wage couple is making less than $32,000/year. Hopefully, they have no kids or other dependents or are living in a place with very low cost of living.
Neither of these couples' lifestyles have anything in common with the people with billions. They don't even have anything in common with people making $435,859 dollars a year, yet that is what we have budgeted for our country.
So, back to NIMIETY.
What do billionaires do with all that?
Buy a plethora of houses?
Eat like gluttons?
Have overflowing savings accounts? Overflowing closets of designer clothes?
Is there lifestyle overkill?
Do they waste overmuch?
Do they oversupply their children with every toy, trinket and vacation?
You get the drift.
My biggest question is---why is so much in the hands of the few. Why isn't every employee they have at least well off?
NIMEITY.
If this word describes you, you might be a selfish, greedy, ungrateful, unsharing twit. No one has ever made that kind of money alone. NO ONE.
Dreaming during Covid-19
I don't know about anyone else, but my dream life has gotten bigger and weirder lately.
It might be the increased sleeping, as I really have nothing to make me get up earlier.
It might be the insidious anxiety that I completely pretend not to have because there is a 97% chance I'll be fine and even better that my children and grandchildren will also be fine. But.....
It might be the paranoia about Trump/GOP hiding the things they are doing behind a smoke screen of COVID-19 media blitzes.
It might be the butternut soup or spinach enchiladas or german chocolate cake I ate before bed--shades of Scrooge.
Both my granddaughter and sister have complained of weird dreams lately.
So---Is it just us? Is anyone else out there having a more vivid dream life than real life?
I spent hours wandering around a mall-like hospital, only to finally find my way back to my own office and discover my cats were under the desk, and though still alive, starting to shrivel like little kitten mummies while meowing at me. I was with my favorite coworker.
I've been retired for 2 years.
My cats are grown, fat, and never went to work either as kittens or grown cats.
I have never worked in a Mall-like hospital.
I woke up early and spent an hour hunting them down and hugging them. Cats hate being hugged.
I dreamed of the two people that were my big romances, the dream had no romantic parts and was very scary. I woke up at 3:30 AM and spent two hours playing a candy game online to clear my head.
Dreams, if not written down or told to someone else, fade, fall apart like smoke.
I have awakened with them crumbling at the back of my mind 6 out of 7 mornings for a month now.
All that is left by the next night, is either a relaxed, hope I dream tonight, feeling, or a dread that postpones lights out and causes frequent trips to check doors, closets, or if it was a roaring nightmare the night before, under beds and futons.
These last two months, I've seen people I haven't thought about in years. I've gone on strange trips with people long dead and done routine housekeeping chores with childhood friends that are still just like the last time I saw them.
This pandemic has killed people.
It has lost people jobs and may be causing homelessness as I write.
It has become the only thing in the news, and has removed from public consciousness such horrors as the lost immigrant children in cages, the homeless, the opiate-addicted, the border wall, income inequality, government corruption (unless it is related to medicine and PPE), the uninsured, the destruction of the environment, and the rights of poor, brown, female, LGBQT, and unreligious.
But, I am fine. Not F.I.N.E., but fine. I'm in a safe home, with food and utilities paid and money unchanged from my usual. I have an occasional cough or sneeze, stopped by allergy meds. (Oklahoma pollen is tough in the spring)
It's raining a lot, a really wet spring, but not like last year, so the flood that took out my house should not repeat this year---hopefully.
My kids are all still working and getting paid.
My grandkids are doing distance learning--and having homeschooled my own kids for a bit, I realize that depending on their own parents, might be learning more than usual or not.
Yet, my dreamland is churning out weirdness. It's disconcerting.
I'm fine.
Stay well, and pleasant dreams.
It might be the increased sleeping, as I really have nothing to make me get up earlier.
It might be the insidious anxiety that I completely pretend not to have because there is a 97% chance I'll be fine and even better that my children and grandchildren will also be fine. But.....
It might be the paranoia about Trump/GOP hiding the things they are doing behind a smoke screen of COVID-19 media blitzes.
It might be the butternut soup or spinach enchiladas or german chocolate cake I ate before bed--shades of Scrooge.
Both my granddaughter and sister have complained of weird dreams lately.
So---Is it just us? Is anyone else out there having a more vivid dream life than real life?
I spent hours wandering around a mall-like hospital, only to finally find my way back to my own office and discover my cats were under the desk, and though still alive, starting to shrivel like little kitten mummies while meowing at me. I was with my favorite coworker.
I've been retired for 2 years.
My cats are grown, fat, and never went to work either as kittens or grown cats.
I have never worked in a Mall-like hospital.
I woke up early and spent an hour hunting them down and hugging them. Cats hate being hugged.
I dreamed of the two people that were my big romances, the dream had no romantic parts and was very scary. I woke up at 3:30 AM and spent two hours playing a candy game online to clear my head.
Dreams, if not written down or told to someone else, fade, fall apart like smoke.
I have awakened with them crumbling at the back of my mind 6 out of 7 mornings for a month now.
All that is left by the next night, is either a relaxed, hope I dream tonight, feeling, or a dread that postpones lights out and causes frequent trips to check doors, closets, or if it was a roaring nightmare the night before, under beds and futons.
These last two months, I've seen people I haven't thought about in years. I've gone on strange trips with people long dead and done routine housekeeping chores with childhood friends that are still just like the last time I saw them.
This pandemic has killed people.
It has lost people jobs and may be causing homelessness as I write.
It has become the only thing in the news, and has removed from public consciousness such horrors as the lost immigrant children in cages, the homeless, the opiate-addicted, the border wall, income inequality, government corruption (unless it is related to medicine and PPE), the uninsured, the destruction of the environment, and the rights of poor, brown, female, LGBQT, and unreligious.
But, I am fine. Not F.I.N.E., but fine. I'm in a safe home, with food and utilities paid and money unchanged from my usual. I have an occasional cough or sneeze, stopped by allergy meds. (Oklahoma pollen is tough in the spring)
It's raining a lot, a really wet spring, but not like last year, so the flood that took out my house should not repeat this year---hopefully.
My kids are all still working and getting paid.
My grandkids are doing distance learning--and having homeschooled my own kids for a bit, I realize that depending on their own parents, might be learning more than usual or not.
Yet, my dreamland is churning out weirdness. It's disconcerting.
I'm fine.
Stay well, and pleasant dreams.
Friday, April 10, 2020
Dear Teenager
When I ask you what you learned in school today, do not say "nothing". AND, definitely, don't say "school is boring" "why do I need _____ (fill in the blank with language arts or science, or social studies or history or math or whatever thing you think you should never have to learn about). AND ABSOLUTELY DON'T SAY, "I don't need to learn that crap because I'm going to be rich and famous (or a professional athlete, a famous entertainer, or a internet sensation).
Yes, you learned to use a Smart Phone before you were potty trained, but you couldn't read and were possibly still being breastfed. You could take a selfie and add filters by kindergarten, but couldn't spell kindergarten. You can find a how-to on any subject on YouTube and have been making cupcakes, houses, cities, worlds and avatars for years now.
BUT.
Can you do anything without an app for that?
You are almost grown.
Smart Cars are not yet here, almost, but not completely.
Cooking food can be learned from a video, but watching a farming video will not provide the ingredients. Simulated building tools do not let you know how to build a square corner to make a table or a box or a house. Sometimes you have to fasten things together with more than a click of a mouse or the tap of a screen.
So. If the world is unplugged. If the civilization you were born in to, with its amazing gadgets and apps and instantly available entertainment were to suddenly disappear---what would you do?
Would you complain about "nothing to do", "I'm bored", "it's not fair?"
To use tools that you do not understand; not how they are made, not how their parts work, not their history, just how to push the on button and use it, means that when it breaks, you are dependent on someone left that understands all those things.
If there are only books, you need to be able to read and read well. If you would rebuild the unplugged world well enough and quickly enough to survive, you must know how to follow directions from a book as those videos you love are not working.
So.
Could you eat? Could you eat after everyone has eaten everything out of the stores? Could you stay warm without burning down your own shelter? Could you repair the place you have to live, or do you just go hunt a cave.
And, NO, the internet would not help if you had a solar battery charger. The internet is not eternal. You want that decidedly embarrassing photo you posted to go away, no power grid would do it. Without those people that actually understand how the systems work, it will disintegrate.
I'm old. I bought my first computer at 32, my first smartphone at 50. I have never taken a selfie. I don't know how to edit a YouTube video. But I can read a blueprint. I know how to use a square in carpentry and can hand a hammer, screwdriver, and saw. I know how to fix a leaking pipe or reseal a toilet. I can grow, preserve, and cook fresh fruit and vegetables starting with nothing but a hoe, dirt, and seed. I know why you don't make rows going down the side of a slope. I know not to get water from lower than the septic system. I know to boil water, and how to distill water. I know first aid. Most of that stuff is boring---but it isn't "nothing".
"Nothing" is an app with no power.
Your smart phone should not be the smartest thing about you. Right now, the world is pretty easy for a lot of people. But there are still people without smart phones and tablets and laptops. Some of them still have a flip phone. Some of them have a land line. Some of them don't have any phone or even a bed to sleep in.
Life isn't fair.
You are not guaranteed a lifelong WiFi connection or a smartphone or even a bed in this country.
Right now, you are guaranteed an opportunity to get an education, and while it doesn't contain some stuff it should, like first aid, cooking, cleaning, clothing care, basic life skills, personal finance, and even a little home repair, it does have the basics, reading, writing, (no longer cursive, but at least writing with both a keyboard and a pencil.) It covers social studies, both maps and graphs, history, at least some of it, political science, basic sciences, and all the math you can take in. And yes, you need math. Life may give you a calculator, but it doesn't tell you how to find out how big a rug you need or how to double a recipe or whether you are going to run out of gas before you reach your destination unless you actually understand what you need to do to those numbers to answer the question.
Your education may not be entertaining. Your teacher, a real human, may not be fun or or even nice. I guarantee, if I heard nothing but "I'm bored, this is boring, I don't need to know this--I'm going to be a rock star, (or worse) if I ever need to know this, I'll google it" at least 6 times a day, I would be cranky, too. And you guys are no joy to be around, eye rolling, shoulder shrugging, sarcastic, or worse, obviously fake respect then giggling with your buddies.
Right now, a lot of you guys are upset about a shelter in place order.
You have your phones. But now, no hanging out, no hating your classes, teachers, getting up in the morning.
It could be worse.
It can always be worse.
Stay well, go learn something that isn't on a smartphone.
Now, I just need someone to turn this into a YouTube video so you can actually hear me.
Yes, you learned to use a Smart Phone before you were potty trained, but you couldn't read and were possibly still being breastfed. You could take a selfie and add filters by kindergarten, but couldn't spell kindergarten. You can find a how-to on any subject on YouTube and have been making cupcakes, houses, cities, worlds and avatars for years now.
BUT.
Can you do anything without an app for that?
You are almost grown.
Smart Cars are not yet here, almost, but not completely.
Cooking food can be learned from a video, but watching a farming video will not provide the ingredients. Simulated building tools do not let you know how to build a square corner to make a table or a box or a house. Sometimes you have to fasten things together with more than a click of a mouse or the tap of a screen.
So. If the world is unplugged. If the civilization you were born in to, with its amazing gadgets and apps and instantly available entertainment were to suddenly disappear---what would you do?
Would you complain about "nothing to do", "I'm bored", "it's not fair?"
To use tools that you do not understand; not how they are made, not how their parts work, not their history, just how to push the on button and use it, means that when it breaks, you are dependent on someone left that understands all those things.
If there are only books, you need to be able to read and read well. If you would rebuild the unplugged world well enough and quickly enough to survive, you must know how to follow directions from a book as those videos you love are not working.
So.
Could you eat? Could you eat after everyone has eaten everything out of the stores? Could you stay warm without burning down your own shelter? Could you repair the place you have to live, or do you just go hunt a cave.
And, NO, the internet would not help if you had a solar battery charger. The internet is not eternal. You want that decidedly embarrassing photo you posted to go away, no power grid would do it. Without those people that actually understand how the systems work, it will disintegrate.
I'm old. I bought my first computer at 32, my first smartphone at 50. I have never taken a selfie. I don't know how to edit a YouTube video. But I can read a blueprint. I know how to use a square in carpentry and can hand a hammer, screwdriver, and saw. I know how to fix a leaking pipe or reseal a toilet. I can grow, preserve, and cook fresh fruit and vegetables starting with nothing but a hoe, dirt, and seed. I know why you don't make rows going down the side of a slope. I know not to get water from lower than the septic system. I know to boil water, and how to distill water. I know first aid. Most of that stuff is boring---but it isn't "nothing".
"Nothing" is an app with no power.
Your smart phone should not be the smartest thing about you. Right now, the world is pretty easy for a lot of people. But there are still people without smart phones and tablets and laptops. Some of them still have a flip phone. Some of them have a land line. Some of them don't have any phone or even a bed to sleep in.
Life isn't fair.
You are not guaranteed a lifelong WiFi connection or a smartphone or even a bed in this country.
Right now, you are guaranteed an opportunity to get an education, and while it doesn't contain some stuff it should, like first aid, cooking, cleaning, clothing care, basic life skills, personal finance, and even a little home repair, it does have the basics, reading, writing, (no longer cursive, but at least writing with both a keyboard and a pencil.) It covers social studies, both maps and graphs, history, at least some of it, political science, basic sciences, and all the math you can take in. And yes, you need math. Life may give you a calculator, but it doesn't tell you how to find out how big a rug you need or how to double a recipe or whether you are going to run out of gas before you reach your destination unless you actually understand what you need to do to those numbers to answer the question.
Your education may not be entertaining. Your teacher, a real human, may not be fun or or even nice. I guarantee, if I heard nothing but "I'm bored, this is boring, I don't need to know this--I'm going to be a rock star, (or worse) if I ever need to know this, I'll google it" at least 6 times a day, I would be cranky, too. And you guys are no joy to be around, eye rolling, shoulder shrugging, sarcastic, or worse, obviously fake respect then giggling with your buddies.
Right now, a lot of you guys are upset about a shelter in place order.
You have your phones. But now, no hanging out, no hating your classes, teachers, getting up in the morning.
It could be worse.
It can always be worse.
Stay well, go learn something that isn't on a smartphone.
Now, I just need someone to turn this into a YouTube video so you can actually hear me.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
money over life
"WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!"
That is copied from a trump tweet about the 15 day social distancing that ends the first week of April.
It is in response to human deaths versus a Bear Stock Market.
If this was an O'Henry story, the president would go with the money, then lose the person he loved most to this virus. Unfortunately, it's no short story, and his malignant narcissism guarantees that the only one he could lose in that category, is himself. I'm not sure how O'Henry could spin that to make it poignant.
But enough about crazy people.
I'm quite sure, there are plenty of people out there that agree with him. They feel themselves above the hoi polloi. They consider this might be a great way to cleanse the planet of some of those 7.8 billion people crammed across the surface.
I'm thinking they don't understand the nature of disease--especially contagious disease.
The virus doesn't care if you are rich or important, powerful or beautiful. It doesn't care if you wear designer suits or work out three times a day and only drink imported glacial water out of lead crystal disposable bottles.
The virus, this virus, causes respiratory symptoms, and is spread by coughing and sneezing. It lives on surfaces anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days, depending on the surface, the temperature and humidity.
If you touch that surface before it has been adequately disinfected with appropriate chemicals, you are exposed to the virus. If you wash your hands after that, but before touching you face or any other surfaces or clothing or eyes or food, your exposure will not lead to infection. But if you, say, touch the back of a chair that someone coughed on 15 minutes before you got there, then straighten your tie, or scratch your leg through your pants or comb back your hair with that hand, or god forbid, go somewhere and eat a meal without thoroughly washing that hand (or after washing those hands, straighten that tie-again, or scratch you leg-again or tidy your hair-again, you are going to eat that virus.
Stomach acid is pretty effective, but on the way down there is the respiratory tract.
Obviously, getting coughed on or sneezed on is a more direct source but talk to those healthcare workers in the 1980's that caught HIV from the environment--oh yeah, you can't.
https://www.livescience.com/3686-gross-science-cough-sneeze.html
Now, let us look at our exposure.
I'm basically a hermit on a good day.
I saw no one yesterday.
I saw my granddaughter and daughter the day before.
I saw my granddaughter the day before that.
I went to the grocery store the day before that. I consciously avoided getting within 5 foot of anyone except the grocery check-out clerk.
My daughter has a male friend she sees frequently. And she and my granddaughter went to see a friend of hers for a couple of hours. My granddaughter babysat 2 kids the day before that. My daughter was still going to working and seeing clients--multiple clients--until three days before that.
Have I been exposed to anyone that has been exposed?
I was in close proximaty to only 3 people.
But I touched a touch screen while paying and a grocery cart (wipes were empty) and have no idea who might have touched the containers of the food I purchased, even in the 3 hours to 3 days before I grabbed them off the shelf.
I touched the bags, hanging on the racks and turned by the clerk's hand as the clerk fills them.
The clerks were too busy to spray or wipe the conveyor belt between customers.
Then, there is the secondary contact with everyone the three people I've been near. Seven to 21 days of secondary contact that might have sneezed or coughed near them or on a surface they touched.
I woke up coughing and sneezing yesterday and declared--"NO VISITORS" for 14 days. My son, concerned, asked if I needed him to bring me anything. I reassured him I am well stocked for at least a week. My daughter asked if I was over-reacting. My granddaughter was sad because I have Sims4 on my computer and its boring at home.
I have seen plenty of wealthy people already testing positive.
Around here, if you aren't about ready for ICU and a VENT, ER's are sending you home untested. Lack of Tests, lack of Masks, lack of gloves--we are not ready. Unlike Ebola, instead of spending months preparing for that first case so we could catch it before it was in the general population, we spent three months acting like china was over-reacting. We had already dismantled the team that handled Ebola--and they did a great job--but it was an OBAMA team. The Republic of the Congo should have been so lucky as to have our team.
But-----now it is messing with the economy. Social distancing limits use of gasoline, shopping, impulse buying, planned elective surgeries. The stock markets are erratic in a big way.
Can losing 10 million people in the USA really be that bad?
Of course, that is in addition to the usual deaths by other causes.
Who are you ok with losing?
That is copied from a trump tweet about the 15 day social distancing that ends the first week of April.
It is in response to human deaths versus a Bear Stock Market.
If this was an O'Henry story, the president would go with the money, then lose the person he loved most to this virus. Unfortunately, it's no short story, and his malignant narcissism guarantees that the only one he could lose in that category, is himself. I'm not sure how O'Henry could spin that to make it poignant.
But enough about crazy people.
I'm quite sure, there are plenty of people out there that agree with him. They feel themselves above the hoi polloi. They consider this might be a great way to cleanse the planet of some of those 7.8 billion people crammed across the surface.
I'm thinking they don't understand the nature of disease--especially contagious disease.
The virus doesn't care if you are rich or important, powerful or beautiful. It doesn't care if you wear designer suits or work out three times a day and only drink imported glacial water out of lead crystal disposable bottles.
The virus, this virus, causes respiratory symptoms, and is spread by coughing and sneezing. It lives on surfaces anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days, depending on the surface, the temperature and humidity.
If you touch that surface before it has been adequately disinfected with appropriate chemicals, you are exposed to the virus. If you wash your hands after that, but before touching you face or any other surfaces or clothing or eyes or food, your exposure will not lead to infection. But if you, say, touch the back of a chair that someone coughed on 15 minutes before you got there, then straighten your tie, or scratch your leg through your pants or comb back your hair with that hand, or god forbid, go somewhere and eat a meal without thoroughly washing that hand (or after washing those hands, straighten that tie-again, or scratch you leg-again or tidy your hair-again, you are going to eat that virus.
Stomach acid is pretty effective, but on the way down there is the respiratory tract.
Obviously, getting coughed on or sneezed on is a more direct source but talk to those healthcare workers in the 1980's that caught HIV from the environment--oh yeah, you can't.
https://www.livescience.com/3686-gross-science-cough-sneeze.html
Now, let us look at our exposure.
I'm basically a hermit on a good day.
I saw no one yesterday.
I saw my granddaughter and daughter the day before.
I saw my granddaughter the day before that.
I went to the grocery store the day before that. I consciously avoided getting within 5 foot of anyone except the grocery check-out clerk.
My daughter has a male friend she sees frequently. And she and my granddaughter went to see a friend of hers for a couple of hours. My granddaughter babysat 2 kids the day before that. My daughter was still going to working and seeing clients--multiple clients--until three days before that.
Have I been exposed to anyone that has been exposed?
I was in close proximaty to only 3 people.
But I touched a touch screen while paying and a grocery cart (wipes were empty) and have no idea who might have touched the containers of the food I purchased, even in the 3 hours to 3 days before I grabbed them off the shelf.
I touched the bags, hanging on the racks and turned by the clerk's hand as the clerk fills them.
The clerks were too busy to spray or wipe the conveyor belt between customers.
Then, there is the secondary contact with everyone the three people I've been near. Seven to 21 days of secondary contact that might have sneezed or coughed near them or on a surface they touched.
I woke up coughing and sneezing yesterday and declared--"NO VISITORS" for 14 days. My son, concerned, asked if I needed him to bring me anything. I reassured him I am well stocked for at least a week. My daughter asked if I was over-reacting. My granddaughter was sad because I have Sims4 on my computer and its boring at home.
I have seen plenty of wealthy people already testing positive.
Around here, if you aren't about ready for ICU and a VENT, ER's are sending you home untested. Lack of Tests, lack of Masks, lack of gloves--we are not ready. Unlike Ebola, instead of spending months preparing for that first case so we could catch it before it was in the general population, we spent three months acting like china was over-reacting. We had already dismantled the team that handled Ebola--and they did a great job--but it was an OBAMA team. The Republic of the Congo should have been so lucky as to have our team.
But-----now it is messing with the economy. Social distancing limits use of gasoline, shopping, impulse buying, planned elective surgeries. The stock markets are erratic in a big way.
Can losing 10 million people in the USA really be that bad?
Of course, that is in addition to the usual deaths by other causes.
Who are you ok with losing?
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Social Distancing--how hard is that
I have a Prius and a tank of gas lasted me a month before Covid-19. I'm not sure I'll need to gas up again before July these days.
I've gone through my calender and removed an annual eye exam--the first in three years. I was looking forward to a new pair of glasses as I'm pretty hard on them. I have postponed a crown for a crumbling filling also.
I'm not window shopping for cabinets for the kitchen or slowly walking down rows of 4" potted plants.
I'll be buying three 11x17 inch photo frames this month--online.
I went to a grocery store at 11 am on friday, a store that is never very busy, and is usually dead at that time on a weekday, and all the checkout aisles were open and backed up. I literally needed wine, and while the ritual of a cork and breathing etc, pleases me like a pot of loose tea, I grabbed two boxes of cabernet. I also picked up club soda, a roll of paper towels, and some flour. All Items I had actually ran out of.
There were couples with two carts full in the line. Obviously, they were not working on Friday. And, I have heard about a lot of people losing jobs.
I also know that healthcare workers are not only on overtime, but if they had left patient care areas, they were being pulled back in.
My state, today, has 51 active cases, 1 person has recovered, and 1 person has died. The person that died was younger than me and lived in my county.
My neighbor, in her 80s, still drives out for every meal, has people arrive to visit at least daily and sometimes multiple times a day.
The family on the other side has made no obvious changes to there routines.
Across the street, a small house with 4 vehicles that come and go constantly with frequent visitors. Also no changes in social behavior.
I have a daughter and granddaughter that both walk over at will. And before the firings started and the government committed to social distancing, I drove across town to deliver Green Shamrock Cookies.
If what I am seeing is a sign of how to well people are following directions, we are nowhere near the end of the spread of this disease.
It has been a confusing time. China reached epidemic levels in December. Obviously, the disease did not start the same day or week or even month that it was recognized as a potential pandemic. Travel between China and other countries continued until the end of January.
Social Distancing wasn't suggested until March 16th.
Mixed messages are being delivered daily. It's a pandemic. It's just a bad cold. It's being played up by the democrats to divide us--to make trump look bad. Its just a hoax--fake news.
So, I don't go window shopping---I have no insurance until I hit 65 and qualify for Medicare--another year to go. But I don't cuss my children out for putting me at risk because seeing absolutely no one except through the window is too weird.
I stay busy.
My grandchildren's spring break, which just ended while being the most boring break of their short lives, now has at least 2 more weeks to go of staying at home. Both mothers are now doing a work-from-home on computer type job. My son is selling furniture. That industry hasn't quite figured out what to do, but they are laying off a few people a day, making everyone anxious. Reality is, there is no emergency room makeover. The company is scared.
There is good news.
China reported no new cases yesterday. Most of those diagnosed with the virus in china are now recovered. And china sent masks and tests to the USA.
We need to keep a fully staffed and funded Pandemic Team at the CDC--no more ending the things that ensure we are prepared.
The next time a president wants to cut the fat, start with his own vacation, golf and security costs.
I've gone through my calender and removed an annual eye exam--the first in three years. I was looking forward to a new pair of glasses as I'm pretty hard on them. I have postponed a crown for a crumbling filling also.
I'm not window shopping for cabinets for the kitchen or slowly walking down rows of 4" potted plants.
I'll be buying three 11x17 inch photo frames this month--online.
I went to a grocery store at 11 am on friday, a store that is never very busy, and is usually dead at that time on a weekday, and all the checkout aisles were open and backed up. I literally needed wine, and while the ritual of a cork and breathing etc, pleases me like a pot of loose tea, I grabbed two boxes of cabernet. I also picked up club soda, a roll of paper towels, and some flour. All Items I had actually ran out of.
There were couples with two carts full in the line. Obviously, they were not working on Friday. And, I have heard about a lot of people losing jobs.
I also know that healthcare workers are not only on overtime, but if they had left patient care areas, they were being pulled back in.
My state, today, has 51 active cases, 1 person has recovered, and 1 person has died. The person that died was younger than me and lived in my county.
My neighbor, in her 80s, still drives out for every meal, has people arrive to visit at least daily and sometimes multiple times a day.
The family on the other side has made no obvious changes to there routines.
Across the street, a small house with 4 vehicles that come and go constantly with frequent visitors. Also no changes in social behavior.
I have a daughter and granddaughter that both walk over at will. And before the firings started and the government committed to social distancing, I drove across town to deliver Green Shamrock Cookies.
If what I am seeing is a sign of how to well people are following directions, we are nowhere near the end of the spread of this disease.
It has been a confusing time. China reached epidemic levels in December. Obviously, the disease did not start the same day or week or even month that it was recognized as a potential pandemic. Travel between China and other countries continued until the end of January.
Social Distancing wasn't suggested until March 16th.
Mixed messages are being delivered daily. It's a pandemic. It's just a bad cold. It's being played up by the democrats to divide us--to make trump look bad. Its just a hoax--fake news.
So, I don't go window shopping---I have no insurance until I hit 65 and qualify for Medicare--another year to go. But I don't cuss my children out for putting me at risk because seeing absolutely no one except through the window is too weird.
I stay busy.
My grandchildren's spring break, which just ended while being the most boring break of their short lives, now has at least 2 more weeks to go of staying at home. Both mothers are now doing a work-from-home on computer type job. My son is selling furniture. That industry hasn't quite figured out what to do, but they are laying off a few people a day, making everyone anxious. Reality is, there is no emergency room makeover. The company is scared.
There is good news.
China reported no new cases yesterday. Most of those diagnosed with the virus in china are now recovered. And china sent masks and tests to the USA.
We need to keep a fully staffed and funded Pandemic Team at the CDC--no more ending the things that ensure we are prepared.
The next time a president wants to cut the fat, start with his own vacation, golf and security costs.
Monday, March 16, 2020
COVID-19 and the world's gone mad.
First, let me start by saying that I'm an introvert: a retired, barely ever leaves the house despite being healthy, introvert that prefers pets and painting and tearing into a house destroying project over shopping, partying, or even family time.
Right after the Social Security check arrives, I go get some groceries every month. This month, signs apologizing for no hand sanitizer (I never buy that, I have a sink and soap and water--after 40 years as an RN, I realize that it's sometimes convenient but not a necessity) and almost no toilet paper, low on facial tissue also.
Peoples carts were overflowing.
I live in a state that rarely gets snow; you can count on a huge grocery store emptying after every prediction of snow.
The store and shoppers looked like that.
So, I contact someone I used to work with. The state has had four positive tests for COVID-19. No fatalities.
The Coronavirus group is known for the SARS outbreak and the MERS outbreak.
The current COVID-19 outbreak has killed more than 6 thousand worldwide, and 41 in the United states. It first came to attention in China in December of 2019. We in the USA didn't start testing for it until March of 2020. A fourth of a year has passed. I'm not going to comment on what is going on in the middle east, in China, or in Italy or Spain. But here in the USA, where we dismantled the pandemic team put together for Ebola because the current president doesn't like the previous president and dismantles everything he did, we spent our 4 months of prep. time (was it prep time? Just because we didn't test anyone or diagnose anyone, doesn't mean it wasn't here.) denying science(as usual), screaming about the virus being either a hoax or fake news or a democrat created biological warfare release (gotta love conspiracy theoriests) or hoax. We refused the WHO tests, and waited for tests that needed to be created---by the inlaws family of the president. Then we argued about how much to charge and since we didn't have that many, who could get tested.
Reality check time.
Between 1900 and 1904, one city in the USA--San Francisco, lost 113 people to the Bubonic plague. (yes, the black death, the scourge of medieval Europe.) One city, when every city was much smaller than it is today.
Between 1910 and 1912, China lost over 40,000 people to the same black plague disease.
In 1918, 50 to 100 million people died of the Spanish flu, (influenza A H1N1); that was about one twentieth to one fifth of the world population. That means, if you knew 5 people, one of them died. or 5-20 out of 100 people. It wasn't absolutely fair, sometimes whole families died, sometimes whole towns missed it.
Between 1957 and 1958, 2 million people worldwide died of asian flu (influenza A H2N2).
Between 1968 and 1969, the Hong Kong flu killed about a million worldwide (influenza A H3N2)
Between 1920 and now, HIV/AIDS has killed over 32 million people world wide. That is an average of 320 thousand a year, (and yes, it has existed that long, but was mostly in Africa until the 1970's and the virus not identified until the 1980s)
In 2009, an H1N1 flu pandemic killed between 151 thousand and 575 thousand people world wide. (if you don't test anyone and have no hospitals, and no public health department, does it make a sound?)
In the last 10 years, Cholera has killed almost 10 thousand people on the little island of Hispaniola. In that same same time, measles has killed over 4500 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo--out of a population of 80 million.
In 2012, 862 people dieds of MERS--a corona Virus.
Between 2013 and 2016, more than 11 thousand people died of Ebola.
In 2015, over 2,000 people in India died of the Indian Swine Flu (another influenza A H1N1)
From 2018 to now, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 2,000 have died of Ebola and 5,000 of the Measles.
From 2019 to now, the COVID-19 virus has killed over 6,000 people worldwide--in about 4 months, over 40 of those in USA. (The US population is over 300 million)
Death by war worldwide in 2016 was over 100 thousand.
Suicide deaths the same year in the USA was over 45,000.
In 2017, there were over 39 thousand gun deaths, over 60 thousand drug overdose deaths, and over 45 thousand motor vehicle deaths in the USA.
We ignored the Corona Virus pandemic for 4 months and have lost >40 people.
We could have prevented that. We laughed about it being no worse than the flu (note how often the Influenza A virus has created a deadly pandemic)
I think the panic is as much about a feeling that our government is not stable as it is about a virus.
I have no explanation for why all those highly preventable suicides, MVA's, and gun deaths are not causing any concern.
I guess that is not going to be fixed with hand sanitizer and toilet paper and a staycation.
Now, turn on the sink, wash your hands with a good load of soap until you have sung the entire happy birthday song at a regular speed, rinse off, grab a paper towel to turn off the water, and dry off your hand with a different paper towel. At home use a nice clean guest towel. And stop touching everybody and every thing.
Be Well and Be Calm.
addendum: a week later, 49 people with the virus in this state and 1 death. The groceru stores are now crowded all day long, toilet paper and hand sanitizer is gone; so are eggs. Whole families came in to do the shopping. Walmart, a block from the store I went to, is packed. I am going to have to try the grocery pick up. The store I went to at 1100 am on a friday is usually empty.
Right after the Social Security check arrives, I go get some groceries every month. This month, signs apologizing for no hand sanitizer (I never buy that, I have a sink and soap and water--after 40 years as an RN, I realize that it's sometimes convenient but not a necessity) and almost no toilet paper, low on facial tissue also.
Peoples carts were overflowing.
I live in a state that rarely gets snow; you can count on a huge grocery store emptying after every prediction of snow.
The store and shoppers looked like that.
So, I contact someone I used to work with. The state has had four positive tests for COVID-19. No fatalities.
The Coronavirus group is known for the SARS outbreak and the MERS outbreak.
The current COVID-19 outbreak has killed more than 6 thousand worldwide, and 41 in the United states. It first came to attention in China in December of 2019. We in the USA didn't start testing for it until March of 2020. A fourth of a year has passed. I'm not going to comment on what is going on in the middle east, in China, or in Italy or Spain. But here in the USA, where we dismantled the pandemic team put together for Ebola because the current president doesn't like the previous president and dismantles everything he did, we spent our 4 months of prep. time (was it prep time? Just because we didn't test anyone or diagnose anyone, doesn't mean it wasn't here.) denying science(as usual), screaming about the virus being either a hoax or fake news or a democrat created biological warfare release (gotta love conspiracy theoriests) or hoax. We refused the WHO tests, and waited for tests that needed to be created---by the inlaws family of the president. Then we argued about how much to charge and since we didn't have that many, who could get tested.
Reality check time.
Between 1900 and 1904, one city in the USA--San Francisco, lost 113 people to the Bubonic plague. (yes, the black death, the scourge of medieval Europe.) One city, when every city was much smaller than it is today.
Between 1910 and 1912, China lost over 40,000 people to the same black plague disease.
In 1918, 50 to 100 million people died of the Spanish flu, (influenza A H1N1); that was about one twentieth to one fifth of the world population. That means, if you knew 5 people, one of them died. or 5-20 out of 100 people. It wasn't absolutely fair, sometimes whole families died, sometimes whole towns missed it.
Between 1957 and 1958, 2 million people worldwide died of asian flu (influenza A H2N2).
Between 1968 and 1969, the Hong Kong flu killed about a million worldwide (influenza A H3N2)
Between 1920 and now, HIV/AIDS has killed over 32 million people world wide. That is an average of 320 thousand a year, (and yes, it has existed that long, but was mostly in Africa until the 1970's and the virus not identified until the 1980s)
In 2009, an H1N1 flu pandemic killed between 151 thousand and 575 thousand people world wide. (if you don't test anyone and have no hospitals, and no public health department, does it make a sound?)
In the last 10 years, Cholera has killed almost 10 thousand people on the little island of Hispaniola. In that same same time, measles has killed over 4500 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo--out of a population of 80 million.
In 2012, 862 people dieds of MERS--a corona Virus.
Between 2013 and 2016, more than 11 thousand people died of Ebola.
In 2015, over 2,000 people in India died of the Indian Swine Flu (another influenza A H1N1)
From 2018 to now, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 2,000 have died of Ebola and 5,000 of the Measles.
From 2019 to now, the COVID-19 virus has killed over 6,000 people worldwide--in about 4 months, over 40 of those in USA. (The US population is over 300 million)
Death by war worldwide in 2016 was over 100 thousand.
Suicide deaths the same year in the USA was over 45,000.
In 2017, there were over 39 thousand gun deaths, over 60 thousand drug overdose deaths, and over 45 thousand motor vehicle deaths in the USA.
We ignored the Corona Virus pandemic for 4 months and have lost >40 people.
We could have prevented that. We laughed about it being no worse than the flu (note how often the Influenza A virus has created a deadly pandemic)
I think the panic is as much about a feeling that our government is not stable as it is about a virus.
I have no explanation for why all those highly preventable suicides, MVA's, and gun deaths are not causing any concern.
I guess that is not going to be fixed with hand sanitizer and toilet paper and a staycation.
Now, turn on the sink, wash your hands with a good load of soap until you have sung the entire happy birthday song at a regular speed, rinse off, grab a paper towel to turn off the water, and dry off your hand with a different paper towel. At home use a nice clean guest towel. And stop touching everybody and every thing.
Be Well and Be Calm.
addendum: a week later, 49 people with the virus in this state and 1 death. The groceru stores are now crowded all day long, toilet paper and hand sanitizer is gone; so are eggs. Whole families came in to do the shopping. Walmart, a block from the store I went to, is packed. I am going to have to try the grocery pick up. The store I went to at 1100 am on a friday is usually empty.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
"The Richest Country in the World"
You can hardly go a day in the United States without someone commenting on how rich this nation is; it is usually "the richest in the world". We Americans might be prone to hyperbole, but there is some data to support that claim.
There is a lot of data that also calls BS.
From an economics standpoint, a nation's wealth is represented by their Gross domestic product (GDP) which is "stream of goods and services that the nation creates".
http://statisticstimes.com/economy/countries-by-projected-gdp.php
So, in order of GDP (nominal for 2018)with Population rank and an equalizer number from GDP divided by population for a per capita GDP if you will. Apples to Apples and all that) with HDI and IAHDI so that actual people conditions are included.
#1. USA Population #3 PCGDP 0.06202764 (#1) HDI (#13) IAHDI (#24)
#2. China Population #1 PCGDP 0.00992387 (#9) HDI (#86) IAHDI (#62)
#3. Japan Population #11 PCGDP 0.04073203 (#6) HDI (#19) IAHDI (#2)
#4. Germany Population #19 PCGDP 0.05108812 (#2) HDI (#5) IAHDI (#7)
#5. UK Population #21 PCGDP 0.04385199 (#5) HDI (#14) IAHDI (#17)
#6. France Population #22 PCGDP 0.04467111 (#4) HDI (#24) IAHDI (#22)
#7. India Population #2 PCGDP 0.00208091 (#10)HDI (NA) IAHDI (#101)
#8. Italy Population #24 PCGDP 0.03684545 (#7) HDI (#28) IAHDI (#31)
#9. Brazil Population #5 PCGDP 0.01007058 (#8) HDI (#79) IAHDI (#78)
#10.Canada Population #38 PCGDP 0.04824359 (#3) HDI (#12) IAHDI (#12)
(The smallest GDP is Syria with zero, Tuvalu, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Palau, Micronesia, Tonga, Sao Tome and Principi, and Dominica. I couldn't find most of them on a map without some really big labels)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_wealth
Now, if there is more to life than just how much we produce for sale, let us include some other parameters for comparison. All that apparent wealth should provide a better standard of living.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income per capita indicators. A country scores higher HDI when the life expectancy at birth is longer, the education period is longer, and the income per capita is higher.
IN order of highest HDI: (parenthesis is their IAHDI)
#1 Norway (#3)
#2 Switzerland (#4)
#3 Australia (#7)
#4 Ireland (#11)
#5 Germany (#7)
#6 Iceland (#1)
#7 Hong Kong (#21)
and Sweden (#6)
#9 Singapore (#19)
#10 Netherlands (#10)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequality-adjusted_HDI
But since the United States is currently suffering from a high level of inequality (and "currently" probably means "always".) there is an inequality adjusted HDI. So that those 4 to 6 individuals/families that own more wealth than the other 90% of us in the USA are not falsely elevated in the numbers while living in poverty and homeless situations.
So, if someone wants to brag, maybe it should be Japan or Germany for being both productive and having a high standard of living for everyone.
Or maybe millennials should be considering Iceland, Japan, Norway, Switzerland for possible address changes. Or, if English is all you can manage, Australia, Canada, the UK are all doing better if you aren't rich.
Me, I'm still babysitting and trying to fix up my house. Inertia is winning, but at least I'm not so confused I think we are the "richest country in the world" for us regular folks.
Live Long and proper!
There is a lot of data that also calls BS.
From an economics standpoint, a nation's wealth is represented by their Gross domestic product (GDP) which is "stream of goods and services that the nation creates".
http://statisticstimes.com/economy/countries-by-projected-gdp.php
So, in order of GDP (nominal for 2018)with Population rank and an equalizer number from GDP divided by population for a per capita GDP if you will. Apples to Apples and all that) with HDI and IAHDI so that actual people conditions are included.
#1. USA Population #3 PCGDP 0.06202764 (#1) HDI (#13) IAHDI (#24)
#2. China Population #1 PCGDP 0.00992387 (#9) HDI (#86) IAHDI (#62)
#3. Japan Population #11 PCGDP 0.04073203 (#6) HDI (#19) IAHDI (#2)
#4. Germany Population #19 PCGDP 0.05108812 (#2) HDI (#5) IAHDI (#7)
#5. UK Population #21 PCGDP 0.04385199 (#5) HDI (#14) IAHDI (#17)
#6. France Population #22 PCGDP 0.04467111 (#4) HDI (#24) IAHDI (#22)
#7. India Population #2 PCGDP 0.00208091 (#10)HDI (NA) IAHDI (#101)
#8. Italy Population #24 PCGDP 0.03684545 (#7) HDI (#28) IAHDI (#31)
#9. Brazil Population #5 PCGDP 0.01007058 (#8) HDI (#79) IAHDI (#78)
#10.Canada Population #38 PCGDP 0.04824359 (#3) HDI (#12) IAHDI (#12)
(The smallest GDP is Syria with zero, Tuvalu, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Palau, Micronesia, Tonga, Sao Tome and Principi, and Dominica. I couldn't find most of them on a map without some really big labels)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_wealth
Now, if there is more to life than just how much we produce for sale, let us include some other parameters for comparison. All that apparent wealth should provide a better standard of living.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income per capita indicators. A country scores higher HDI when the life expectancy at birth is longer, the education period is longer, and the income per capita is higher.
IN order of highest HDI: (parenthesis is their IAHDI)
#1 Norway (#3)
#2 Switzerland (#4)
#3 Australia (#7)
#4 Ireland (#11)
#5 Germany (#7)
#6 Iceland (#1)
#7 Hong Kong (#21)
and Sweden (#6)
#9 Singapore (#19)
#10 Netherlands (#10)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequality-adjusted_HDI
But since the United States is currently suffering from a high level of inequality (and "currently" probably means "always".) there is an inequality adjusted HDI. So that those 4 to 6 individuals/families that own more wealth than the other 90% of us in the USA are not falsely elevated in the numbers while living in poverty and homeless situations.
So, if someone wants to brag, maybe it should be Japan or Germany for being both productive and having a high standard of living for everyone.
Or maybe millennials should be considering Iceland, Japan, Norway, Switzerland for possible address changes. Or, if English is all you can manage, Australia, Canada, the UK are all doing better if you aren't rich.
Me, I'm still babysitting and trying to fix up my house. Inertia is winning, but at least I'm not so confused I think we are the "richest country in the world" for us regular folks.
Live Long and proper!
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
"Everyone needs a College Degree"
Of course,
I heard that my whole life, and went out and got two of them from a highly reputable university and with highly annoying student loans.
But, not all degrees are created equally just as not all jobs are created equally.
Which means not all college educations are equally valuable--in fact some are a dadgum joke.
And, for most of us, they still come with those highly annoying student loans afterward.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/the-highest-and-lowest-paying-college-majors-in-america/ss-BBSiHMO?ocid=spartanntp
While I am far past the stage of trying to figure out what to do with my life--college and job-wise, there is information out there that can help prevent younger people (and those my age that still just want to go to college and get a good job) from making costly mistakes--both with their money and their time.
From the above link, you will find both the top 25 highest paying college degrees and the bottom 25 lowest paying college degrees. And while some people are needed in all those fields, it is important that people know which will require a rich spouse or 2nd job, which will allow them to live the life they want, and which are so flooded with applicants they are unlikely to evet get a chance to work in that field. The best example I can think of is the man that becomes a dentist and hates it despite decent pay and then goes back and gets a teaching degree--and loves the rest of his career. But I also knew people with MA's in Literature that spent a lifetime working in the city parks--no jobs in his field without moving, the university he went to had saturated the local market. Money is part of why we work, and figuring out what we want to do at 18 or even 21 with limited life experience makes choosing a degree for a lifetime of work rather insane.
While reading, remember that the current, ALL-JOB unemployment rate is under 4% right now. Jobs with a rate higher than that are probably not going to be needing more per year than the number of currently employed that are retiring or changing careers.
So, the twenty-five highest paying degrees are, in order:
1. Petroleum Engineering, average pay $118,721/year. Unemployment rate is 7.9% and there are 26,461 in the workforce. This degree takes most 5-6 years and is science- and math-intensive. Also, if we address climate change, the need will go down not up.
2. Actuarial Science, average pay $99,421, 2.3% unemployment, 17,624 in the workforce. Most are employed with a Bachelors degree only, so a decent use of 4 years of your life, but math-heavy and be prepared to sound boring for the rest of your life. Don't worry, though, most of us have jobs that are more boring than that and that don't pay as well. There are currently 17,624 people with this degree in the workforce. A dependable choice for the math oriented person.
3. Biochemical Science, average pay $98,332, 2.2% unemployment, 210,098 working with this degree but be aware, 44% have a doctorate which might mean that jobs with less do not pay so well. (Average is not a range) Definitely a science-heavy degree.
4. Molecular Biology, average pay $95,332, 2.2% unemployment, 75,600 in the workforce, 64% have a Master's degree prep at least and 44% have a Doctorate.
5. Health and Medical Prep Programs, (pre-med, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, pre-nursing, pre-physical therapy, etc, etc, so a very diverse set of jobs here. This is a Bachelors, though many of these do not require a degree, only a set of required courses and acceptance to an actual Medical, Dental, Nursing, etc, program. Average pay is 95,060 with 2.3% unemployment, and 97,977 people in the workforce, 59% go on to get a Doctorate, but be aware, those that do not get into an actual program are not the ones making it pay so well. We all know that a Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy is going to be pretty well paid and that is raising the average.
6. Applied Mathematics, average pay is $94,897, 2.0% unemployment, 38,349 in the workforce, and 66% have a master's degree.
7. Geoscience, $94,500, 4.0% unemployment, only 14,650 in the workforce, with 86.7% having a Master's level preparation. Get it if you love it, but prepare for 6 years of college and have a job found as early as possible.
8. Nuclear Engineering,$93,194, 1.9% unemployment, 17,648 in the workforce, 60% get a Masters and 20% go for a Doctorate.
9. Computer Engineering, $92,343, 2.6% unemployment, 306,292 in the workforce. A good Bachelor degree buy.
10. Finance, $91,726, 2.7% unemployment, 1,101,724 in the workforce. (this average salary is from a very wide salary range)
11. Public Policy, $90,631, 2.0% unemployment rate, 36,011 in the workforce, 75% have their Master's degree.
12. Economics, 13. Zoology (say veterinary school after this 95% of the time), 14. Biomedical Engineering, (unemployment 4.15) 15. Chemical Engineering, 16. Mathematics and computer science, 17. Computer Science, 18. electrical engineering, 19. metallurgical engineering (unemployment 5.1%), 20. Aerospace Engineering, (80% master's prep), 21. mechanical engineering, 22. mining and mineral engineering ((6.2% unemployed), 23. Pharmacology, (85% Doctorate prepared), 24. Industrial and Manufacturing engineer, and last but not least--25. Biology, with 47% with master's and 27% with doctorate and averaging $81,955.
Of the 25 lowest paid, the lowest averaging $26,462/year and the highest of the low averaging $39,438, their are 16 that usually prepare people to teach our children. There are three that prepare people to work with poor and mentally ill/disabled people--one of those requiring a Master's degree for employment, there are 3 that train for various types of arts ( a field that is hard to make a living in, and requires talent and frequently a wait-staff job to keep from starving), 1 that leads to a religious life so it is presumed that money is not the object,2 that have traditionally been either vocational classes with certification or on-the-job training positions but are currently the fodder of career colleges that, for a very high fee, usually involving government grants and loans, with provide a bachelor's degree in an amazingly short time.
NOW!!! From the national labor site, you get a slightly different view of the world of Jobs.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/highest-paying.htm
The top 25 highest paid position include 13 kinds of physicians plus nurse anesthetists (no one with "just a bachelors degree) , CEO's (no specific degree for this one), computer information systems managers, architectural and engineering managers, airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers (no degree for this one?), Judges and magistrates--an elected position involving a law degree--notice that a law degree was not on the highest or lowest degree list? lots make little and lots make a lot, and petroleum engineers. The lowest of them make over $130,000/year, the highest more than $204,000/year, as in most of the specialized physician make >204,000/year. (no top number given)
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm
Now, among fastest growing job positions expected on the horizon, important when planning your future, seven require no degree and focus on skilled labor such as installers of solar panels and wind turbines--both paying better than any of the 25 worst paying degrees, service careers in such thing as nursing assistant, personal aid, physical therapy aid, etc., that pay worse than the worst paying degrees but are trained by vo-tech's and career colleges, and several jobs that match the top 25 highest paying degrees so that fastest growing pay ranges from $23,000 to $110,000---so much for supply and demand determining prices.
But what do we need most of?
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/most-new-jobs.htm
Of the top 20, 9 pay under $30,000, 14 require little or no training. Only 6 offer jobs paying over $50,000/year.
How we pay people in the country tells us all what we value.
We don't value the people that care for our sick and dying on a day to day basis.
We don't value the people that educate our children.
We don't value the people that work with those with mental illness, disabilities, addictions, or extreme poverty.
We don't value those that care for our prisoners.
We don't value those that would create beautiful things or invent useful things.
We don't value those that build our homes or service our belongings.
We value money.
Odd, when you consider that money is like a zero. It's a placeholder. You can't even stack it up or count it now that it is mostly lines in a spreadsheet.
And, its only value is as a tool to trade for the things you need, the things you want.
So, if you or your loved one have a dream about what career to follow. Examine it carefully to see if it is really something you want to do. The TV shows don't really do a good job of explaining the details of a job. If you can find someone that already does that job, see if you can shadow them for a week or at least a full day. If you can't find anyone near you that has that job, then consider if you want to move where the jobs are. If you want to move, excellent, but arrange an opportunity to see the job in action for more than an hour.
If college is the goal, whether or not a job is desired, well, you must be rich, so go on your dime with no loans. Lots of people are trying to pay off student loans while not making anymore money than a hard working day laborer.
And beware of the internet universities and career colleges. Many have such poor reputations that employers don't even want to bother interviewing them for any but the lowest paying jobs.
If your family has a plumbing business, or a mechanic's garage or some other small business. Consider working there and learning something there. Many of us wish we had done that before we went out and got our degrees that dropped us into careers we knew nothing about and money that was just good enough to keep us from changing to something we actually enjoyed doing.
And, if you get a call about "we see you are interested in a degree", hang up, fast. Reputable schools don't buy lists of numbers from the internet hoping to mine a little government gold off your student loans.
My suggestion to all of you busy trying to grab the brass ring via education.
Ask yourself some questions: What do you enjoy doing, what do you read about for fun, what fascinates you, do you like making things or fixing things or planning things. Who are you now---not who do you think you just might enjoy being? Have you met someone that does what you think you want to do. Will they let you watch them work?
When I taught, and I was a terrible teacher--not everyone has the patience for students that don't want to be there, but when I did, out of every 25 kids, 10 had plans for pro sports, 6 for entertainment, 5 lawyers and 3 doctors--usually only 1-2 of them making passing grades when they announced that, and 1 that planned on doing what a parent did. If I had taught younger kids, it would have been 20 teachers, 2 dinosaurs, a princess, a president, and a soldier.
We do our children no service by not teaching them about the world, the work world, the real life world where what we do impacts our futures.
College was great. I loved the history classes. I learned a lot in the science classes. My math skills got better.
But I could have made the same money or better if I had apprenticed myself to a plumber for a couple of years.
I heard that my whole life, and went out and got two of them from a highly reputable university and with highly annoying student loans.
But, not all degrees are created equally just as not all jobs are created equally.
Which means not all college educations are equally valuable--in fact some are a dadgum joke.
And, for most of us, they still come with those highly annoying student loans afterward.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/the-highest-and-lowest-paying-college-majors-in-america/ss-BBSiHMO?ocid=spartanntp
While I am far past the stage of trying to figure out what to do with my life--college and job-wise, there is information out there that can help prevent younger people (and those my age that still just want to go to college and get a good job) from making costly mistakes--both with their money and their time.
From the above link, you will find both the top 25 highest paying college degrees and the bottom 25 lowest paying college degrees. And while some people are needed in all those fields, it is important that people know which will require a rich spouse or 2nd job, which will allow them to live the life they want, and which are so flooded with applicants they are unlikely to evet get a chance to work in that field. The best example I can think of is the man that becomes a dentist and hates it despite decent pay and then goes back and gets a teaching degree--and loves the rest of his career. But I also knew people with MA's in Literature that spent a lifetime working in the city parks--no jobs in his field without moving, the university he went to had saturated the local market. Money is part of why we work, and figuring out what we want to do at 18 or even 21 with limited life experience makes choosing a degree for a lifetime of work rather insane.
While reading, remember that the current, ALL-JOB unemployment rate is under 4% right now. Jobs with a rate higher than that are probably not going to be needing more per year than the number of currently employed that are retiring or changing careers.
So, the twenty-five highest paying degrees are, in order:
1. Petroleum Engineering, average pay $118,721/year. Unemployment rate is 7.9% and there are 26,461 in the workforce. This degree takes most 5-6 years and is science- and math-intensive. Also, if we address climate change, the need will go down not up.
2. Actuarial Science, average pay $99,421, 2.3% unemployment, 17,624 in the workforce. Most are employed with a Bachelors degree only, so a decent use of 4 years of your life, but math-heavy and be prepared to sound boring for the rest of your life. Don't worry, though, most of us have jobs that are more boring than that and that don't pay as well. There are currently 17,624 people with this degree in the workforce. A dependable choice for the math oriented person.
3. Biochemical Science, average pay $98,332, 2.2% unemployment, 210,098 working with this degree but be aware, 44% have a doctorate which might mean that jobs with less do not pay so well. (Average is not a range) Definitely a science-heavy degree.
4. Molecular Biology, average pay $95,332, 2.2% unemployment, 75,600 in the workforce, 64% have a Master's degree prep at least and 44% have a Doctorate.
5. Health and Medical Prep Programs, (pre-med, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, pre-nursing, pre-physical therapy, etc, etc, so a very diverse set of jobs here. This is a Bachelors, though many of these do not require a degree, only a set of required courses and acceptance to an actual Medical, Dental, Nursing, etc, program. Average pay is 95,060 with 2.3% unemployment, and 97,977 people in the workforce, 59% go on to get a Doctorate, but be aware, those that do not get into an actual program are not the ones making it pay so well. We all know that a Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy is going to be pretty well paid and that is raising the average.
6. Applied Mathematics, average pay is $94,897, 2.0% unemployment, 38,349 in the workforce, and 66% have a master's degree.
7. Geoscience, $94,500, 4.0% unemployment, only 14,650 in the workforce, with 86.7% having a Master's level preparation. Get it if you love it, but prepare for 6 years of college and have a job found as early as possible.
8. Nuclear Engineering,$93,194, 1.9% unemployment, 17,648 in the workforce, 60% get a Masters and 20% go for a Doctorate.
9. Computer Engineering, $92,343, 2.6% unemployment, 306,292 in the workforce. A good Bachelor degree buy.
10. Finance, $91,726, 2.7% unemployment, 1,101,724 in the workforce. (this average salary is from a very wide salary range)
11. Public Policy, $90,631, 2.0% unemployment rate, 36,011 in the workforce, 75% have their Master's degree.
12. Economics, 13. Zoology (say veterinary school after this 95% of the time), 14. Biomedical Engineering, (unemployment 4.15) 15. Chemical Engineering, 16. Mathematics and computer science, 17. Computer Science, 18. electrical engineering, 19. metallurgical engineering (unemployment 5.1%), 20. Aerospace Engineering, (80% master's prep), 21. mechanical engineering, 22. mining and mineral engineering ((6.2% unemployed), 23. Pharmacology, (85% Doctorate prepared), 24. Industrial and Manufacturing engineer, and last but not least--25. Biology, with 47% with master's and 27% with doctorate and averaging $81,955.
Of the 25 lowest paid, the lowest averaging $26,462/year and the highest of the low averaging $39,438, their are 16 that usually prepare people to teach our children. There are three that prepare people to work with poor and mentally ill/disabled people--one of those requiring a Master's degree for employment, there are 3 that train for various types of arts ( a field that is hard to make a living in, and requires talent and frequently a wait-staff job to keep from starving), 1 that leads to a religious life so it is presumed that money is not the object,2 that have traditionally been either vocational classes with certification or on-the-job training positions but are currently the fodder of career colleges that, for a very high fee, usually involving government grants and loans, with provide a bachelor's degree in an amazingly short time.
NOW!!! From the national labor site, you get a slightly different view of the world of Jobs.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/highest-paying.htm
The top 25 highest paid position include 13 kinds of physicians plus nurse anesthetists (no one with "just a bachelors degree) , CEO's (no specific degree for this one), computer information systems managers, architectural and engineering managers, airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers (no degree for this one?), Judges and magistrates--an elected position involving a law degree--notice that a law degree was not on the highest or lowest degree list? lots make little and lots make a lot, and petroleum engineers. The lowest of them make over $130,000/year, the highest more than $204,000/year, as in most of the specialized physician make >204,000/year. (no top number given)
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm
Now, among fastest growing job positions expected on the horizon, important when planning your future, seven require no degree and focus on skilled labor such as installers of solar panels and wind turbines--both paying better than any of the 25 worst paying degrees, service careers in such thing as nursing assistant, personal aid, physical therapy aid, etc., that pay worse than the worst paying degrees but are trained by vo-tech's and career colleges, and several jobs that match the top 25 highest paying degrees so that fastest growing pay ranges from $23,000 to $110,000---so much for supply and demand determining prices.
But what do we need most of?
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/most-new-jobs.htm
Of the top 20, 9 pay under $30,000, 14 require little or no training. Only 6 offer jobs paying over $50,000/year.
How we pay people in the country tells us all what we value.
We don't value the people that care for our sick and dying on a day to day basis.
We don't value the people that educate our children.
We don't value the people that work with those with mental illness, disabilities, addictions, or extreme poverty.
We don't value those that care for our prisoners.
We don't value those that would create beautiful things or invent useful things.
We don't value those that build our homes or service our belongings.
We value money.
Odd, when you consider that money is like a zero. It's a placeholder. You can't even stack it up or count it now that it is mostly lines in a spreadsheet.
And, its only value is as a tool to trade for the things you need, the things you want.
So, if you or your loved one have a dream about what career to follow. Examine it carefully to see if it is really something you want to do. The TV shows don't really do a good job of explaining the details of a job. If you can find someone that already does that job, see if you can shadow them for a week or at least a full day. If you can't find anyone near you that has that job, then consider if you want to move where the jobs are. If you want to move, excellent, but arrange an opportunity to see the job in action for more than an hour.
If college is the goal, whether or not a job is desired, well, you must be rich, so go on your dime with no loans. Lots of people are trying to pay off student loans while not making anymore money than a hard working day laborer.
And beware of the internet universities and career colleges. Many have such poor reputations that employers don't even want to bother interviewing them for any but the lowest paying jobs.
If your family has a plumbing business, or a mechanic's garage or some other small business. Consider working there and learning something there. Many of us wish we had done that before we went out and got our degrees that dropped us into careers we knew nothing about and money that was just good enough to keep us from changing to something we actually enjoyed doing.
And, if you get a call about "we see you are interested in a degree", hang up, fast. Reputable schools don't buy lists of numbers from the internet hoping to mine a little government gold off your student loans.
My suggestion to all of you busy trying to grab the brass ring via education.
Ask yourself some questions: What do you enjoy doing, what do you read about for fun, what fascinates you, do you like making things or fixing things or planning things. Who are you now---not who do you think you just might enjoy being? Have you met someone that does what you think you want to do. Will they let you watch them work?
When I taught, and I was a terrible teacher--not everyone has the patience for students that don't want to be there, but when I did, out of every 25 kids, 10 had plans for pro sports, 6 for entertainment, 5 lawyers and 3 doctors--usually only 1-2 of them making passing grades when they announced that, and 1 that planned on doing what a parent did. If I had taught younger kids, it would have been 20 teachers, 2 dinosaurs, a princess, a president, and a soldier.
We do our children no service by not teaching them about the world, the work world, the real life world where what we do impacts our futures.
College was great. I loved the history classes. I learned a lot in the science classes. My math skills got better.
But I could have made the same money or better if I had apprenticed myself to a plumber for a couple of years.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Once upon a time, nobody worried about the earth. The natural world was this sturdy thing, made by GOD for our use. FOR OUR USE! And we h...
-
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/04/678227272/what-it-looks-like-to-have-a-record-number-of-women-in-the-house-of-representati NPR did a nice a...
