Attitudes – Apr 27

Click on the headline (link) for the full text.

Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage

Why The Chinese Are Getting Richer But Not Happier
PsyBlog
… Data examined in a new study to be published in the Journal of Happiness Studies highlights a striking paradox in the expanding Chinese economy. While the Chinese are getting richer, they don’t seem to be getting happier – in fact they’re getting more unhappy. This paradox may have much to teach other expanding societies about the perils of financial inequality.

China, 1990-2000

Between 1990 and 2000 the Chinese saw an incredible boom in their economy such that millions were pulled up out of poverty to earn a decent living wage. In ten years the average rural wage in China more than tripled, while in urban areas it quadrupled.

Set against this impressive financial boom is a surprising story coming out of research into Chinese happiness over this decade. In 1990 28% of Chinese people described themselves as very happy, but by 2000 this figure had dropped to 12%. When asked about their satisfaction with life, the story was the same: in 1990 the average was 7.3 (out of 10), but by 2000 it had dropped to 6.5. This drop was seen across rural and urban China and in almost every income bracket.

This finding is surprising because it’s the exact opposite of what psychological research on the happiness of societies would predict. Money has the biggest positive effect on happiness among the poor. When you’re already relatively well-off, more money makes less difference.
(25? April 2008)

Taking the blame for eco-woes
Martin Mittelstaedt, Globe & Mail
During the 1980s, Canadians typically blamed corporations for many of the world’s environmental ills. But today, they have another target as eco-villain: themselves.

A new survey of environmental attitudes, one of the most extensive undertaken in the country, has revealed a profound shift in public opinion on the causes of environmental problems: People now suggest harm to the planet is being driven by their own demand for consumer goods and wasteful activities, rather than by causes such as company-produced pollution.

The survey, conducted by Harris/Decima and involving about 10,000 people who completed online questionnaires, found the most frequently cited factors for causing environmental problems were wasteful behaviour by consumers and companies alike, and “people consuming more than they need.”
(24 April 2008)

Little Increase in Americans’ Global Warming Worries
Frank Newport, Gallup
While 61% of Americans say the effects of global warming have already begun, just a little more than a third say they worry about it a great deal, a percentage that is roughly the same as the one Gallup measured 19 years ago.

… Despite the enormous attention paid to global warming over the past several years, the average American is in some ways no more worried about it than in years past. Americans do appear to have become more likely to believe global warming’s effects are already taking place and that it could represent a threat to their way of life during their lifetimes. But the American public is more worried about a series of other environmental concerns than about global warming, and there has been no consistent upward trend on worry about global warming going back for two decades. Additionally, only a little more than a third of Americans say that immediate, drastic action is needed in order to maintain life as we know it on the planet.

These results are from Gallup’s annual Environment poll, conducted March 6-9, 2008.

Eighty percent of Americans say they understand the issue of global warming, a percentage that is up significantly from 16 years ago, when only 53% said they understood the issue.
(21 April 2008)

We’re all destroying the earth, and buying an organic handbag ain’t gonna help
Sarah Fenske, Phoenix New Times
Last year, trees died so I could learn how to live “green.”

Doesn’t seem quite right, does it? But anybody with a magazine jones like mine undoubtedly triggered a similar herbicide. That’s because Vanity Fair and Dwell and Elle and Shape and Wired have each produced a “green issue” (or three), and now even the local guys, like Java and Phoenix and Desert Living, are joining in. Even though glossy magazines kill an estimated 15 trees per ton of paper, each one is intent on spreading the gospel of just how easy it is to Save the Earth.

Usually, in fact, it boils down to supporting the issue’s advertisers: Buy a Prius! Buy an organic cotton T-shirt! Buy vegan nail polish remover!

… Everybody wants to believe there’s a quick and painless way to make a difference. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world,” etc., etc.

No offense to Margaret Mead, but in this case, it’s simply not true.

… But the more I kept reading, the queasier I became. I began to realize I could do every single thing Diane MacEachern wanted me to do, and it wouldn’t make one iota of difference.

That’s because our big environmental problems don’t come from mascara, or even Clorox. The real problem is our reliance on old coal-burning power plants, big gas-guzzling cars, and suburban McMansions.

You can have as many makeup-free days as you want; if you’re living in a five-bedroom house in Buckeye and working in Queen Creek, you’re not doing a lick of good. The little stuff simply doesn’t matter if the big picture is a wasteful mess.

Here’s an example: Diane MacEachern herself casually mentions flying to Tanzania for vacation. Twice. According to the various “carbon footprint” calculators I consulted, those two trips alone created more harmful carbon dioxide emissions than I generated in an entire year – and I’m a dry-clean-only, V-6 engine-driving carnivore!
(17 April 2008)
The full quote from Margaret Mead (US cultural anthropologist) is:

Never doubt that a handful of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

And a counter-intuitive article about Phonix NOT having a water problem (I’m not sure I believe it). See what you think: No one is saying you should waste water, but in Phoenix it’s hard to come up with a reason not to.