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Rich People Just Care Less
The New York Times: Turning a blind eye. Giving someone the cold shoulder. Looking down on people. Seeing right through them. These metaphors for condescending or dismissive behavior are more than just descriptive. They suggest, to a surprisingly accurate extent, the social distance between those with greater power and those with less — a distance that goes beyond the realm of interpersonal interactions and may exacerbate the soaring inequality in the United States. A growing body of recent research shows that people with the most social power pay scant attention to those with little such power.
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Does Diversity Undermine Community Trust?
The Huffington Post: One of the most conspicuous failures of the 113th Congress has been the Republican House's refusal to even discuss long-overdue immigration reform, despite the Senate's painstaking work in crafting a comprehensive bill. The Republican leadership knows that its hopelessly divided lawmakers will never come close to agreement on this contentious issue. It is a difficult issue to be sure. Our culture and our economy are based on immigration and diversity, yet newcomers have always been threatening for some.
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Five ways money can buy you happiness
The Washington Post: You have probably heard and maybe even embrace the idea that money can’t buy happiness. I’ve said so myself numerous times. But behavioral scientists and researchers Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton argue this is not exactly true. Money, if you spend it right, can buy happiness. So what’s the right way? “Shifting from buying stuff to buying experiences, and from spending on yourself to spending on others, can have a dramatic impact on happiness,” Dunn and Norton write in “Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending”. Dunn is an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia.
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Debt ceiling debate: Preaching to the choir
CNN: The White House continues to issue dire warnings about the economic consequences should Congress fail to raise the debt ceiling this month. President Barack Obama told Wall Street to be "concerned" and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Congress is "playing with fire." But despite all the drastic pronouncements, some Republicans in Congress aren't buying it. For one thing, they doubt that October 17 is the date when the Treasury will be unable to meet its obligations. Rep. Lee Terry, R-Nebraska, is one of those lawmakers. ... Which side is right? Before default is reached, it's hard to know.
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What Do You See in The Face Of The GOP?
I’ve worked in Washington, DC, for decades, so I have witnessed a fair number of political logjams, even a few government shutdowns. So I’m not quick to panic when the two parties’ leaders stubbornly stake out what are seemingly irreconcilable positions. But I confess that listening to House Republicans this time around—especially but not only the Tea Party zealots—is making me nervous. This is not just the usual posturing and brinkmanship. I really think they perceive a different reality than the rest of us. Is that possible? Can people be so biased by their political attitudes that they look out and see a different world, a world where up is down and black is white?
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The Mind of a Furloughed Worker
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers remain on furlough from their jobs, hoping the congressional budget standoff will end in time for them to pay their rents and mortgage installments. It's a situation that is all too familiar to countless private sector workers who were laid off - either permanently or temporarily - from their jobs amid the economic crisis that spanned the globe over the last five years. What’s it like to live in a time of such uncertainty? According to brain studies, that depends on your personality type. Research shows a glimpse of how employees will differ in the way they deal with such unknowns as a work stoppage.
