The growth in relative materialism over the past 20 years is taking a heavy toll on the wellbeing of English-speaking nations
By far the most significant consequence of "selfish capitalism" (Thatch/Blatcherism) has been a startling increase in the incidence of mental illness in both children and adults since the 1970s. As I report in my book, The Selfish Capitalist - Origins of Affluenza, World Health Organisation and nationally representative studies in the United States, Britain and Australia, reveal that it almost doubled between the early 80s and the turn of the century. These increases are very unlikely to be due to greater preparedness to acknowledge distress - the psychobabbling therapy culture was already established.
Add to this the astonishing fact that citizens of Selfish Capitalist, English-speaking nations (which tend to be one and the same) are twice as likely to suffer mental illness as those from mainland western Europe, which is largely Unselfish Capitalist in its political economy. An average 23% of Americans, Britons, Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians suffered in the last 12 months, but only 11.5% of Germans, Italians, French, Belgians, Spaniards and Dutch. The message could not be clearer. Selfish Capitalism, much more than genes, is extremely bad for your mental health. But why is it so toxic?
Health & Wellness
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| ©REUTERS/CDC/Janice Carr/Handout |
| An undated scanning electron micrograph of Streptococcus pneumoniae. |
Treating severe pneumonia in children at home with oral antibiotics works just as well as treating them with intravenous drugs at a hospital as advised by the World Health Organization, scientists said on Thursday.
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| ©REUTERS/Jamil Bittar |
| Gloria, the first calf born to a cloned cow, Vitoria (L), is seen on a government farm outside Brasilia in this October 4, 2004 file photo. |
The U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is expected to declare as early as next week that meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring is safe to eat, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Australia is suffering through its worst dry spell in a millennium. The outback has turned into a dust bowl, crops are dying off at fantastic rates, cities are rationing water, coral reefs are dying, and the agricultural base is evaporating.
But what really intrigues Glenn Albrecht - a philosopher by training - is how his fellow Australians are reacting.
They're getting sad.
But what really intrigues Glenn Albrecht - a philosopher by training - is how his fellow Australians are reacting.
They're getting sad.
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| ©BBC |
| Norovirus causes sudden vomiting and diarrhoea. |
People struck down by a stomach bug sweeping the UK have been urged not to go back to work.
Doctors estimate more than 100,000 people a week are catching norovirus, which causes diarrhoea and vomiting.
"Some recent studies suggest that over-consumption of fluoride can raise the risks of disorders affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland," reports Scientific American editors (January 2008). "Scientific attitudes toward fluoridation may be starting to shift," writes author Dan Fagin.
"Fluoride, the most consumed drug in the USA, is deliberately added to 2/3 of public water supplies theoretically to reduce tooth decay, but with no scientifically-valid evidence proving safety or effectiveness," says lawyer Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.
Fagin, award-wining environmental reporter and Director of New York
University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program, writes,
"There is no universally accepted optimal level for daily intake of fluoride."
Some researchers even wonder whether the 1 mg/L added into drinking water is too much, reports Fagin.
"Fluoride, the most consumed drug in the USA, is deliberately added to 2/3 of public water supplies theoretically to reduce tooth decay, but with no scientifically-valid evidence proving safety or effectiveness," says lawyer Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.
Fagin, award-wining environmental reporter and Director of New York
University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program, writes,
"There is no universally accepted optimal level for daily intake of fluoride."
Some researchers even wonder whether the 1 mg/L added into drinking water is too much, reports Fagin.
Health Ministry makes positive ID of H5N1 bird flu virus in Binyamina kindergarten. Agriculture Ministry quarantines all chicken coops, hatcheries within six-mile radius pending further testing.
The Haifa District Physician, Prof. Shmuel Rishpon, confirmed Thursday that a deadly strain of the bird flu virus has infected chickens at a petting zoo in a Binyamina kindergarten.
Earlier Thursday morning 18 of the 25 chickens in the kindergarten's petting zoo, were found dead.
"The virus was identified as H5N1 bird flue," said Rishpon, adding that humans that contract this strain have only a 50% survival rate.
Rishpon commended the kindergarten teacher for her decision not to discard the dead chickens but rather to call a veterinarian, who sent samples of the poultry's blood to the Health Ministry for further testing.
The Haifa District Physician, Prof. Shmuel Rishpon, confirmed Thursday that a deadly strain of the bird flu virus has infected chickens at a petting zoo in a Binyamina kindergarten.
Earlier Thursday morning 18 of the 25 chickens in the kindergarten's petting zoo, were found dead.
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| ©Ido Ezer |
| Health Ministry workers at the kindergarten |
"The virus was identified as H5N1 bird flue," said Rishpon, adding that humans that contract this strain have only a 50% survival rate.
Rishpon commended the kindergarten teacher for her decision not to discard the dead chickens but rather to call a veterinarian, who sent samples of the poultry's blood to the Health Ministry for further testing.
People 60 and older who undergo elective surgery may be at higher risk of lasting memory problems, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
They said people 60 and older who have major surgeries such as joint replacements or hysterectomies are more likely to have cognitive problems after surgery.
They said people 60 and older who have major surgeries such as joint replacements or hysterectomies are more likely to have cognitive problems after surgery.
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| ©REUTERS/File |
Insured and wealthy Americans were more likely than the poor to get billions of dollars in free drug samples distributed by pharmaceutical companies to win patient and doctor loyalty, a study released on Wednesday showed.
A glitch in the way cells clear damaged proteins could be the trigger for the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, researchers said in a finding that could lead to new treatments for the incurable condition.
The U.S. team focused on a process called autophagy in which cells digest and recycle damaged molecules, including proteins, that develop as cells grow older. This system essentially renews cells to keep them functioning properly.
The U.S. team focused on a process called autophagy in which cells digest and recycle damaged molecules, including proteins, that develop as cells grow older. This system essentially renews cells to keep them functioning properly.
Comment: The biotech companies score another win with the FDA. Surprise, surprise.
And why, you may ask, should we take the FDA's approval rating for cloned cow to be factual? Good question! The FDA also stated that genetically modified foods are just fine to eat, too. And there are studies that show that this is not, in fact, the truth.
The REAL Reasons You Want to Avoid Genetically Modified Foods goes into these studies. And if the FDA is pulling one over on us here, what is to say that they are not doing the same with cloned cow?
One should always ask, "who benefits", even in instances like this. And the big winners, as mentioned above are the biotech businesses. This is all for them, and like always, the little people who make up the majority of this planet of people are not considered in the least, except to beguile into buying the stuff. And the FDA tells us, "It's okay, trust us."