to Buy or Not to Buy

    Weyburn, Saskatchewan until recently was home to the only unionized Walmart in Canada three years ago a vote was held to decertify the union. The votes were ignored until in early August when a decision was made by the Supreme Court to count them. Fifty one voted to decertify the union while only five wanted to keep it. 

     The United Food and Commercial Workers' Union wanted to appeal to the labour board decision about the accusations of unfair labour practices which the High Court Refused. 

That is the key to happiness. We don't need to buy things to make us happy or consume because we think we need to. 

A study at the University of Kansas proved that smiling has a positive effect on our happiness and physical health (meeting the most basic need on Maslow's hierarchy). According to the study smiling helps us to recover faster after stressful events. A new study from the Michigan State University proves that some people, in the face of stress, turn to shopping. If it's possible to reduce stress by doing something as simple as smiling, why not? We can slowly begin to reduce the amount we consume one small step at time and we can start by smiling. :) 

Here are eight ways you can choose to be happy.

1) Try.

2) Make happiness your top priority.

3) Find happiness in the little things.

4) Be mindful.

5) Smile.

6) Be grateful.

7) Pursue happiness, find happiness and success.

8) Let yourself be happy. 

Sources:

http://chibird.com/post/33740433482/every-day-may-not-be-good-but-theres-something

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/smile_its_good_for_your_heart

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/shopping-stress-materialistic-self-esteem_n_3990007.html

Canada VS. USA Debate: Specific Post

Which economic system best answers the question of scarcity in order to provide a better quality of life for it's citizens: Canada or the USA? Personally I believe that Canada best answers the question of scarcity. The Canadian government provides social programs including health care,  pension for senior citizens, income assistance, etc. They also have launched a ten year plan to end homelessness. Already they've helped over 4,000 people and the number continues to go up. There are several more reasons why I believe Canada has a better economic system to solve scarcity which is mentioned in the debate. 

Collaborative Consumption: Specific Post

On Thursday our class had a mini Swapsity of our own. Swapsity is a modern day barter system where you provide a product or service in exchange for a product or service from someone else. 

Everyone brought a range of things varying from Rubik Cube solving lessons to novels and movies. I brought several mini cherry pies which I was able to trade for many different items and I still had left overs in the end. One of my favourite trades was to Miss G, one tart for three bags of her special tea imported from Japan and I also traded Mrs. Waite one tart for two bags of tea. I really like tea as I'm sure you can tell. 

I think the bartering system is a really effective way to reduce the amounts of energy that goes into making products as well as it reduces the amounts of trash that comes out in the end. If we trade an item or service we no longer need/want to someone who needs or wants that product or service then the product is begin used over again and that's one more thing that did need to be made and one less item that ends up in a landfill when we're done with it. 

On Saturday mornings Adventures in Odyssey airs on and while in the van the other day I listened to one of the episodes called Rewards in Full written and directed by Phil Lollar. I didn't realize until later that this episode in particular talked about advertising and that I could relate this to my consumer tumblr. 

In the episode Bart agrees to collect food to donate. Afterwards Bart begins to advertise so mach about his store and he's so blinded by his desire to make more money have more customers that he begins to loose sight of the reason why he volunteered in the first place. 

I’ve been reading The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles by Hala Jaber. The novel revolves around a journalist covering the 2003 Baghdad war. At the time of the war Iraq was lead by the dictator Saddam Hussein. It can be assumed that he cared more for the land that was his country than the people who resided there. This left the people to resort to theft, murder, etc. during the war in order to meet their most basic needs because the dictator was not providing for his people. While the demand was high the supply was low.

“Not the least of people’s worries was money.There was little work to be had, but hunkering down at home was hard with power cuts for up to twenty four hours a day, and many couples could barely afford to feed their children, let alone fuel a generator for air-conditioning.” pg. 141.

“Ali compensated his two young boys for their confinement with sackloads of toys, video games, and DVD’s. I asked whether he ever worried about spoiling them. “But Hala,” he said. “They have nothing else, poor things. We need to make up for the way they’re having to live.” What of all those families who could not afford such luxuries? I wondered.” pg. 141

Once the war ended and the dictator was overthrown the values of the people changed substantially. They went from being concerned only about survival to enjoying the luxuries of life including cars and more money. An employee of the government, Sa’ad al-Shimary, commented:

“Before 2003, Ba’ath Party was everywhere. It was hard to work in such an environment. I feared they might write a report against me, as they always did, if we tried to criticize their work for any reason. I feared I might go to work and not return home. Now my salary is enough for me and my family. I have no fear in the ministry. My life has changed for the better; I have more money, and I have a new car.”

The Pursuit of Happyness: Specific Post

hap-pi-ness n: the state of being happy.

     What does it truly mean to be happy? It varies for everyone. To some happiness may be having lots of money and a big house, to others friends and family makes one happy. The film The Pursuit of Happyness made me re-consider the definition of what my happy is.

     According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in order to reach the highest point of the heirarary, and in essence, reach the highest point of happiness you must first achieve your basic needs. The most basic being the need for food, water and sleep then comes the need of feeling safe and sheltered from harm. Being loved, befriended and accepted by others falls into the Social Needs category followed by being respected by others for your accomplishments. Once those needs are met you can then reach your full self actualization needs.

    In the film The Pursuit of Happyness I was astounded at how many people were homeless. I didn’t understand how the government were not doing anything more to help these people to meet their basic needs. It seemed as though the government provided little support and expected the people to take care of themselves. This works for some and not for others. For the lucky few who are able to persevere through the hard times they’re able to change their lives.

    This brings me to the theme of the film. I think the theme is that you have to keep moving forward and hard work will reward you. Throughout the film the main character, Chris, struggled. It began when he lost his home, then once he was living in the hotel he was then kicked out and found himself living on the street with his son. Consistently however he continued his apprenticeship working hard until eventually he succeeded and was able to turn his life around.

    This was a heartwarming film about family and happiness that made me smile.