News – Page 171 – Quixotic Pedagogue

Traffic Jams Waste Billions of Dollars and Cause Divorces

Travel write Taras Grescoe discussed the impact of traffic congestion in our financial and personal lives in his book Straphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves from the Automobile:

Economists have actually managed to quantify the absurdity of this situation. According to the Texas Transportation Institute, congestion costs the American economy $115 billion every year in wasted time and fuel—or $808 per person, a figure that, in spite of recession, has increased by 50 percent in the last decade. And time spent commuting turns out to be a powerful predictor of unhappiness. A study of German drivers who commute for two hours or more has shown they would have to make 40 percent more income to be as satisfied with their lives as a non-commuter is, and couples in which one partner commutes for longer than 45 minutes are 40 percent more likely to divorce.

January 10, 2013/by dpogreba

What Countries Are the Best Places to Be Born?

Daily Wisdom

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, relying on scores from 11 variables, not the United States, though we are better off than the people born in Russia:

If you came into the world today and could pick your nationality, there are at least 15 better choices than to be born American, according to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The firm looked at 80 countries, scoring them across 11 variables to determine “which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead.” The results, mapped out above, are both surprising and not.

The best countries to be born in are small, peaceful, homogenous, liberal democracies.

January 9, 2013/by dpogreba

In Defense of Sport

Daily Wisdom

While asserting that progressives have traditionally been skeptical of sport, Bhaskar Sunkara argues that liberals should embrace athletic contests:

None of these qualms are wrong. They’re just missing something—the ecstasy so many get from watching sports, a joy that can’t be reduced to “false consciousness.” Beyond betraying an ascetic disdain for something a large part of humanity finds pleasure in, too many progressives see sports ahistorically, unable to envision them in a different context.
With roots in English public schools and other unsavory places, organized sport was originally an elite phenomenon, but the early working class made no such errors. Taking advantage of the free time guaranteed by the eight-hour day, workers began to democratize games like soccer and rugby. Before long, major social democratic parties across Europe were using sporting clubs and festivals to construct working-class identity and promote solidarity.

January 8, 2013/by dpogreba

Latest News