proofonline.org » Freedom http://www.proofonline.org/blog mental health blog Mon, 19 Jul 2010 06:24:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 China to US: Your iPad Is Killing Me http://www.proofonline.org/blog/2010/05/26/china-to-us-your-ipad-is-killing-me/ http://www.proofonline.org/blog/2010/05/26/china-to-us-your-ipad-is-killing-me/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 21:25:43 +0000 Douglas Faneuil http://www.proofonline.org/blog/?p=436 QuoteAfter a string of self-inflicted deaths at iPhone- and iPad-manufacturing Foxconn factories in China, employees are being asked to sign no-suicide pledges, according to a Taiwanese cable news report passed on by Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald. The company is also surrounding its buildings with nets to catch jumpers.”

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[I don't want to suggest that buying an iPad is an act of murder, but in our ever-demanding quest for cheaper products, we're the ones forcing big business to "externalize costs." (Watch The Story of Stuff for an excellent illustration of this phenomenon.) If an iPad seems miraculously cheap, it isn't – someone, or something (the planet, say), is paying the price for your savings. The notion that everyone should be able to afford an iPad is delightfully democratic. Unfortunately, citizens in any fairly representative government wouldn't stand for conditions like Foxconn's. Democratizing technology seems at odds with democratizing the world. -Ed.]

]]> http://www.proofonline.org/blog/2010/05/26/china-to-us-your-ipad-is-killing-me/feed/ 0 Early Rights Advocate Judi Chamberlin Dies http://www.proofonline.org/blog/2010/01/28/early-rights-advocate-judi-chamberlin-dies/ http://www.proofonline.org/blog/2010/01/28/early-rights-advocate-judi-chamberlin-dies/#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:16:27 +0000 Douglas Faneuil http://www.proofonline.org/blog/?p=382 Quote Not surprisingly, Ms. Chamberlin was a critic of the old system, of large institutions in which people were given little hope of recovery and essentially told to accept that they would always lead a limited life.”

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Read Judi’s Blog, Life As A Hospice Patient

]]> http://www.proofonline.org/blog/2010/01/28/early-rights-advocate-judi-chamberlin-dies/feed/ 0 More On Free Choice and Well-being http://www.proofonline.org/blog/2010/01/21/more-on-free-choice-and-well-being/ http://www.proofonline.org/blog/2010/01/21/more-on-free-choice-and-well-being/#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:00:08 +0000 Douglas Faneuil http://www.proofonline.org/blog/?p=376 An interesting addendum to last Friday’s post:

Quote Americans live in a political, social, and historical context that advances personal freedom, choice, and self-determination above all else,” write authors Hazel Rose Markus (Stanford University) and Barry Schwartz (Swarthmore College). “Contemporary psychology has proliferated this emphasis on choice and self-determination as the key to healthy psychological functioning…”

“Moreover, the enormous opportunity for growth and self-advancement that flows from unlimited freedom of choice may diminish rather than enhance subjective well-being… Even in contexts where choice can foster freedom, empowerment, and independence, it is not an unalloyed good. Choice can also produce a numbing uncertainty, depression, and selfishness.”

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[Ironically, we solve this dilemma by choosing to limit our choices. Shopping for clothes used to be a nightmare for me, because I didn't know where to begin – until I learned to take my whims more seriously. Once I started dismissing most things out of hand (often with no good reason), I could get choosing underway. -Ed.]

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