Food poverty-the way out

[simonineaston]

It may be interesting to note that busy investors, with their obsessional interest in markets, have long since identifed the medical / pharmaceutical sector as highly profitable. Emails between hard right politicians, some of whom are now in the HoLs, and sundry ceos around the time of the C19 outbreak revealed how enthusiastic they were about the possibilites for making large sums of money. We recall too, the billions of tax-payers capital that disappeared into various setups, back then... seems like they were right.
So, it's not a great leap to make, from the C19 shenanigans to a near future where investors can reap generous benefits from compaines that successfully monetise ordinary UK citizen's health - that trend has already begun! What's so invideous is that the investors aren't interested in making people well - far from it! They just to want to make money out of anyone while they're ill!
Indeed, if you're super-cynical, you could observe that are benefits from keeping as many people as poss. border-line unwell - perhaps by feeding them a rubbish diet and educating them badly... ring a bell at all ??

[ANTONISH]

I find your cynicism breath taking.
Are you suggesting that those kindly folk who went out of their way to provide the NHS with PPE (admittedly some was sub standard but it's the thought that counts) were motivated by the thought of pecuniary gain and not out of consideration for their fellow citizens?
Personally I was pleased to see they received a reasonable recompense for their efforts (if you consider a few million sufficient).

[simonineaston]

cynicism, eh... today we read that the gov. has yet again bottled it when to comes to promoting good health via the long promised strategy of protecting us from the incessant and seemingly insatiable greed of the food processing industry and all its super-well-funded lobbyists!

Ban on two-for-one junk food deals to be delayed for two more years... Rishi Sunak says he is suspending anti-obesity measure to avoid restricting consumer options during cost of living crisis.

[Jdsk]

NB date.

I suspect that you’re asking me questions to which you already know the answer. IMHO GDP is the wrong measure of a country’s success and we should be looking towards other measures such as happiness and the provision of services. Services do cost money but if everyone is on a lower wage then vast amounts of money are not spent and if people aren’t chasing high cost homes and high cost vehicles there’s a lot more money left for them to enjoy living on which would include providing acceptable levels of healthcare, social care, education and policing.

The answer is that we need to increase productivity and wealth creation if we want world-class public services.

But I totally agree about the importance of measuring and publishing studies of happiness and quality of services.

World Happiness Report, 2023:
https://worldhappiness.report

World Happiness Report, 2024:
https://worldhappiness.report

Jonathan

[simonineaston]

What exactly is there to be happy about? Let's recall that our primate brains are inclined towards two overarching tendancies - opportunism and optimism. Thus any thoughts we have will tend to err on the side of imagining that 'it will be alright on the night'... the likeilhood is that it won't and anyone with half an ounce of sense should have realised that by now.
Off for a nice restorative cycle ride now

[Jdsk]

What exactly is there to be happy about?
...

That only becomes apparent when you start measuring things that matter.

Jonathan

[axel_knutt]

What exactly is there to be happy about? Let's recall that our primate brains are inclined towards two overarching tendancies - opportunism and optimism. Thus any thoughts we have will tend to err on the side of imagining that 'it will be alright on the night'... the likeilhood is that it won't and anyone with half an ounce of sense should have realised that by now.
Off for a nice restorative cycle ride now

Depressive Realism: The perception and judgment of depressed people tends to be more accurate because they are less prone to self-serving bias.