On the 8 Spot

Interesting , if most of the changes are due to men then maybe, (humor me) just maybe the feminist movement has got it all wrong, its the men who have been forced to assume a not so normal role in more traditional hierarchical societies, it means that traditional societies in a way enslaved men more than women. And if this is true then is this the reason that men suffer higher rates of mental diseases? because we are not in a more natural state of existence.

It looks as if personality differences between men and women are smaller in traditional cultures like India’s or Zimbabwe’s than in the Netherlands or the United States. A husband and a stay-at-home wife in a patriarchal Botswanan clan seem to be more alike than a working couple in Denmark or France. The more Venus and Mars have equal rights and similar jobs, the more their personalities seem to diverge.

…..

The biggest changes recorded by the researchers involve the personalities of men, not women. Men in traditional agricultural societies and poorer countries seem more cautious and anxious, less assertive and less competitive than men in the most progressive and rich countries of Europe and North America.

…..

Findings – As External Barriers Disappear, Internal Gender Gaps Widen – NYTimes.com.

I was telling my sister how hard it is to teach hungry children anything, how useless one feels when children can’t concentratee because they did not have breakfast. Makes you feel good that there are still people who find the time to volunteer in School Feeding Programs such as:

• Jollibee
• GMA Kapuso Foundation
• Senator Edgardo Angara

I don’t know why the massacre post from freakonomics lead to a post on school feeding programs, but the thing is It is hard to think with an empty stomach so if we really want to make an impact we must think of the whole problem of poverty not as separate things like education, hunger, lack of social mobility but as an interconnected net of conditions that create a somewhat insurmountable barrier, for probably everyone save for people with extraordinary luck and maybe skill.

old research in impact of School Feeding Program in the Philippines

PS I’d gladly add other companies to this list just email me.

Some thoughts:

+ This is good and bad dependig as usual on the person in power.

+ Good people would mean better or at least mroe vigorous implementation of needed but unpopular or important but hard to enforce regulations or laws.

+ Not so good people throw caution to the wind and exercise extreme corruption etc. Reminds me of how Governor Generals of the Philippines were described (see Noli Me Tangere) during thier last months in their commission.

+ This is important because this means we need a way of contra-balancing the effects. Maximizing the effects of good people and minimizing the effects of not so good people.

+ Makes me think that countries with no strong term limits but great independent institutions (independent non partisan military, proper separation/balance of power among institutions) are would be better governed but have leaders locked eternally into a public relations campaign. (If I am not mistaken Tony Blair’s and England is an example of this, Japan too I think)

+ This makes me think that among real democracies the Philippines systems is ill-designed. You have a fix term limit where you have no re-elections, and weak institutions. You get a recipe where most people who become president are corrupt, and they throw caution to the wind because they do not have to revalidate their power from the people because they are not re-elected.

thanks to Mark Thoma here:

from here:

Conclusions

Our analysis of the impact of term limits on inter-state conflicts confirms that domestic political institutions can have a crucial impact on economic and political outcomes. In democracies without term limits, periodic elections provide the means to hold opportunistic political leaders accountable for their foreign policy decisions. In autocracies and democracies with term limits, in which there is no need for “contract renewal”, politicians can adopt unpopular policies with no repercussion on whether or not they are able to stay in power. Some caution is clearly warranted in interpreting these results. Though our analysis shows that political systems in which the leaders are subject to re-election are good for peace, this should not be taken to imply that democratisation of dictatorships will necessarily lead to peace. The take-home message, as pointed out by Daron Acemoglu, Davide Ticchi and Andrea Vindigni recently on Vox, is that policymakers should carefully consider the complexity of the political environment when trying to shape or guide the transition to democracy.

Democracy and accountability: The perverse effects of term limits | vox – Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists.

Reading this made me WANT TO WORK HARDER!

– He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Harvard (in Law)

– age 24, he wrote the definitive book ‘The Naval War of 1812′, standard history for two generations.

– age 24 the president appointed him to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served for 13 years. In his term, he vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded the enforcement of civil service laws.

Angry Bear: Dueling Mooses.