Posted on 01/02/2010 8:42:58 PM PST by Steelfish
Americans Doing More, Buying Less, a Poll Finds
By DAMIEN CAVE January 2, 2010
MIAMI — Rosario and Igor Montoya used to buy, buy, buy for themselves and their two children without a second thought. Expensive sneakers, a new laptop, Legos — they all got what they wanted. But with the recession slashing the Montoyas’ workload and income by more than half, their priorities have shifted from products to activities.
After school and on weekends, the family now hops into a pink canoe they bought secondhand. They paddle though Biscayne Bay to nearby islands, naming each, sometimes making boats out of sticks and leaves.
“I’m trying to teach the kids that you don’t need to have expensive toys to have fun,” said Mr. Montoya, 47, an artist and freelance art director in advertising. “You can make it fun, from anything.”
Quietly but noticeably over the past year, Americans have rejiggered their lives to elevate experiences over things. Because of the Great Recession, a recent New York Times/CBS News poll has found, nearly half of Americans said they were spending less time buying nonessentials, and more than half are spending less money in stores and online.
But Americans are not just getting by with less. They are also doing more.
Some are working longer hours, but a larger proportion, the poll shows, are spending additional time with family and friends, gardening, cooking, reading, watching television and engaging in other hobbies.
The Department of Labor’s time-use surveys show a similar trend: compared with 2005, Americans spent less time in 2008 buying goods and services and more time cooking or taking part in “organizational, civic and religious activities.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Recessions are a natural healing process. But political poison.
So really, we should thank Obama for all this funenployment.
And the funemployment too.
And Bush for spending while cutting taxes. I'm all for cutting taxes if you're slashing government in the process; in fact, it's the only way to full recovery! But, we went from dumb to dumber and unless we slash the size of government in unheard of numbers, nothing will stop what you so humorously called, "funemployment."
“Funemployment”? I thought the libtards called it a ‘Jobless Recovery”? Wished they would call it what it really is: ‘HOPE AND CHANGEY’.
at least two trucking companies have gone out of business in December.
Less stuff is being shipped, because less is ordered, because less is purchased.
There is no recovery. It is still getting worse.
Chinese are working hell of a lot more for a lot less
we will catch up
Oh stop it guys, you are really bumming me out. I just want to do my little ‘Obama dance’ and yell “YES WE CAN!” at the top of my lungs!
It’s a good thing your unemployed or have taken pay cuts! Now you can spend more time with your family and understand what’s important in life! Hard times pulling the family togather just like the “Waltons”! I can’t go on....I just puked.
>I am cutting back too. I decided to buy a Bentley Continental GT instead of the Aston Martin I wanted. We all have to make sacrifices.
You’re in the same boat as Bill Clinton. He can afford only 2 hookers per night instead of 5.
I hope Mr. Cave pays attention. He’ll soon be funemployed, himself.
Brilliant observation. Of course you must exclude SEIU and all the public employee unions and government workers -- for a while.
They honestly don't know anyone outside their own little cirles!
Equall distribution of hell
Is that allowed nowadays?
Only the Federal Govt. gets to spend more and get more (taxes) in a recession. Incompetent corrupt tasbards in DC never curtail spending the peoples $$$$—or lack thereof!
Montoya, Rosario, 1960-
House, Street, Collective: Revolutionary Geographies and Gender Transformation in Nicaragua, 1979-99
Latin American Research Review
This article examines gender struggles surrounding two women’s collectives in a Sandinista village as a way to illuminate microprocesses of gender transformation during the Sandinista period and its aftermath. It argues for an analytical approach sensitive to the specificity of gender relations in particular contexts and the ways these were affected by state policies.
******
Gender’s place: feminist anthropologies of Latin America - Rosario Montoya, Lessie Jo Frazier, Janise Hurtig - 2002 - Social Science
This collection explores ways in which the interrelationship of gender and “place” can serve as a lens for analyzing the cultural, social, and historical ...
Paddling around Biscayne Bay in a second hand canoe is a good way to drown your entire family.
At least 10 miles of the Bay is directly open to the Atlantic Ocean.
Most of the islands are at least 4 miles from shore.
Even in the most sheltered areas, there are strong currents and the ever present potential for 2-3 foot waves.
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