Tag: Poverty

A 25-Year-Old Bet Comes Due: Has Tech Destroyed Society?

“Twenty five years ago I made a bet in the pages of Wired. It was a bet whether the world would collapse by the year 2020.” So writes the 68-year-old founding executive editor of Wired magazine, Kevin Kelly. He’d made the bet with a “Luddite-loving doomsayer,” according to Wired — author Kirkpatrick Sale. “Sale while a student in the 1950s co-wrote…

Andrew Yang Proposes a Local Currency, Sees Growing Support for Universal Basic Income

In March Andrew Yang’s nonprofit gave $1,000 one-time grants to a thousand residents in the Bronx. This week a new article in the New Yorker asks one of those grant recipients how they feel about Yang’s newest proposal as he runs to be New York’s mayor: to give the city’s public-housing residents billions of dollars in a “Borough Bucks” currency that…

Afghan Youth Find Escape in a Video Game

An anonymous reader shares a report: Rifle fire, hurried footsteps and distant explosions. The rat-a-tat of a firefight. Cars mangled from grenades. The young man was transfixed. It could have been any day in Kabul, where targeted assassinations, terrorist attacks and wanton violence have become routine, and the city often feels as if it is under siege. But for Safiullah Sharifi,…

1% of Farms Operate 70% of World’s Farmland

One percent of the world’s farms operate 70% of crop fields, ranches and orchards, according to a report that highlights the impact of land inequality on the climate and nature crises. The Guardian reports: Since the 1980s, researchers found control over the land has become far more concentrated both directly through ownership and indirectly through contract farming, which results in more…

Study Claims 18% of Covid Patients Later Diagnosed with Mental Illness

A new article summarizes research from the University of Oxford and NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre. Slashdot reader AleRunner writes: Nearly one in five people who have had Covid-19 are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder such as anxiety, depression or insomnia within three months of testing positive for the virus,” Natalie Grover writes. Although “people with a pre-existing mental health…

In India, Engineers and MBAs Are Turning To Manual Labor To Survive the Economic Crash

As India’s economy reels in the aftermath of one of the world’s strictest lockdowns, a rural employment program has emerged as a lifeline for some of the tens of millions left jobless. From a report: The government program — which aims to guarantee 100 days of unskilled work in rural areas — was intended to combat poverty and reduce the volatility…

Meet Anita: Lifelong Learner, Contract Tracer

We want to introduce you to Anita. She recently completed the COVID-19 Contact Tracing course from Johns Hopkins University and began working as a contact tracer to help combat the virus. Below, she shares her experience in the course and tells us about her background and future plans. Hello Anita! Thank you so much for […]
The post Meet Anita: Lifelong Learner,…

Meet Anita: Lifelong Learner, Contact Tracer

We want to introduce you to Anita. She recently completed the COVID-19 Contact Tracing course from Johns Hopkins University and began working as a contact tracer to help combat the virus. Below, she shares her experience in the course and tells us about her background and future plans. Hello Anita! Thank you so much for […]
The post Meet Anita: Lifelong Learner,…

Germany Begins Universal Basic Income Trial With People Getting $1,400 a Month For 3 Years

Starting this week, 120 Germans will receive a form of universal basic income every month for three years. Business Insider reports: Germany is about to become the latest country to trial a universal basic income, starting a three-year study of how it affects the economy and recipients’ well-being. As part of the study, 120 people will receive 1,200 euros, or about…