The Struggle for Survival is an Incredible Waste of Time
When was your last paid vacation? If you live in the United States, your answer might be “never”…
[Chart from No Vacation Nation – Center for Economic and Policy Research, via CNN]
We’ve been looking at North American Industry Classification System for a while, but now we’ve got a system
that will be both scalable and interactive. Speaking of, click the image to see what has made it in so far.
Ape Con Myth is all about the process. As such, the launch of ACM 5.0 does not feature any immediate changes. The whole thing will unfold right in front of your eyes, right here, starting right… now!
[Chart via NYTimes]
[That Mitchell and Webb Look on IMDb]
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[Click on the maps to get a little closer or check out the full PDFs and more at FRAP maps]
[Photo: Damn]
What happens when you adjust median household income for the cost of living? In some ways, nothing. On the left, we have a bunch of wealth suburbs that remain as such after the change. On the right, we have a bit of reality, which the respective populations are likely already painfully aware of… But, here’s the numbers, just in case:
[Chart from The Council for Community and Economic Research]
[Gallup poll via P.A.P.-Blog]
In response to continued economic hardship, Ape Con Myth recommends that the entire population of the United States take a vacation as soon as possible. Please refer to the map below to find your destination. Each state has been assigned a foreign country with a comparable GDP.
To complete the exercise, write a short essay on what your home state could learn from its economic counterpart, and vice versa. Airlines are asked to provide pen and paper to all returning travelers for this purpose and to forward the collected works to Ape Con Myth for processing. Wikipedia is an acceptable substitute for those who can’t afford the trip. Your essays are welcome in the comments.
[Map via Big Think‘s Strange Maps; Thanks to scribblesabit]
Though this op-ed highlights the great disconnect between what young people are told and the very different life waiting for them as “adults”, this phenomenon is far from new. Also not new is the implication that we shouldn’t have gotten everyone’s hopes up in the first place, as opposed to perhaps admitting that our so-called adulthood is often nothing more than people getting backed into an economic corner where our “calling” is replaced with… whatever can pay the bills. Hopefully.
[Excerpts from the David Brooks’ It’s Not About You – NYTimes]