I'd be generally pessimistic. It's my understanding that it's the gradient
over the entire population that produces the effect, not the perception of
any one particular person. If we suddenly increase the affluence of one
person, their health may improve. Societally however, it's a function of
the socioeconomic gradient for the entire population. the gradient has an
effect at all income levels, not just between the poor and everyone else.
Closing the gap between the top and the bottom, would, as I understand it,
be the goal to work toward.
Bill Braun
At 04:33 PM 12/7/00 -0000, Andrew Hobbs wrote:
>If comparing ourselves with people richer than us is bad for our health (I
>believe there is plenty of evidence for this), I would be interested in your
>observations/references/thoughts on:
>- exchange visits between schools, institutions etc. in rich countries and
>poor countries
>- charity sponsorship programmes that link individual donors in rich
>countries with children and individuals in poor countries
>- the readers of UK magazines like OK and Hello, which feature the lives of
>the rich and famous.
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