this is what’s right in the world

The mainstream media makes the current economic condition of the US seem dire and desperate, but is it really? One news website is saying that home businesses have grown faster than ever despite the recession. In the face of job cuts, this could be a way for people to manage and increase income during times of uncertainty.

There are always other ways to present stories, and while the job market may be harder to break in to, there are certainly other ways of improving your own finances. Not all is bleak!

Source: Legitimate home business market growing fast despite recession

The media has a tendency to represent Alzheimer’s as one of the more devastating things that can happen to a family. But for Sue Bourne, it has been an inspirational experience. She has made a documentary about the effects that the disease has had on her family, but maintains a positivity throughout. She writes about cherishing every moment with her mother and the small things in which she can find joy.

Hers is a beautiful story shared by many, but she shows how she captures happiness in spite of the hardness. Hopefully her story will be an inspiration for others going through trying times.

Source: Mum’s cheerfulness is inspirational

Morning sickness, a dreaded element of many pregnancies, may just have a great purpose after all. Researchers are saying that it may actually serve to protect the fetus during its most critical growth phases by keeping potential toxins out of the mother’s body.

The article says that it is rather unpleasant to experience, but that researchers are trying to find ways to make it more manageable without mitigating the positive effects.

Source: Causes of morning sickness revealed

Australia has started a program called Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative. This helps those with mental illnesses stay out of the hospitals and remain valuable members of their communities. The program has had major successes, and its participants are healthier in many ways for it. They learn how to take care of themselves, which provides the important morale boosts that keep them out of hospitals.

This is an unconventional way of treating mental illness, but it is sometimes those unconventional methods that have the greatest impact. Rather than wiling away in hospitals, people are now able to contribute, feel valued, and most importantly, be valued.

Source: Mentally ill offered hope, not hospitals

The Black Death wiped out a significant portion of Europe’s population. It is hard to imagine that anything good could come from such devastating loss. In the midst of mourning, the survivors had to move on with life and rebuilding their worlds. In doing so, the form of the modern world was greatly impacted.

Because so many were dead, those who survived and were able to work were able to demand better pay and treatment, eventually leading to increased prosperity across social classes.

Though the times were fraught with religious discrimination, perhaps the massive death toll contributed to the success of workers’ rights and powers, which in turn, could have contributed to some of the economic successes we have seen in the times leading up to late capitalism.

Sources: How the Black Death changed the world

It was a blast from the past. Eric Wherley discovered a wallet that had been hidden in a bathroom for decades and decided to return it to its owner. Sandy Baumberger was able to reclaim old artifacts such as swatches from her bridesmaid’s dress.

I like to think that most people will return things they find astray to their rightful owners. People lose things all the time, so it is wonderful to hear of a woman finally getting her wallet back after so many years!

Source: Man finds woman’s wallet that had been stolen in 1973

Once a con, always a con. Hmm…not anymore. Different organizations and cities are doing something to tackle recidivism, reducing the number of people who turn back to crime because they have nothing else to do or work toward.

Organizations like America Works put prisoners and other hard to place people into jobs, which greatly reduces the chance of them committing crimes and going back to prison. The article says that people who get jobs right out of prison are much less likely to return to prison, so programs like these are providing a service that keeps us all safer.

Cities like Philadelphia are providing tax incentives to employers who hire former convicts in the hopes that those hired will continue to do well.

Organizations that trust in the ability of people to reform and do good provide a significant service to our communities and ought to be applauded. Anytime something good comes from something that was once bad, the world is a friendlier place.

Source: Getting out of prison and into a job

Among the complaints that big business never listens to their customers, some stories about what big business is doing right are arising. It makes sense that they would want input from customers, but companies like Dell and Starbucks are taking serious action to learn more about what their customers want, and in doing so, it seems that they are improving their products.

This move away from corporate indifference can signify great things. Imagine if the larger retail companies were open to a similar model of business change. Perhaps the customers could rally together to insist on changes in the manufacturing process, changing systems to be more concerned about human rights and environmental consequences.

Source: Hey Starbucks, how about coffee cubes?

Once a con, always a con, right? Maybe not–business schools are using convicted white collar criminals as a lesson for their current students with the aim of providing cautionary tales of what can go wrong if you attempt to commit these types of crimes.

In a time when the news in fraught with horror stories of people losing their pensions because of executive criminals, these ex-cons are providing an important service. If this warning deters future crime, then there will be one less story about workers led into poverty because of embezzled funds.

Though this does not make amends for the theft, any good that comes from their lectures is welcomed.

Source: Using ex-cons to scare MBAs straight

Long called the Dark Continent, Africa is represented as a place of violence and turmoil, but the people of Africa have finally put their feet down in protest of Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe. Through collective protest from unions, a shipload of weapons sent from China was turned away by the ports of Africa.

By working together, other African countries were able to deter further despotic action, and because of this, there is certainly hope for Africa’s political future.

Source: An African beacon of morality