Revolutions upon revolutions…

The Problem:  How to provide a high standard of living for all members of society.

The Solution: Economics  Economics:  The study of the way in which societies make decisions about the goods and services they will produce to meet the wants and needs of their citizens

Standard of Living  A measure of the consumption of goods and services that individuals and groups privately and or collectively can achieve

Factors that define standard of living:  Income levels  Diets  Medical care  Safe water supply  Educational levels  Choice available to people  Life expectancy

Compare:  Democratic Industrial Societies:  Material well being  Social mobility  Individual autonomy  Aboriginal Societies  Sacred respect for the land  Kinship with all living beings  Sharing of economic wealth  Opportunity to contribute to the groups well being

Standard of Living  Maintaining a high standard of living means:  Deciding what a high standard of living is  How to organize society so that the necessary goods and services to support the standard of living can be produced  How to distribute the goods and services to all who want them

So what is essential to a high standard of living?

 Infrastructure

Infrastructure:  Industrial societies are based on a complex system of political and economic organizations known as an infrastructure which make possible the production of goods and services

Will beliefs and values influence a nations infrastructure and economic organization? How?