The Real News, an independent internet-based news service founded by viewers (( The founding committee of the Real News includes Lewis Lapham, Gore Vidal,Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, and Howard Zinn )) , has a very short piece on the problems with using GDP as the main indicator of progress and growth.

The argument includes the notion of a triple bottom line – financial, social, and environmental. I particularly like the line from Martin Collier: “you are what you measure, you get what you measure, and you fix what you measure”.

Time banking is a way that helps encourage community involvement while reducing the emphasis on money. Get Rich Slowly, which I’ve just started following, has an introduction to the practice:

Time-banking is built around the basic concept of earning and spending hours. Everyone’s skills, whether they are a medical professional or a house painter, are worth one “time dollar” per hour. The hours that you earn are stored in a “timebank” and can then be redeemed for any service of your choice from any member of the timebank.

This sounds like a great alternative to money-based transactions, at least for community involvement. Also a great way for volunteers to collect some reward for their time.

The CDC in the U.S. has released a new study indicating that Americans are getting considerably less sleep than they were 20 years ago. Sleeplessness does affect a great number of things. I can’t help but think that having this number of people with symptoms like irritability, memory lapses, depersonalization and many more is having an effect on society.