Changing concept of work
For many of us, work is still a place where we go each day. However, the whole concept of work and leisure is changing, and for an increasing number of people around the world, work is no longer a place to go but something they do.
A substantial number of companies have already introduced a flexible working policy. This gives their staff a much greater degree of choice about when and where they work. It also enables them to achieve a balance between them personal and business lives. People with parental responsibilities, for example, value flexibility enormously. Many companies now offer parents the option to become homeworkers who finish work early afternoon to spend the rest of the day with their children, and do the rest of their work when the children are asleep.
Unequal distribution of wealth
Most news programmers’ now have a business section. This might give us the illusion that we are all equally affected by stock markets and financial speculation. When we care to study the facts and figures, however, it soon becomes clear that the glamorous financial deals we regularly hear about benefit only a tiny minority of people. According to a recent report published in the US, the wealthiest 1% of the population control more than one third of the entire nation's wealth. This concentration of wealth among the very rich has mostly remained constant over the past ten years. On the other hand, the living standards of a large proportion of the population have stagnated or declined. This phenomenon is by no means unique to the US, it is indeed common throughout the industrialized world. It is also occurring in emerging economies like India and China. As the gap between average families and the very few ultra-rich continues to widen, it seems urgent to address the issue of global inequality of wealth and income distribution.
Junk Mail
Junk mail is the name given to all the sales ads, catalogues, prize offers, etc which rind their way into your letterbox without you having requested anything.
While some of that mail gets into everyone'smailbox, a sizeable proportion of it is actually personalized and addressed to certain individuals in particular. Computerized mailing lists have made it very easy for companies to obtain huge numbers of names and addresses. When you subscribe to a magazine or buy something from a mail order catalogue, for example, your name is entered into a computer, and very often automatically added to one or more mailing lists. The mail order firm or the credit card company in question can then rent their lists to other companies, and that is when your letterbox begins to overflow with unwanted mail. A number of organizations have now been created specifically to help the public deal with unsolicited advertisements.
Cross-cultural awareness
It may be true that cultures are becoming more alike under the effect of globalization and mass tourism. However, there often remains a gap between any two given cultures. What enables us to bridge this gap is often called cultural awareness.Empathy, i.e., openness of mind and heart, together with a willingness to step into someone else's shoes, is a necessary condition for such an awareness to develop. However, empathy on its own is not enough. We also need to develop an ability to look at our culture from the outside. This process should make us realize that all the behaviors, beliefs and values that we have always taken for granted may indeed appear strange to someone from another cultural group. In other words, we need to be able both to make the strange look familiar, and make the familiar look strange. If we can achieve this, then we can develop what some sociologists call our cross-cultural awareness.
Awareness - осведомленность
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