Ground Down by Scarcity

from CBC’s The Current: “Making do with less, can make you less, according to Princeton psychology professor Eldar Shafir. Less insightful. Less forward-thinking. Less control. Scarcity can force the poor into making bad decisions that only make their lives worse. Today, professor Shafir warns poverty shapes our inner lives in ways both subtle and profound.

Maybe you’re feeling the stress from not enough cash, or not enough time. But if you experience scarcity for any length of time, you may undergo real psychological change. And they’re probably not changes for the better. Most everyone has known times when they didn’t have enough time, money, sleep or energy. The outer effects are fairly obvious, but you may be unaware of how much scarcity shapes our inner lives.”