Problem
Temporal deprivation
Other Names:
Temporal discriminationDegrading people's time orientation
Extreme present-orientedness
Temporal disorientation
Narrow time span of the poor
Temporal ghettos
Nature:
In every society the poor and the powerless have a narrowly circumscribed sense of time, oriented towards the immediate challenges of daily living. Such people are not free or empowered to plan ahead to secure a better future for themselves. Temporal deprivation is thus built into the time frame of every advanced society with the poor in industrial cultures being both temporarily poor as well as materially poor. To those in lower economic classes the future is less predictable and much less apparent in comparison with the problems of immediate economic security. Those who are obliged in this way to focus on the present are led into a future that others have envisaged for them. Temporal discrimination segregates the unskilled and semi-skilled, who require little past knowledge and even less predictive or planning skills, from the professional who requires both. Such higher economic classes are conditioned by their upbringing to delay immediate gratification in expectation of greater rewards at some future time. Broader Problems:
Inadequate sense of timeObstacles to efficient utilization of time Related Problems:
Erroneous "business as usual" projectionsExcessive waiting times in government facilities Aggravates:
Lack of timeUnpreparednessFear of future changeUnimaginative educational visionDetrimental story of community futureFatalistic attitudes to the use of timeParalysis of elders faced with the futureUnknowable future patterns of social choiceIrresponsibility towards future generationsYoung people's lack of context for the futureInhibited capacity to visualize a creative future Strategies:
Protecting temporal wildernessAssisting those in povertyDepriving timeReducing temporal discriminationTemporal orientingLiving in the presentExpanding time span Subject(s):
Fundamental Sciences → FormSociety → People
Society → Disadvantaged
Societal Problems → Maltreatment
Societal Problems → Deprivation
Education → Vocational guidance
Psychology → Sensory
Policy-making → Future
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
F: Fuzzy exceptional problems Date of last update
04.10.2020 – 22:48 CEST