by Rob Dietz
I suspect that my dad would have been just as happy (and maybe even happier) using a community workshop. In the end, what was he really after? The feeling of usefulness in solving a problem, the feeling of pride in building something beautiful, and the feeling of satisfaction that can come from working with one’s own hands. All of these feelings can be had in a community workshop, but there’s something more, too. In a shared shop, he would have had other people to work with, people who could swap know-how, ideas, and friendly conversation. But to establish such a workshop, he and his neighbors would have had to favor community sharing over individual shopping.
A good number of people are finding ways to resist the culture of consumerism and establish vibrant cultures of their own. Many older people, for example, spend less of their income on things and more on experiences, which tend to have a lower material impact. In addition, increasing numbers of people, either as individuals or as groups, are selecting “downshifted” lifestyles, aiming for what sociologist Duane Elgin calls “outwardly simple, yet inwardly rich” lives.11 These people are attempting to focus less on the things money can buy (stuff) and more on the things it can’t (time, relationships, and community).
Such people are taking the idea of enough to heart, and they’re living better lives because of it. Both social scientists and neuroscientists have been conducting research into what makes people happy—what makes fulfilling lives—and their findings point squarely away from consumer culture. The New Economics Foundation has summarized the evidence and describes five proven ways to achieve well-being:
1. Connect. Maintain close relationships with family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues.
2. Be active. Take part in enjoyable physical activities.
3. Take notice. Be curious, savor the moment, and be aware of what’s happening in the world.
4. Keep learning. Try new things and set challenges that would be enjoyable to achieve.
5. Give. Express gratitude and do helpful things for others.12
At a presentation in late 2011, author and environmentalist Paul Gilding noted that the five ways to well-being have two things in common: (1) they all take time, and (2) they’re all free. That’s a cheerful thought because, as Gilding notes, “The future of the economy looks like less money, less stuff, less debt and more time, more fun, more happiness.”13 Science and common sense agree that consumerism is an ill-advised strategy for achieving good health and finding meaning in life. Once we’ve met our basic needs, we simply can’t buy our way to happiness. The challenge now is to plan the obsolescence of consumer culture.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Given how deeply consumerism has become embedded in everyday life (despite the way it coaxes people to chase fulfillment in ineffective ways), it’s going to take a revolutionary change in values to overcome the prevailing orthodoxy. The change is unlikely to happen quickly or easily because of the anxieties that will inevitably arise in response to such a transformation. In addition, plenty of powerful forces benefit from consumer spending, and they won’t give up their positions of power without a fight. Advertisers, credit card companies, soft drink makers, banks, car companies, computer manufacturers, and government stimulus programs are but a few of the institutions aligned with consumerism.
Successfully fighting these forces will require a sustained and coordinated effort to curtail the power of large corporations and the media, both of which exercise substantial influence over people’s lives. It is important not to underestimate these entities and the often subtle methods they use to influence consumers. But bankers, advertisers, and manufacturers are simply responding to consumer demand (although they’re complicit in creating some of that demand). So perhaps the shift needs to originate from people’s personal values, and a grassroots rejection of the “mass infantilization” program that promotes mindless consumption. A positive way forward is to support those people who choose nonmaterialistic lifestyles and encourage others to follow in their footsteps. There’s a huge opportunity to foster the diffusion of sustainable values throughout society, but to be effective, such an exercise needs to be comprehensive and find multiple points of intervention.14 Here are some ideas for getting the transition under way.
Turn marketing on its ear. Marketers have been honing their techniques for many years. These techniques could be used to “sell” sound cultural values instead of copious quantities of consumer goods. Imagine if Victor Lebow had said, “We need to make well-being our way of life.” Now imagine if the full force of the Coca-Cola and McDonald’s marketing teams went to work on this change instead of selling more fizzy drinks.
Harness the power of art. The arts, from music to dance to visual media, can feed the soul far more effectively than shopping trips and excessive consumption. Art inspires people and helps them imagine a better world than the one we live in today. By participating in the creative and often collaborative processes that produce art, people can play a direct role in bringing about that better world.
Be the change. Individuals who understand the downsides of consumerism can reject unnecessary consumer items and set a positive example by “living their values.” They can participate in local initiatives and develop alternatives to mass consumption by buying less, producing locally, and boycotting mass consumer outlets. Much of the self-serving behavior inherent in consumerism derives from a trend away from community-based values and toward individualistic ones. People who set a nonmaterialist example can help reverse this trend.
Recruit influential individuals. Influential individuals occupy pivotal positions in social networks and are key figures in the processes by which new social norms emerge. Such individuals, if they understood the downsides of consumerism and the upsides of less materialistic lifestyles, could be potent agents of change toward sustainability.15
Juxtapose “zombie consumerism” with the nonmaterialistic good life. A materialistic lifestyle can be shallow, boring, and deadening. A nonmaterialistic, sustainable lifestyle, on the other hand, can be dynamic and refreshing, but people must be able to visualize it. The Transition Towns movement has captured many people’s imaginations and begun the daunting process of demonstrating ways to live simpler and more purposeful lives.16 If politicians see Transition Towns and similar movements emerging on a sufficient scale, they will feel pressure to get on board.
Eliminate planned obsolescence. Planned obsolescence has become a widespread strategy in products ranging from sweaters to semiconductors, and some marketing practitioners (who probably haven’t been keeping up with certain environmental and social trends) even praise it as a positive development.17 But in a world with 7 billion people, finite resources, and serious environmental problems, “durable” needs to become the watchword of consumers, not “disposable.” Refusal to buy short-lived products is a sure way to influence companies to stop designing for the dump.
Limit advertising. Lawmakers have restricted advertising that promotes unhealthy behavior (e.g., tobacco and alcohol use), so there is a precedent for tempering the excesses of marketing departments. A ban on advertising aimed at children took effect in the Canadian province of Quebec in 1980, and it has helped children maintain healthier consumption habits.18 When it comes to stigma-based advertising, Dan and Chip Heath suggest that the marketing community has a responsibility to self-regulate.19 Whether through self-regulation or other means, it would be healthy to put a stop to stigma-based advertising and other toxic marketing practices.
Cultivate nonconsumerist institutions. Governments and communities can play an important role by creating and empowering organizations that de-emphasize consumerism. Such organizations would focus on meeting needs rather than selling stuff. They would manage assets for the purpose of delivering long-term well-being to asset owners, rather than delivering short-term financial returns to managers.20 Examples include cooperatives, land trusts, and even community workshops.
The ideas described above offer some intriguing ways to abate the flood o
f materialism, but a true turning of the cultural tide will require people to accept a basic truth: the spoils of shopping provide little support for a long life of fulfillment. Some people easily grasp this wisdom; they seem naturally immune to the onslaught of marketers. Others take time to develop such immunity—they have to experience the emptiness of consumer culture, sometimes over the course of decades. It has become a cliché, at least in American consumer society, for people to turn over a new leaf after suffering through a midlife crisis. Following a fruitless attempt to quell such a crisis through conspicuous consumption (think of a forty-five-year-old man buying a bright red Ferrari or some other gas-guzzling sports car), they end up finding peace by refocusing their lives on relationships, well-being, and the search for deeper meaning. It’s inspiring that pockets of people, no matter at what stage of life, are acting on their nonconsumerist instincts. Transition Towns, voluntary simplicity, economic localization, and ecovillages are all positive signs that people are striving to live happy, but less materially intensive lives.
People from all walks of life are establishing creative models of living well, but for such models to diffuse more broadly throughout society, communities will have to oppose the corporate forces that promote the consumer culture. These forces, which exert an undue influence on politicians and the media, ignore the finite nature of resources, entice people into chasing fulfillment in ineffective ways, and drive inequality. Through concerted and persistent action, we can overcome them. Then we can replace the culture of consumerism and the value of more with the culture of sustainability and the value of enough.
[ CHAPTER 13 ]
ENOUGH SILENCE
Engaging Politicians and the Media
A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together.
MARGARET ATWOOD1
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
During the summer before my final year in college, I worked as an intern for America’s largest labor union, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. Ironically, the AFLCIO hired my services for less than minimum wage. Despite the low pay, it turned out to be a great summer, especially after I learned which bars in downtown Washington, D.C., offered free tacos at happy hour. At my first day on the job, I learned (perhaps not too surprisingly) that the AFL-CIO cares a great deal about how members of Congress view a variety of labor issues. In fact, my boss told me that my top task each day was to comb through newspapers and collect articles about unions and the politics of labor. This was at a time just before the Internet held sway, so I would literally skim through a stack of newspapers and cut and paste the relevant articles onto sheets of paper. Then I would file the pasted articles in folders to be read by the union leaders.
Suppose I had a similar job collecting articles today, but the topic was economic growth instead of labor. I’d need gallons of glue to paste a week’s worth of columns. The collection of columns advocating growth would make a thick file, filled with headlines like these:
• “Economic Growth Picks Up, So Why All the Gloom?”2
• “Bright Spot in Europe: Poland’s Economy Grows 4.3 Percent in 2011 Despite Euro Troubles”3
• “Scotland Is Celebrating GDP Growth”4
This last headline is particularly interesting. Is Scotland really celebrating GDP growth? Has a holiday been declared in honor of robust GDP figures? The article makes no mention of dancing in the streets of Edinburgh. Oddly enough, it focuses mostly on how growth was slower in Scotland than in the United Kingdom at large.
I could also assemble an equally thick file with articles lamenting any slowdown or absence of economic growth. Some recent examples include:
• “Analysis: Asia’s Economic Growth Slipping into Neutral”5
• “Fed Signals That a Full Recovery Is Years Away”6
• “World Stock Markets Fall as Improvement in US Economic Growth Falls Short of Investor Hopes”7
Headlines like these are predictable—economic slowdowns pose clear problems, because the current economic system only functions well when there is growth. Economic contraction results in unemployment and a tougher time making ends meet. But with the assumption of growth firmly entrenched, no ink is spent on how a nongrowing economy might work. The frequent publication of such articles in recent times demonstrates another important point: try as they might, businesses and national governments are struggling to achieve economic expansion.
The failure to get the economy growing has politicians feeling anxious. If, as at the AFL-CIO, my boss in this article-pasting venture wanted confirmation of such political viewpoints, it would be easy to put together yet another stack of news clippings:
• “An End to Cut, Cut, Cut? Merkel and Sarkozy Agree to Focus on Growth”8
• “Obama Says He Is ‘Hopeful’ for 2012, Greater Economic Growth”9
• “Bold Action Can Fuel European Growth, Says British Prime Minister”10
Cheerleading for economic growth has become the norm for the majority of journalists and politicians. But on topics like the limits to growth and the steady-state economy, the mainstream media remain conspicuously quiet. Alternative media sources do, from time to time, publish stories on these subjects, and every once in a while, a steady-state-themed article makes its way into bigger news sources. For example, Herman Daly wrote an article for Scientific American called “Economics in a Full World.”11 The New York Times published an editorial by Eric Zencey titled “Mr. Soddy’s Ecological Economy.”12 Harper’s Magazine has printed stories by Wendell Berry (“Faustian Economics: Hell Hath No Limits”)13 and Steven Stoll (“Fear of Fallowing: The Specter of a No-Growth World”).14 And New Scientist magazine published a special issue with multiple articles about “the folly of growth.”15 But these articles are a trickle compared to the flood of pro-growth commentaries.
Politicians seem even more unwilling than the media to discuss steady-state topics. To be fair, some of them have never encountered the steady-state economy in their academic or professional lives. Cecilia Rouse is a labor economist from Princeton University, and, as a political appointee of President Obama, she served on the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers from 2009 to 2011. When she was speaking at a public forum, she fielded a question about her views on steady-state economics. In her response, she talked about “sustainable growth,” “steady-state growth,” and “balanced growth.”16 It quickly became evident that she had not previously come across the concept of a nongrowing economy as a path to sustainability.
Other politicians seem to believe that championing a philosophy other than growth would cause the electorate to disown them (and they’re probably right, given the media’s portrayal of growth in an overwhelmingly positive light). At another public forum, Peter De-Fazio, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was speaking about the future of Oregon’s economy. When asked about the limits to growth, he answered by criticizing a speech Jimmy Carter had delivered decades before. In his so-called Malaise Speech, President Carter called for conservation of energy, sharing of resources, and pursuit of meaning through channels other than “owning things and consuming things.”17 Representative DeFazio explained that acknowledging the limits to growth would be like endorsing Carter’s “pessimistic approach” (and look where it got him—booted out of the White House after only one term).
As with the occasional appearance of a steady-state story in the media, it’s refreshing when a politician is bold enough to discuss alternatives to growth. Caroline Lucas, a U.K. Member of Parliament and a former member of the European Parliament, is one such politician. She has signed the CASSE Position on Economic Growth, which calls for the transition to a steady-state economy.18 She is also the former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, one of a small number of political parties that have endorsed the position statement.
Given what’s at stake—the health of the biosphere and the well-being of humanity—poli
ticians and the media need to address the limits to growth. To have a chance at implementing needed economic reforms, they will have to break their long-held silence on the alternative to perpetual economic growth. Overcoming this silence is a critical step toward igniting a movement aimed at the transition to a sustainable and fair economy.
Silence reigns because politicians, media moguls, and other people who influence public opinion share a common perception that economic growth equates to prosperity and serves as a proxy for progress. For several generations, political parties have been locked in a competition to see who can promise the fastest growth and highest standard of living. At the same time, the media’s coverage of the economy has remained geared toward monitoring the amount of growth. The way economic growth is portrayed in the public sphere makes it seem as if we have no economic alternatives.
Steady-state options are also largely absent from discussions in schools and universities. Currently, academic training in economics, business, and politics offers inadequate coverage of sustainable development and environmental issues, let alone models of a nongrowing economy. Limited opportunities exist for students to become acquainted with steady-state economics, and there are even fewer opportunities to study the subject in depth. As a result, the topic has been neglected for decades, and too few theorists and practitioners have been working on how to achieve an orderly transition to a prosperous, nongrowing economy.
WHAT COULD WE DO INSTEAD?
To help end the silence, we propose a three-part strategy: (1) make the steady-state message more accessible, (2) engage with politicians, journalists, and academic institutions in new forums, and (3) build academic capacity for research, analysis, and teaching of steady-state concepts at colleges and universities.19 Below we discuss each part of this strategy in more detail.