In praise of the volunteer consumer

Submitted by tonyplant on December 29, 2005 - 18:37.

Richard North has published a provocative piece arguing that Consumerism is virtuous. Similarly, Bob Friedland of the Center on an Aging Society argues that concern over the demographic time-bomb of paying for pensions and the health care of older citizens is overplayed. Friedland points to the virtues of economic growth in sparking

startling productivity gains. Even as the share of the population in the workforce has fallen, the output of each worker has more than offset the change. The result: Someone born in 1940 has experienced an 875 percent increase in his or her standard of living.(quoted in the National Journal: Must it be gloom and doom for the baby boom?)

However, it is interesting that neither author claims that this remarkable increase in our standard of living in the western world has been accompanied by an increase in happiness. Happiness and well-being are typically measured by indices such as personal satisfaction with life, the enjoyment of friends and family and feeling fulfilled by work or other activities. There are some life qualities that can not be transformed into commodities that can be traded.

Copyright 2005, Tony Plant Happystance Project

Friedland | economic growth | consumerism