Consumerism, Part 2: Effects

We’re led to believe that buying stuff is generally good. After all, we’re stimulating the economy when we do so. The GDP goes up, stocks go up, employment goes up, and economic progress is made. One might even feel patriotic by spending money, especially on domestically-originated goods or services (the American automakers have been playing that card big-time).

The above effects in and of themselves are certainly positive developments, but there is far more to the picture. Let’s consider a few less-desirable consequences of a material-crazed culture.

1.) Environmental destruction:

The American way of life has literally been destroying the planet. We’re addicted to big houses, big vehicles, big malls, and tons and tons of stuff. The resources to fill our wants don’t come from nowhere- we’ve been overexploiting the world’s resources to get them.

Everything about our current economic system, from destructive resource harvesting to the end waste products, is completely unsustainable. A big problem is that we don’t feel the harmful effects of our decisions. Most of us don’t personally see the clear-cutting of Amazon rainforests, the destruction of acid-rain, or the extinction of another native species. Sure we hear about such tragedies, but hearing and feeling are too completely different things; the former doesn’t often overcome our earthly desires.

We’ve all probably heard the following statistic-with roughly 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. consumes around a quarter of world’s energy. The figures for the solid waste we generate are also extremely disproportionate. The world does not have enough resources for many more people to live a similar lifestyle (or even to sustain the current imbalance for much longer). Unless we quickly move towards embracing a lifestyle that doesn’t trash the environment to fill our gluttonous ways, we are in serious, serious trouble.

I have Paul Hawken to thank for truly opening my eyes on this issue. I recently read “The Ecology of Commerce“, a book I will most definitely never forget. I can’t wait to get my hands on some more of his work, primarily “Natural Capitalism“. I couldn’t recommend Hawken’s writing enough.

2.) Financial health:

Consumerism has absolutely wreaked havoc upon our nation’s financial health , in large part leading to the recent financial crisis (I kind of touched on this here).

We largely set ourselves up for great unleveraging that began last year. Without a lick of common sense, we collectively chased houses, cars, clothes and hoards of other material goods without the means to actually pay for them. Since we didn’t have the money to pay for something right away, nor the patience to save up until we did, we just tapped into the great river of easy credit. Foreigners supplied much of this credit, allowing government and individuals alike to spend beyond our means.

The financial crisis was a major wake-up call- it was if someone rattled our cage and woke us from our dreamland.. The bill (the first installment of it anyway) arrived, and we stared at it in awe wondering how we could have been so foolish.

Thankfully Americans are doing much better nowadays. The personal savings rate is the highest its been anytime over the past decade- imagine that, Americans actually spending less than they earn! Businesses and individuals who provide repair services are thriving, because we’re fixing things rather than automatically throwing them away and buying new. People are flocking to libraries, thrift stores, Craigslist, garage sales, and bulk retailers. We have generally become more thrifty in the past year.

Of course, the big test of our newfound frugality will come when the economy starts to improve. When the nightly news talks about something other than economic Armageddon, will we maintain our sustainable financial ways? Or will we fail to learn from history once again and revert back to material-crazed lunatics?

I believe there’s a pretty strong negative correlation between excessive consumerism and our nation’s financial health. By placing such a high value on physical stuff and wanting it now, we’ve been borrowing against our future.

3. Quality of Life:

This one is definitely more subjective than the first two, but I think it’s still worthy of mention. It’s easy to lose a sense of what’s really important when we get caught up in the rat race of working harder and harder to fund our ever-growing material desires.

Does more stuff actually add more quality to our lives? To an extent, probably. But not to the extremes that we pursue it. Much of the stuff that we buy isn’t to aid in fulfilling a deep desire, or help us pursue something that we’re passionate about. Rather, it’s often a purchase made because of the influence of advertisers, as temporary ego boost, or to use as a status symbol.

Would replacing my reliable Civic with a brand-new ride increase the quality of my life? I’d be on a high for a little while, and the bells and whistles would undoubtedly be cool, but I would conclude that it really would not add more value to my life, so long as my Honda keeps running efficiently and reliably. I don’t have any deep desire that would be fulfilled by having a sweet ride.

I think I’ll keep my trusty Civic and instead continue saving money little by little to fund things like travel opportunities in the future. A trip to the UK would easily provide me personally with more lasting value than trying to appease materialistic impulses.

I don’t want to come across like I’m denouncing the ownership of physical goods altogether. Ever since coming home bruised and beaten after my first time on a snowboard, I knew I would enjoy having a board of my own. At some point in the future, I think I could make that purchase completely on my own accord. Likewise, if a person thoroughly enjoys and derives plenty of satisfaction from owning a sports-car, there’s nothing wrong with that (my vehicle example was about me personally, not a universal criticism of new-car purchases).

What I am trying to illustrate is this; if we act on impulse, let our ego affect how we spend, and succumb to outside influences, our financial habits likely aren’t congruent with who we are. That’s how we can spend years and years chasing money and stuff and yet become more and more unsatisfied as we acquire additional prizes.

Think about how many hundreds of billions of dollars Americans spend every year in a futile pursuit of consumer happiness. How much better off we would be if we dropped the influences of materialism and instead managed our money with 100% consciousness?

I think we would astound ourselves.

Image Source

There is no Such Thing as Personal Finance

Our individual financial decisions, as personal as they may seem, have global implications.

To operate efficiently and grow, an economy needs consistent sources of capital. Unless we don’t mind hyperinflation, this capital can’t come out of thin air. It must come from savings (primarily from bank deposits, the stock market, and bonds).

Economic growth is achieved when those with growth opportunities who need more capital successfully acquire it from savers. Normally, an economy will rely heavily upon domestic savings for this process. The United States is a glaring exception.

For many, many years now, investment in this country has far exceed our domestic savings. Foreign nations, who have been attracted to the investment opportunities within our borders, have provided us with the means to grow our businesses, consume more goods, and generally improve our economic well-being with a cheap supply of money. This works fine…indefinitely.

We are essentially living on borrowed time; outsiders have been providing us with the ability to live the materially-crazed lives that we have, but that doesn’t mean they will forever. Our party will quickly come to a halt when the bill arrives, and by this time it will be too late to avoid deep economic hardship.

Let’s say that foreign nations decided to stop buying (or even begin to sell off) the massive amount of Treasury debt they hold.  Interest rates would rise as the value of the dollar falls, and our government will be essentially broke with few takers willing to finace more deficit spending. The Fed would probably buy Treasuries to prevent the government from bankrupting, effectively flooding the money supply and wreaking even more havoc on the dollar. It’s not a pretty scenario, but what other result can be expected when you actually consider the madness of our unsustainable ways? We’ve been leading ourselves to the economic grim reaper.

Unless we Americans drastically change our heavily consuming, instant-gratification ways, we are in for a serious wake-up call (even bigger than the financial mess that began to unfold last year). The current state of affairs has many Americans changing their habits, but this needs to be a part of a bigger shift, not just a temporary response to the economic downturn. By living beyond our means, we’re jeopardizing not only our own futures, but the future of our country as a whole, of both current and future generations.

Every dollar that we save in domestic banks, stocks, or bonds is a dollar invested in the future of our nation. Collective change begins with individual change, so we all need to examine our ways as part of a bigger picture. When you forgo some needless little gizmo and save the money instead, you’re making a positive investment in the future.

I know that there is a darn good reason for objecting to my reasoning- what’s the use? Those who do save will only have it robbed by our government to give to the foolish ones who didn’t (including our government itself). We’re seeing this already, and it figures to happen even more in the future. It’s simply an unfortunate fact though. We must lead by example and help convince others to join the fight to create a far more rewarding, sustainable economy that doesn’t borrow (or should I say steal?) against the future.

Image Source