Atlantic free press: World Economy - Does Anybody Else Think Getting You Shopping Again is Crazy Talk? - by by Dave Lindorff

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Does Anybody Else Think Getting You Shopping Again is Crazy Talk? - by by Dave Lindorf

Does Anybody Else Think Getting You Shopping Again is Crazy Talk? - by by Dafe LindorfThe problem facing America, and to a great extent the broader world economy, is that we’ve pretty much met basic human needs long ago, and now it’s about creating human wants and then convincing people that they need to buy more stuff and more services

This is wrong in so many ways and on so many levels. First of all, we don’t need all this stuff. Is my life any better if I go from a 18-inch TV screen to a 60-inch TV screen? Is it, for that matter, any better if I go from an old cathode-ray tube to a flat screen digital display, or from no TV to a TV? Is my life any better if I buy a high-performance $50,000 BMW than if I drive a $20,000 Honda Civic, or even a $5000 used Toyota Corolla with extended warranty? Is my life any better if I live with my wife and my teenage son in a 4000-square-foot house than if I live in a 1800-square-foot or a 1200-square-foot house? The answer is no. The benefits, if there are any at all, are minuscule, and usually short-lived.

The good news is that this particular economic downturn in the US may prove to be more than just another turn of the business cycle, but rather, the beginning of the inexorable spiral of decline of the US as a global economic power. The corporations (along with the schools, churches and politicians) that have lured and tricked us all into this mad consumer scramble for more and more useless crap and momentary gratification have driven the country into a debt hole from which it will clearly be impossible to climb out. That may not sound like good news, but viewed from the perspective of the wider world it certainly is—especially if it bankrupts the American military machine, and slows the production of greenhouse gases. It could also be good news if it leads us, the American people, to rethink what our lives are really all about—if it leads us to start thinking of ourselves as part of a society, again, instead of just that incredibly insulting and derogatory term: “consumers.”