I was struck by this story in yesterday's NYTs:
Low Spending Is Taking Toll on Economy
By PETER S. GOODMAN
Published: May 1, 2008
For months, beleaguered American consumers have defied expert forecasts that they would soon succumb to the pressures of falling home prices, fewer jobs and shrinking paychecks. Now, they appear to have given in.
On Wednesday, the Commerce Department reported that the economy continued to stagnate during the first three months of the year, with a sharp pullback in consumer spending the primary factor at play.
You can read the rest here
Trust me, I understand economics... as much as any of us actually understand economics, that is. This kind of information is not new to me; it used to be my daily bread. But these days I'm learning to see differently, and what I see here is yet another example of how this consumer-driven culture keeps us in its clutches, and resists any attempt to think differently - to think "kingdomly", as it were.
The sad truth is if we don't keep buying more and more stuff the economy suffers. This is partly because we are addicted to growth as a measure of "progress."
And here's what we end up with. I'll pick on the United States because it's such a blatant example. We have the world's most indebted country, populated by highly indebted citizens with some of the worst savings rates in the world. We have the government of the world's most indebted country printing rebate cheques and sending them out to those indebted citizens. We have the leader of the world's most indebted country going on TV and begging those indebted citizens to go out and buy more stuff. Not to save the money. Not to pay down a little of the average citizen's $8,500 credit card balance. No, to go out and buy shit.
This way we can (hopefully) keep the system running. I couldn't see this back in my Armani suit days, but if it takes this kind of rigging to keep the thing afloat, I've got news for you: There's something wrong with the system.
Here's a thought: Take part of your rebate cheque check and give it away.
Carry on.
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