(Mike's Note: This one is timely, as my Christianity and Capitalism course starts on Monday. I spent all day yesterday reading Adam Smith, and when I was done I felt like I need to have a shower, or go to church, or something. h/t to Beth.)
"Detachment tends to characterize our attitudes towards the products we buy. Far from obsessively clinging to our stuff, we tend to buy and discard products easily. We don't make them ourselves or have any connection to the people that make them; increasingly we have no connection to the people that sell them either, as small local businesses are replaced by gigantic chain retailers. Under these conditions, our connections to products become very tenuous and fleeting as well. The products we buy are mute about their origins, and the people we buy them from can tell us little.
...Such relationships are not made to last. There would not be a market for all the goods that are produced in an industrialized economy if consumers were content with the things they bought. Consumer desire must be constantly on the move. We must continually desire new things in order for consumption to keep pace with production. The 'extreme makeover' is an ongoing process in the search for novelty, for bigger and better, for new and improves, and for different experiences. The shaving razor with one blade had to be supplanted by the double-bladed razor, which was bested by three blades, then four, and now an absurd five on one razor.
This is more than a continuing attempt to make a product better; it is what General Motors called 'the organized creation of dissatisfaction.' How can we be content with a razor with a mere two blades when the current standard is five?... The economy as it is currently structured would grind to a halt if we ever looked at our stuff and simply declared, 'It is enough. I am happy with what I have.'"
--William T. Cavanaugh, Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire
...to church?
...must have been some read!
...the morning here...AmAzInG...to the max!!!
...man, so eager for you to be here in August
...or sooner
...I know there is much to hear from you
...and much to share with you
...thanking God for you, immensely, especially after hearing some from from your "two wives" this AM :-)
...that WILL have people wondering
...but...let 'em wonder!!!!!!!
Posted by: Wes Roberts | June 28, 2008 at 12:08 PM
Right on, Wes.
As long as we're talking about a theology of enough and me having "two wives", let me quote from Mr. Cavanaugh one more time and state categorically that 'It is enough. I am happy with what I have.'
Posted by: Mike | June 28, 2008 at 01:39 PM
What a great quote. Thanks for sharing. Of course, there is that fine line between hoarding and treasuring. I will say that the car my parents gave me right out of high school (16 years ago) is still with me. It doesn't so much run anymore but it's really a great car!
Posted by: Becca | June 28, 2008 at 07:51 PM
Such a great quote. Gives me a lot to think about. Thanks for sharing it!
Posted by: Alaia Williams/One Organized Life | June 30, 2008 at 04:29 PM