Long live American materialism

The Economist ^ | Apr 17, 2009 | N/A

[zaphod3000]

A FAMILY in Michigan has decided to give up modern living to pursue a simpler life on a 40-acre farm. It's a life with more time spent together, though with less money and material comforts. It does not sound like an economic so much as a lifestyle choice. But according to Peggy Noonan, because of the current climate, some have misinterpreted it as reflecting a new widespread trend of economic survivalism. After all, people are buying more supplies to make their own preserves; the first step in a slippery slope that ends with moving to Alaska and living off the power grid.

But Ms Noonan has seen the future of America and, from what she describes, it sounds like it will soon resemble Germany (only more religious and with slower cars).

SNIP

Nothing against the German lifestyle, but that would be a pity. According to Amar Bhide, American consumerism is one of the things that makes it successful. The obsession with the new and best gadget and the willingness to try out new products gives America a comparative advantage. That's why it attracts the most ambitious entrepreneurs from all over the world and spurs innovation. Selling and marketing stuff also provides lots of jobs.

Taking on lots of debt to buy lots of stuff is not desirable or sustainable. Such behaviour is often a symptom of other issues and many Americans need to do some serious de-leveraging. But living in your means is not mutually exclusive with being an entrepreneurial consumer. Long live American materialism and conspicuous consumption!

[zaphod3000]

For the Noonan article go http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123992073614326997.html and http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2231645/posts.

[kjo]

Here in Michigan unemployment is officially 12.6%.....unofficially, it’s north of 15%. We haven’t seen numbers like this since the thirties.

Governor Granholm tells us not to worry.....as the stimulus money is coming. Obamabucks.

Upon hearing this, people look at one another and continue packing.

Last one out of the state please turn out the lights.

[Paved Paradise]

I read about this elsewhere - I think these people have the right idea. I wish I could talk my husband into this. I think American life has gotten way too materialist and stress always comes from having things.

[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

I think you should the phrase “obamabucks” more often it certainly is appropo.

[1010RD]

So well water, out houses, horses and 18th century agrarian lifestyles are the answer?

I agree that too much of anything, especially depreciating assets bought with debt, can be a problem, but I don’t think our problem is financial. It is moral.

Too much stealing - something for nothing attitude - is the real culprit.

[Dr. Sivana]

Poor Peggy has dropped off of the precipice. I was open to her thesis, and was waiting for evidence. I don’t even agree with how she characterizes the country now (perhaps outside of NYC, where she has been holed up for too long). Her predictions are along the lines of Jeane Dixon’s year end predictions in the Star tabloid years ago. All assrtion, no evidence.

[OneWingedShark]

>Obamabucks.

Invest in Monopoly money... it’ll soon be worth more.

[zaphod3000]

She’s a speechwriter—too entranced with the sound of her own words.

[Paved Paradise]

Uh, I live in Northeast Ohio so “no thanks” to the outhouse - that would be too c-c-c-c-old. Brrr - just thinking about it.

Not necessarily aggrarian but just simpler - and growing one’s own food is not necessarily a bad thing. I don’t want horses but sheep or goats would be nice.

[mjp]

Long live American materialism and conspicuous consumption!

Man's need for wealth is limitless because he possesses the faculty of reason.Our desires will always be ahead of our ability to satisfy them and this will impel us to try to steadily advance.

[DB]

Unless you lived that life before you have no clue what it is like. It may sound romantic but it is hard, hard work that never ends. In addition disaster is always just around the corner. Too much rain, too little rain, an unexpected frost, too cold too hot, high winds from a storm, invasion of insects, fungus, fire, you name it can destroy your year's worth of work and investment in moments. And then add to that endless government regulation on water use, soil use, waterway management, chemical usage (from pesticides to fertilizer) and permits....

It is neither a simpler or easier way of life.

[LomanBill]

>> but I don’t think our problem is financial. It is moral.

 

Yep.

Heartland

This isn't just a valley; it's an extended family, composed of sovereign individuals
each endowed with inalienable rights by their creator.
Multiple generations of neighboring families
living, marrying, working, building, dying, and, when required
- fighting together.

The American heroes of WWII from this valley were held together by a common faith
- in their God, and in their Families, and in their Nation;
and held together by the land which sustained them;
much of which is no longer owned by their families
- or even by Americans.

As Hank Williams Junior sang "A country boy will survive".

Faith, Family, Friends, and Fellowship
A foundation of Four Fs; that is what enables the country boy to survive.
That's what Obama and his followers are searching for, in vain,
in their fruitless collectivist meanderings.
They can't quit see it, but they sense a shadow of its form in the illusion Obama presents...
and so they follow him.

The American Heartland is no Marxist abstraction;
it is an American treasure built BY Americans, FOR Americans;
but it's being lost, squandered;
sold out because a monetary tool became the object of worship.
The market is NOT God, people.

But we forget...

"These are your gods oh Israel, who led you out of Egypt".

... and so perhaps now, like the Israelites before us,
we stand on the edge of a sandy wilderness.

Forget about the 1's and 0's.

Got Foundation?

[rellimpank]

—yep—having spent the first years of my life on a near-subsistence farm without electricity, I’ll let the idiots who want that lifestyle lead it—see what they think after a year of it, especially in Alaska (if they survive)—

[Paved Paradise]

I didn’t say I wanted to BE a farmer, just to live a simpler life. I could NOT agree with you more, however, about your points, which are all completely correct. We have a lot of farmers, smaller mostly, where I live and I give them a LOT of credit.

FWIW, I spent a week on a farm when I was about 20 years old and it was backbreaking work - but I LOVED it. Bailing hay is an awful chore. I’ve slopped the pigs and had non-pasteurized milk, and all sorts of fun stuff. It was a GREAT experience. Even woke up to the rooster crowing... it was right out of “Green Acres.” LOL.

[Paved Paradise]

Your last sentence said it all.