Reminders & Follow-up to "Escape From Affluenza"

REMINDERS: First and foremost, do not forget to submit your questions for the midterm exam this coming Thursday, Mar. 24th. I expect SIX questions and answers from each of the two families. Make sure to email them or drop them off at my office NO LATER THAN NOON MONDAY, 3/21. And I would certainly welcome them earlier. Also, next Tuesday we will cover at least thru Chapter 25 in "Affluenza," and probably also have a little time for review for the midterm.

FOLLOW-UP TO "ESCAPE FROM AFFLUENZA"

First, let me comment a bit further on an observation Warren made. Although the film did make an effort to include a racial and ethnic mix among the people interviewed, it clearly was slanted to the middle class. They were all "down-shifters," that is, people who had once had middle-class incomes and jobs but decided for various reasons to embrace simplicity -- some voluntary and some involuntary. It would have been nice to feature some working-class or poor folks who live frugally, and almost have to. In defense of the film's middle-class bias, I believe it made sense to feature people who had once been afflicted with affluenza and sought to cure themselves. Also, they wanted to emphasize the point that stuff does not necessarily make us happy, and that people living on a lot less can be happy and fulfilled. But, of course, as we know, even poor folks can be afflicted with affluenza and in some cases resort to crime to try to satisfy their thirst for stuff. With that said, let me get into my own remarks --


First of all, let me say that there is much to admire about the personal stories of those who have embraced "voluntary simplicity." I was especially impressed by a few of the stories. Dick Roy, former corporate lawyer and now director of the Northwest Institute, and his wife are real models of simple living. It is hard to imagine that they are able to "reduce, re-use, and recycle" to such an extent that they produce only one can of garbage in a year!! Most of us throw out at least that much garbage every week. You also have to admire Ron Simmons, former Microsoft engineer, who abandoned a promising career in computers to become an actor and also do a whole range of volunteer activities. And then there is Ming Chen and his family, but it was noted that their teenage daughter was rebelling against their frugal lifestyle. Calvin DeWitt, the University of Wisconsin environmentalist, made a very good point about how our social and economic activities are so incompatible with natural systems, like wetlands, that recycle everything naturally.

But for all these inspiring personal stories, there was LITTLE ATTENTION TO BROADER INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE. For example, the "tight-wad" couple in Holland talked about reducing the number of cars you own and drive to zero, instead of just scaling back to one and driving it less. That, of course, is easier to do in Holland because of the wide availability of public transportation and support for other alternatives such as bicycling. It is tough, if not impossible, for people in America to give up automobiles because of little public or institutional support for such a move. The bulk of transportation dollars go to road and highway construction and repair. And our whole pattern of urban and especially suburban development is largely based on the private automobile as the main means of transportation. Also, from an economic standpoint, more money can be made selling cars rather than expanding public transportation, so maybe we are going to have to change such incentives significantly.

I was particularly impressed with Alan Durning's (of the Worldwatch Institute) account of all the things that made possible him having a cup of coffee in the morning. Remember the point I made earlier about INSTITUTIONS BEING THE REAL ACTORS IN MODERN SOCIETY -- that his act of making coffee was the act of that agricultural system in Colombia, the act of a shipping industry, the act of power companies to roast the coffee beans, etc., etc. etc....So, if you want to change any aspect of that system -- say reduce coffee consumption -- you are going to have to take into account the impact on those interrelated institutions.

Finally, I really appreciated the quick overview of American history. Ms. Urbanska noted the deep roots of "simple living" in our history. But significantly, after almost two decades of economic depression and war in the 1930s and 40s, we were ready to produce and spend and consume, that is, "grow the economy." A growing economy, higher and higher GDP, more stuff, became the overriding goal of our society. But, of course, this has not made us any happier and perhaps we are overdue to consider scaling back, emphasizing QUALITY of life over QUANTITY of things. In this context, I believe it is significant that overwhelmingly people who choose a simpler, less cluttered life are happier, even in the context of our materialist, consumer society.

PLEASE INCORPORATE THESE COMMENTS IN YOUR NOTES. I CERTAINLY MAY ASK A QUESTION OR TWO ON THE MIDTERM BASED ON THE ABOVE COMMENTS.